Immortality
From ImmInstWiki
The Intrinsic Drive
Could faith in post-death spiritual survival and/or immortality truly be trusted?
On the one hand, our yearning for transcending the "curse" of physical impermanence seems unquestionably valid; but what of the solution we have found to quench such basic yearning? -What if our current, tangible lives here on earth are the only ones we have got? -In which light then, should death be seen? –There is no doubt, after all, that the event of somatic death marks their ruin.
So what if… death is not just a mere gateway for future exciting adventures and conscious continuity?
What if… the physical obliteration death imposes upon our bodies also means the destruction of something much more essential?
Imminst's Informal Credo
I. Our current conscious physical lives here on this earth, in our familiar environment, with our family and friends are invaluable by essence.
II. These lives clearly are the sole "form of existence" we have got for sure, and thus definitely not worth betting on.
III. The occurrence of death entails the assured and utter destruction of our lives, our physical form of existence; as a man perishes, his common and close environment continues to live on and operates with his distinct absence; surely no one would expect a dead body to follow the pattern of activity it had while being alive, it is left only to rot and reek; suddenly so lifeless and unsightly.
IV. Based on materialistic philosophy; the prospect of conscious post-death survival of the spiritual sort is improbable and non-reliable. Spiritual immortality, which in most cases presupposes such survival - holds on to the same unfounded nature.
V. Based on common sense; the worldwide numerousity of religious and mystical creeds and their evident diversity significantly diminish their credibility and accordingly strengthen their fallibly. This point is highly important; suppose one particular post-death survival creed is correct, retaining a true miraculous or divine element - how could one tell it apart from the rest? –All creeds purport to retain such element while revoking their contenders' claims. Due to the lack of impartial proof, or more precisely – the lack of physical means to attain such proof, it is quite impossible to tell creeds apart; most if not all seem to rely on subjective interpretation and so-called "ancient wisdom".
VI. There is nothing on earth that could possibly prove the existence of heaven, hell, or any other sort of desirable or undesirable post-death world; the same applies to the reincarnation creeds. On the other hand, there is plenty of evidence confirming that people would eventually die; that our physical life here on this beautiful planet, our definite form of existence as we know it - is bound to expire at a certain time. No more, no less.
Given the above circumstances, it is, as we most sincerely believe, that our real adversary can and should easily be indicated and indicted.
Death.
This segment was copied with consent from Forma Aeternus: A Quest for Enduring Beauty by Daniel Stein --Inarchunite 09:45, 6 Aug 2005 (PDT)
