Are there any software engineers here that believe in the afterlife?

Buttons840 3 days ago | parent | next [-]

I've been listening to a book: Opening Heaven's Door.

The authors sister was dying of cancer. One morning her sister said she had a strange dream about her father. They later realized that their father had unexpectedly died around the time of the dream. Her sister then went on to have some interesting experiences around her own death from cancer.

The author began talking to people, as part of her grieving, and realized many families have experiences like this, but nobody talks about it.

Eventually she realized why few talk about it:

She was at a social gathering of some kind and was talking about her recent enthusiasm for this sort of spiritual near-death stuff, and she shared her experience with a man, who she mentioned was a tech worker (judge for yourself whether that deserves special mention). The tech worker listened to her experience and then felt it was his place to tell the author that it was all coincidence or hallucinations created by a dying brain. She then points out that the guy had no special training that makes his opinion any more respectable than hers. The tech guy knew how to use computers, he wasn't a neuroscientists or a doctor or a psychologist, he just felt he knew, probably because he picked up some ideas from Reddit comments or something, and he had to share his opinion.

Anyway, I hold out some hope that there might still be some mysteries in this world.

	▲	Shocka1 2 days ago \| parent \| next [-]
		A lot of people, especially the tech crowd, have been taught in undergrad the importance of critical thinking and evidence supported conclusions. Also, I think the science/mathematical mind is drawn to this line of thinking as well, which is understandable. I know extremely well how they feel, as I've always operated the same way. That is why faith in some kind of God or afterlife goes against everything we in the tech crowd are trained to do. The hardest thing about being a Christian or believing in an afterlife IMO is the faith aspect itself.
	▲	kbelder 2 days ago \| parent \| prev [-]
		The guy was obviously non-empathic and impolite, and probably clueless that he was causing distress. The only thing in his favor is that he was correct.

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3pt14159 3 days ago | parent | prev | next [-]

I’ve had a wild life. I was a Protestant for over thirty years and I became a Catholic around two years ago. I’ve had more than a few demons attack me and two confirmed good spirits, probably angels. The test for spirits is to get them to agree that Jesus Christ came in the flesh. It’s sometimes difficult to understand them, but anyway I really believe the Bible and supernatural stuff. If anyone on here wants to reach out my email is in my profile.

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aj_hackman 2 days ago | parent [-]

What pushed you to Catholicism? I see the Catholic church as an amalgamation of human innovations that attempt to turn focus away from Christ and towards the inevitably sinful authority of the church. As much as I can't stand the watered-down one-size-fits-all non-denominational sermons of my youth, or the few fire and brimstone sessions I've been witness to, at the very least their prayers go directly to God.

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3pt14159 2 days ago | parent [-]

I upvoted you even though we presently disagree because you bring an honest perspective to the discussion.

The main reason I was drawn to the Catholic Church was that I believed in transubstantiation, or at least the real presence. I was drawn to the history of the Church and through prayer and conversations as well as a supernatural event as well as a dream I prayed for, I finally came to accept that praying with saints was not worshiping them. All prayers with saints go directly to God, but sometimes having someone intercede for you, as Mary did at the wedding feast at Cana, helps you with God.

If you have an open mind to switching churches, I recommend the following:

1. Pray to God to guide you to the right Church. I believe that he may be guiding some people to the Catholic Church, others to the Orthodox Church, and some to Protestant churches. Or He may have a real preference. I'm not sure, but I tried pretty hard to figure out where to go and I ended up in the Catholic Church.

2. Take the core issues that are show stoppers for you and research (and pray) them from the other perspective. Like I did with prayer with saints.

3. If you are feeling to be led to a certain church, get the full catechism of that church and read through it. I was shocked at how little I disagreed with the Catholic Church's catechism. It gave me confidence that I was truly being led to Catholicism.

4. Talk to Christians that you look up to. This is what I did with prayer with saints. There was a Christian uncle of mine (not blood, married in) that I was just completely sure that he was a real Christian and he was a Catholic. He explained it to me in ways that made sense and he answered any of my questions. I ended up adopting his middle name Jacques. Which leads to the funny sounding name Zach Jacques Aysan.

I've prayed for you. God Bless!

	▲	aj_hackman 2 days ago \| parent [-]
		Thank you for your thoughtful reply, and I shall pray for you in turn. I'm used to people turning towards the Catholic church as they become more legalistic and hard of heart, so your answer caught me by surprise. I also believe in a God that may have a different answer for each one of us, and so I feel that the answer for me at this time might be something like a small men's Bible study group. Christ be with you always.

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AnimalMuppet 3 days ago | parent | prev | next [-]

Sure. It's not just atheists here. There's a fair number of Christians (Catholic, Protestant, some Orthodox). There's some Muslims and Jews. Hindus, if you count reincarnation as an afterlife. Probably some that I have missed.

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vivzkestrel 3 days ago | parent | prev | next [-]

The way i like to think of this is along the lines of mathematics as usual. Because everything we observe in this universe so far adheres to mathematics except the inside of a blackhole, what happens after death also remains one of the many infinite possibilities. one possibility is that nothing happens and you are just gone gone. Another possibility is that you get reincarnated based on your karma. Another possibility is that you go to heaven or hell. Another possibility is that something entirely different happens as soon as you step outside this spacetime continuum because death takes you outside this thing for sure. There could be another infinite list of possibilities that none of the religions and none of the humans have accounted for

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mr_toad 3 days ago | parent | prev | next [-]

If there’s an afterlife, then doesn’t it trivialise death? Maybe that’s the point.

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QuadmasterXLII 3 days ago | parent | prev | next [-]

You can find some on the right wing catholic rationalist community on substack, I say without a hint of irony. The topic of the day is whether cloud droplets preferentially scatter forward, as pertains to the miracle at fatima

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za3faran 2 days ago | parent | prev [-]

Yes, many.