If you are an atheist what happens when you die?

Here are some comments from other contributors.

• When you die you simply cease to exist. It is impossible for anyone to grasp this concept entirely because the 'experience' itself is an entire lack of experience. The concept of nonexistence can be compared to the lack of existence of a human before being conceived or brought into the world - The universe was here before you were born and will continue when you are gone.

• I think that I will cease to be. That is all I know. I would love for there to be some awesome afterlife, but I have no evidence for that, so I'm not counting on it. I don't think that there is probably any escape from death, and I'm ok with that. It allows me to live THIS life to the fullest and be the best that I can be while I'm here. I've seen so many theists waste their lives thinking that there will be an afterlife when they could have really lived! It breaks my heart.

• The same thing that happens to anyone else when they die. Believing that one can escape death hard enough doesn't change this fact. We cease to be because our body can not function without a living mind. We simply decompose and become part of the matter that helps many other forms of life survive.
  

• There is still no evidence on whether we live in another form.
  

• No one knows what happens after the death. Atheists can also have "deistic" beliefs on what might happen after they die.
• Atheists do not have "deistic" beliefs; anyone who believes in a deity cannot, by definition, be considered an atheist.

• I believe that when you die, it will be a bit like being unconscious. Only your heart will stop beating and your organs will stop functioning and you'll begin to decay. I think people have been brought up believing in all sorts of heavens and afterlifes, simply because it's human nature to be afraid of death. If you live on after your body dies, there's really nothing to be afraid of. Atheists are just as afraid to die as anyone else, we just accept the fact that it will happen and don't cover it up with fantasies about living forever.

• Most atheism is based on science. Pretty much every atheist would like to believe in an afterlife but there is just no proof (Just like the first person who answered this question said). I'm not sure what happens when you die, and I really don't care.

• When we die, our physical bodies cease to exist and become decomposed into the matter that makes up the biosphere of nature. That is the scientific view. No afterlife experience has been reported. But, that does not mean that it is not possible. Most all cultures of the earth, from the primitive to the modern, include state of being that is beyond the death experience. Many religions have been developed to address this innate 'intuitive feeling' that many people have in the belief in the afterlife. What the true answer may be just a personal revelation at the time of death.

• The same thing that happens to everyone else.

• No one knows what there is after death; that is, if there is anything at all. So really, it all depends on the variables. If the Christian faith is true, atheists will burn in hell. The list goes on and on. But, we know for a FACT that our physical bodies will cease to exist, and will decay and become part of the earth again (carbon cycle).

First answer by ID1163669114. Last edit by 11e11o. Contributor trust: 1 [recommend contributor]. Question popularity: 19 [recommend question]