C Rod,
Your argument basically seems to boil down to the fact that since no who is dead has come back and told you there is no afterlife, you will hold onto the possibility that it exists. What if I told you that since no one has been to the surface of the sun, that I will hold onto the possibility that a man lives on the surface? The rational response to that would be that belief is irrational because it subverts the laws of nature as we understand them. Since the surface of the sun could not be personally observed, should I refuse to let go of my belief that someone lives on it? No, because it defies everything we know and understand.
The concept of an afterlife is a man living on the sun. You will never personally observe the contrary, but that is no reason to still believe in it.
Your argument basically seems to boil down to the fact that since no who is dead has come back and told you there is no afterlife, you will hold onto the possibility that it exists. What if I told you that since no one has been to the surface of the sun, that I will hold onto the possibility that a man lives on the surface? The rational response to that would be that belief is irrational because it subverts the laws of nature as we understand them. Since the surface of the sun could not be personally observed, should I refuse to let go of my belief that someone lives on it? No, because it defies everything we know and understand.
The concept of an afterlife is a man living on the sun. You will never personally observe the contrary, but that is no reason to still believe in it.
Even if the open windows of science at first make us shiver after the cozy indoor warmth of traditional humanizing myths, in the end the fresh air brings vigor, and the great spaces have a splendor of their own - Bertrand Russell
