[Cthulhu_]

And that's fair, nobody's telling you you should. I think.

I don't believe myself, but I can recognize the comfort that people get from faith, either faith in a higher power or a belief in what happens after death. My GF is pagan, she says she can see spirits leaving the body; for her, it makes dealing with death a lot easier. Like when our dog died, she just got on with dealing with the body because it was just an empty meatsack to her. Likewise, she said she doesn't care what happens with her body after death, because empty meatsack. If that gives her comfort, who am I to tell her she's wrong? I don't know either.

Personally I'm more of a nihilist and think there's nothing after death, so there's no reason to fear it or care much about it, I won't be around. I've always theorised that life-after-death religions are at least in part based on fear - fear of nothingness, or fear of being judged and punished for things done (or not done) in life. I don't want to live in fear like that myself, but if others are more fearful and find comfort in faith that's good for them.

[TomSwirly]

I get that, but just because a belief makes you happier, doesn't make it true.

I know a lot of people who chose to believe that COVID was a hoax, and that vaccination was a conspiracy, because these beliefs made them happier.

But the consequences of these false beliefs was an incredibly large amount of death and suffering, all avoidable.

> she says she can see spirits leaving the body

But we both know this is a false belief. If she tested this scientifically, you know she would be unable to do better than chance.