what happens after you die?

[cvbkfgbkjmgbcj]

So I was just wondering how religious people are in the GSA, since religion often dictates sexuality. Are you religious? What do you practice? Has your sexuality impacted your religious beliefs? And, specifically, what do you believe happens when you die?  

[ForeverDreamWithinADream]

No, I am not. My mom used to make us go to church, but me and my dad stopped going a long time ago. I never felt comfortable or really personally believed what I was being told. My mom still thinks I am a Christian (though I never really was).

I am more agnostic. No it hasn't impacted my beliefs, but religions impacted mine (more like made me fearful and ashamed. Not everyone does that, but a lot still do).

I believe we could possibly be reincarnated or have our spirits wander the earth, but I don't believe in hell.  

[Sin Error]

I was raised Catholic, but I'm not. I don't really believe in any religion, I do believe in a god, and I do believe in jesus Christ.
what I think happens after I die? I have no idea, I'm waiting to see myself, though i'd like to believe I will reunite with my loved ones that have passed away in some sort of paradise full of peace and happiness. in other words, I believe I become a spiritual being 3nodding  

[Aryaten]

I am a christian and believe that no matter what life you choose that god will always love you. Sometimes I feel confused about the bible and don't really understand it. I do know that bad things people say about your life hurts. My feince is Hispanic and I'm white. I don't belive god is raciest, so why would he judge people for doing something that they have no control over.

I just can't stand it when people look at you as if they are discusted. It makes me believe that they are jelouse because they don't have the happiness that we share with the person we love or the choices we take pride in. They build themselves up by putting others down.

I love all of my gay friends... It makes me happy they don't judge me for who I am and who I love.

The best thing about my gay friends is that I always feel confortable around them and never feel as if you have to hide anything.  

[Esiris]

I'm religious and I'm training under a Wiccan coven where the afterlife is a place for people who have loved each other to meet and rest before returning.  

[Sifen Yamishi]

Question 1: No. I was raised in a coc household, but have since left the church.
Question 2: None.
Question 3: No comment.
Question 4: You just rot in the ground.  

[loonaboots]

No, I am definitely not religious. My family tried going to a Unitarian (because my mom is one) church once, and we ended up not going after a few months.

I'm polydeist.

No, no it hasn't at all.

Well, my best guess would be nothing, we just cease to live, and rot in a grave. It'd be nice if it was something like the underworld in Greek Mythology, but I don't think it's possible at all for anything like that to happen.  

[Taeryyn]

My family is Roman Catholic, so I was raised in that church. I have a certain fondness for some of the ritual aspects of the faith, but I don't agree with them on much else.

Although I don't consider myself religious, I've considered myself a Christian. Not really because of any interest in the church, though. I was taught that Jesus had two commandments: Basically, love god, and love your neighbour as you love yourself. Even though I don't believe in god as some sort of omniscient, omnipotent being who actually cares what we do, it seemed like a decent way to live your life, you know? I've always sort of thought of the "loving god" part as respecting and caring for our planet, and the rest is essentially just, "don't be a d**k".

Although I'm not really an atheist, lately I've found that I don't see the point in identifying as Christian. It just doesn't accurately describe my beliefs anymore.

Anyway. I don't really believe anything happens after we die. *shrug* The thought has never made me sad or afraid. I actually used to worry about the opposite: what if there is an afterlife? When I was a child, it terrified me, thinking that I might not be "good enough" for heaven. razz  

[Enderlad]

I consider myself spiritual, but not religious. Generally, I've been interested in looking into Buddhism. His teachings are inspiring and a good life philosophy regardless of whether or not you believe in the divine or some sort of after life.

But to me, I believe it's important to look at what a religion is trying to teach and live by, not what the followers are preaching. Radical people interpreting old words to fit their opinions leads to distortion of the original message.
Researching on your own and giving deep personal thought about what you truly believe is vital.

Besides that, it doesn't matter to me what other believe. Judge by people's actions, not their faith.  

[Coyote_Cain]

I was firmly atheist before finding my sexuality, I believe that our time on earth now is all we have, that science tells us exactly how we got here, and that there is no "why" because all creation was random and guided by any hand.

I also believe that when we die, our brain burns out, ending the "self" and the body left behind becomes worms meat.

I'm firmly against religion in all forms, and I think it's been the most corrosive and damaging thing that humanity has ever brought into being with it's own existential fears, and that religion poisons everything.  

[Shanna66]

i was raised christian somwhat, my family was very open and chill with beliefs but i would go to church with my grandmother and people i went to school with were very religious. i left christianity when i was a teeanger because all the hate didnt feel right so i learned about wicca and other pagan beliefs. im back at christianity now but i now its not meant to be a hateful belief anymore and that its just followers who make it such a horrible thing.

i know that god loves me even though im bi and im sure he doesnt really give a s**t about it.  

[PeachPunk]

I was raised Catholic, still am, and I believe in Heaven. I believe in Hell, too, but I think more people go to Heaven than Hell.  

[Daffodil the Destroyer]

I'm an atheist. I wouldn't describe myself as an antitheist exactly, because I appreciate the appeal of religious beliefs and understand that they enrich some people's lives tremendously. I simply wish that we as a species could move past the days of "organized religion." When people of similar belief congregate in the interest of enriching each other's lives, that's good. But inevitably it seems that as soon as a religion reaches a certain size, the people at the top tiers end up trying to use it to divide and conquer. How distasteful.

Anyway. I don't believe in an afterlife, and I find that comforting. I was raised Christian, and as I got deeper into the religion I became obsessed with it. This life wasn't important to me anymore, and I viewed it as a really scary test to determine where I'd spend eternity. After I went to college, I started to look at other religions, and pretty much became obsessed with each one in turn until I realized I had no idea what I really believed in. I realized that I needed to examine why I thought it was necessary to believe in a religion, because otherwise I was just pulling one out of a hat and I found that intellectually dishonest. Fear of the afterlife was my main motivation, and when I was honest with myself I found that I didn't actually have any good evidence for believing in any deities or afterlives.

I find that a more practical approach to life makes me a much happier, more fulfilled person. I'm not wasting my time trying to be sure I'm doing the right thing according to someone else's book; I'm doing what I think is right based on the Golden Rule. I'm fairly confident that when we die, all that happens is that our consciousness stops existing while other organisms feed off our bodies, turning them back into part of the Earth. And if there is some deity out there, it sure hasn't approached me in any recognizable way, so I must be doing okay. And if not, then I did the best I could with the tools I'm told it gave me! whee

I'm not sure the question about sexuality really applies, since I'm straight (and given the environment I grew up in, I feel lucky to be :s ). But I think one of the things that led to me exploring my beliefs critically was that I couldn't keep forcing myself to pretend that I thought someone's sexual orientation was sinful or that it was reasonable to expect a gay person to either be celibate for life or marry a beard.