Atheist "Religious" Principals

From Atheist HQ

In thinking about what it is that people really fear about death, it occurred to me that the biggest fear may be of being judged. Not only, being judged, but being judged by someone you can't BS that has your future in his/her/its hands. This would be especially disturbing to someone who has lived their life in a deceitful or dishonest manner. All of their secrets are about to be exposed and sentance is to be passed.

Being an atheist to me, does not rule out the possibility of my continued existence once this body is through. From a purely scientific standpoint, until we identify and completely understand the nature of the individual consciousness, we can't rule the possibility in or out.

Religion is a means of establishing the terms of an afterlife before the fact. Atheists need to get in on this, but in a more logical manner. Let's start with the premise that you will continue to exist in some form after your human body dies. What can we safely assume other than that? Well, you probably wont carry much memory forward, since memory is physically stored in the brain, and you wont have access to that anymore. You may carry forward a unique method of processing input or something akin to a "motherboard" , but not much else. We don't know what the environment will look like, or even if the physics will be the same. We don't know what type of vehicle or body you'll be housed in. Logically, to be best prepared for such an unknown situation it's best to focus on those ideas and ideals that will be of good use in any circumstance where individuals interact in some form or another.

The primary principal to carry forward should be the right to "self" . That is, that you exist primarily for your own benefit/entertainment/pleasure and not for someone or something else's. Freedom of association, freedom of thought, freedom from coercion and aggression should all apply regardless of the environment. You promote this principal by practicing it. You recognize these rights and freedoms among others and do nothing to violate or inhibit them, while demanding the same for yourself. The golden rule "Treat your neighbor as you would have them treat you" is OmniVersal.

What action should you take? You've just been thrown into a totally new and foreign environment. You don't speak the language, you don't have any knowledge of the place or mastery of anything in it. You don't know anyone here yet. A good rule of thumb is to always think: "How can I make this better?" In any given moment, is there an action you can take that will make the next moment more enjoyable, interesting, comfortable, etc, without violating the primary principal?

These are a couple of good ones to start with. I don't want to list a bunch of guidelines, just for the sake of having more guidelines.

What's the point? Well, as I said, if there's an afterlife, you probably don't get to keep your memory. Therefore any useful ideals or methods of operating must be ingrained in your self to be carried forward. The best way to accomplish that is to live by those parameters now. Everyday. All the time, until you don't have to think about it anymore. It's just who you are. OmniVersal principals are meant to be advantageous in any universe, including this one, even if this turns out to be the only one and there is no life after your human body expires.

Also, if there is an afterlife, you'll be dealing with individuals for whom different afterlife ground rules may have been established. Any delay in getting your self oriented and prepared to make decisions could leave one vulnerable to deception and manipulation. Best to be somewhat ready in advance. After all, if there is an afterlife, there's no reason think I wont be in the minority again. I'm going to need allies in the next phase, if only to keep from being burned at the proverbial stake.