THE STORY OF MY LIFE: Will there be an Afterlife?

On Friday I posted part 3 of The Story of My Life. This is the fourth and concluding portion, delving into what will come after I die.

I am 99+% certain that death will bring me eternal gloom, or peace, depending on how I will end up feeling. But I could be wrong, and most of my acquaintances have the belief that they will see me in Heaven. Yet, with my current attitude, will this be possible?

Let's begin with Christianity, which for two millennia has been convinced that no one who refuses to believe in God and The Bible can go to heaven. But eight years ago Pope Francis wrote an open letter with an ambiguous passage leading to speculation about the requirement of faith.

Do only Christians go to Heaven?

Classical evangelical doctrine holds that salvation comes only through faith in Jesus Christ, and that those without such faith will be condemned to hell. A number of texts are typically cited in support of this position.

But only 31% of the world population is Christian. An argument can be made that most religions support some cosmological supernatural place. Then, there is a higher belief that an axis mundi or world tree connects the assorted heavens.

As you have long realized, one can rationalize and imagine almost anything, but logic further fails when other questions crop up. As for example, whether a Christian infant will be allowed to advance. Incidentally, The Bible throughout does specify that pets will be found in Heaven. But as animals don't have faith, like that baby, there must be some allowance for escape clauses. I'm trying to build a case for how those without obvious faith can still be admitted.

In any case, here is an interesting comparison of what percent of various religious disciplines believe in life after death:

Clear from this poll that more believe in an afterlife than not.

Finally, you would think that the more schooling you have, the less you would believe in life after death. While this is true, only barely so.

So to answer my question at the top. No Afterlife for me, and, as best as I can tell, no life after death for you either, no matter what you believe. A particularly smart guy, Stephen Hawking, said:

There is no heaven; it's a fairy story.

The overriding proof is that there is no proof of a Heaven. Unfortunately, you or I will never know. Unless there is a Heaven.

With that bit of hope, here is some cute glee, to Good Golly Miss Molly:

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