Tag: Death & Dying

Is there an afterlife?

As someone who is a practical materialist, who does not believe we possess any supernatural spirit apart from the self-awareness generated in our brains, and who furthermore does not believe in any supernatural deities, my answer is a general no.

First, if the question assuming that "ultimate meaning" can only exist in a context of some kind of afterlife (eternal or otherwise), then the deck is stacked, and no answer apart from that would be conceivable. The issue ultimately relates not to the afterlife at all, but to what meaning and purpose people come to think about their own lives and the lives of others.

Four years ago, my younger sister was diagnosed with stage 3 ovarian cancer; she had surgery and chemo and then was in remission. One year ago, we found out that my sister’s cancer had returned. Again she had surgery and chemo, is now in excellent health, and we have every reason to expect her to stay that way for a long time to come — at least until a cure or a much better treatment is found.

I woke up yesterday to learn that 19 men died while in the line of duty, only this time the men that died were not fighting terrorists, they were firefighters fighting an out-of-control wildfire.

As a new day begins, the rest of us will be going through our routines of getting ready for work, getting the kids off to daycare or daycamp, or making plans for the 4th of July.

On June 5, at St. John’s Cathedral, five faiths were represented from a panel focusing on this specific question: Should Washington State abolish the death penalty?

This was a forum specially organized to address the issue from religious perspectives.