01.14.10
Atheist confusion over afterlife beliefs
Comment on Schopenhauer on death
James said,
January 13, 2010 at 2:53 pm ·
I must say that I find it amusing that atheists believe that “afterlife” beliefs spring from a fear of death, when in the Indic religions “life after death” is considered to be a horrifying prospect.
Your point is well-taken. In general, the new atheists, so-called, tend to assume that atheism somehow comes with a whole set of other beliefs, here the afterlife. They are independent issues, and the atheist Buddhist and his views of the afterlife show the obvious point.
Buddhists aim at transcending the round of rebirths, and this is hardly an advertisement for beliefs in reincarnation!