Living forever?

The question of what happens after a person dies is a concern for many people, especially as they get older. People have different perspectives and theories of life after death and most are religious. Different faiths teach a variety of incompatible and mutually exclusive beliefs. Believing in some sort of existence after death can be comforting for those who examine various beliefs before settling for what suits them. Christians believe that the soul goes to Heaven (if you are a good person) or to Hell (for bad people). Hindus believe that the soul or spirit is reincarnated into another person or animal. Agnostics mostly believe that once a person is dead, they are dead; there is no other existence and instead matter is never destroyed but transformed into other particles. Muslims believe that it all depends on a believer’s good or bad deeds while alive. If someone dies their soul goes back to the creator but the body is buried and remains in the grave while waiting for the Day of Judgment to determine their fate. “Our work as fellow believers is to ensure that the dead are buried decently and that rituals are performed well. But where they will go is determined by their earthly deeds,” said Sheik Birikimana Ali of Giporoso Mosque. Catholics on the other hand argue that it all depends on whether a person confesses their sins. If a person believes that Christ died for their sins, and confesses all mortal sins prior to death they may end up in purgatory where they suffer to pay for the temporal punishment of their already forgiven sins. According to the Catholic Church, after a period of time—that could be immediate or millions of years, a suffering soul may eventually see the beatific vision. However, if you commit a mortal sin and do not confess, one will get the hot foot- (Catholic Encyclopedia). Seventh Day Adventists hold that if a man dies, his body remains in the grave for the second coming of Christ, in other words once a person has died he is dead and has no business with the living world (Ecclesiastes 9:5). Pr. Paul Umuremye of Kigali English Church asserts that, “when a person dies he rests in the grave while he awaits the glorious resurrection; the question is whether he will be in the first resurrection or the second as stated in the book of Revelation.” For Born Again Christians, there is now place to go until the second coming of Christ. Therefore, these beliefs simply sum up the fact that life does not come to an abrupt end but continues to another realm depending on how you lived on earth. iruikmo@yahoo.com