Maxime+Damis

__Introduction:__
Many different religions have different view on what happens to the body once you have passed away. Many religions believe in some type of afterlife. Although some religions state one way of afterlife in their sacred text, the many branches of that religion have different interpretations on afterlife. Afterlife is one of the most attractive parts of a religion. It promises a great and eternal life and that can draw people in to very easily. I have focused on the Christian and Islam religions which are two religions that have a similar take on afterlife as well as being two of the most popular religions worldwide. Through this brochure, there will be many quotes and interpretations from the Bible and the Qur'an, the sacred texts, as well as other peoples understandings and interpretations of these two religions.

__Christian__
According to John 3:16 in the Bible: "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life."

One secondary persons interpretation of the afterlife of Christians is: “Christian beliefs about the afterlife vary between denominations and individual Christians, but the vast majority of Christians believe in some kind of heaven, in which believers enjoy the presence of God and other believers and freedom from suffering and sin.”


 * Analysis:** In the religion of christianity, eternal life comes as the reward of believing in Jesus. There are two major different types of Christian beliefs for afterlife. There are denominations and individual Christians. A very large amount of these people believe in a sort of afterlife. A much less percentage believes in a hell. In this instance, eternal life means that you will go on and have an afterlife. Going to heaven is the ultimate reward. In 2000, 33% of the worlds population was Christian and was and still is the largest world-wide religion. Does this have anything to do with its promise of afterlife?

__Muslim__
"Then Allah will resurrect His slaves and give them eternal life to which there will be no end. He will bring them to account for their deeds, and He will reward those who did good deeds and punish those who did evil deeds. Mankind will be divided into two groups, one in Paradise and one in Hell. The people of Paradise will abide therein forever, and the kaafir people of Hell will abide therein forever also." [al-Nisa’ 4:57]

“Everyone shall taste death. Then unto us you shall be returned” - [al-‘Ankaboot 29:57]

“Islam teaches the continued existence of the soul and a transformed physical existence after death. Muslims believe there will be a day of judgment when all humans will be divided between the eternal destinations of Paradise and Hell.” //
 * Analysis:** Islam has three main types of Muslims. Although these three are slightly different from each other, they both believe in an after life being rewarded to those who do good deeds and being punished for doing bad deeds. The exact good deeds vs. bad deeds is explored more through out the Qu'ran. In 2000, Islam was the second biggest religion in the world and contained 19 percent of the people in the world. Islam is yet again another promising religion with a promising afterlife and is, like Christianity, one of the largest religions in the world. The Islamic beliefs of afterlife are very similar to those of the Christian beliefs. //

__Atheism__
 "Atheists often promote the belief that all Gods and Goddesses, as well as angles, demons, ghosts, ect., are nonexistent entities created by humans minds."

"I don't believe in an afterlife, so I don't have to spend my whole life fearing hell, or fearing heaven even more. For whatever the tortures of hell, I think the boredom of heaven would be even worse."- Isaac Asimov "No, I don't know that Atheists should be considered as citizens, nor should they be considered as patriots. This is one nation under God." - George H. W. Bush


 * // Analysis ://** // Atheism is one of the smallest populated religions. It contains less than 3 percent of the worlds population. It is often debated on whether Atheism can be considered a religion because it is not like other religions. Rather than follow the rules of a God and working towards an afterlife, Atheists believe in no God and develop their own ideas and ethics on how life should be lived. Atheists also do not believe in an afterlife. I wonder if Atheism would be more popular if it had a promised afterlife to it. It might make it more appealing t o those who feel the need to work towards something more and believe that their morals and actions will take them farther than life. Atheism is often looked down upon by other religions and religious people. Using the quote by George H. W. Bush, you can see that even a religion about not truly having a religion is discriminated against. Often this descrimination comes from the idea that if you do not believe in an afterlife or a God, your motivation in life does not exist because often that motivation comes from working towards an afterlife. //

__Other Quotes__
“Accordingly, the probability of believing in the existence of an afterlife and the diversity of religions, at least in terms of their afterlife rewards, are crucial when exploring the behavior of religionists.” -Religion as an Investment: Comparing the Contributions and Volunteering Frequency among Christians, Buddhists, and Folk Religionists

__Conclusion__
People follow religions for all different reasons. It is hard to assume that people join those religions for reasons of afterlife but afterlife is definitely an explored topic when deciding the religion you want to follow if you are in fact given that option. It is a very interesting concept that the most popular religions in the world have the most rewarding afterlife with less of a belief in hell and that the religions with no belief in afterlife are the least populated religions. In my opinion, afterlife definitely effects peoples choices in religion as well as their outlook on other religions.

__Work Cited__
(1) Hung-Lin, Tao, and Yeh Powen "Religion as an Investment: Comparing the Contributions and Volunteer Frequency among Christians, Buddhists, and Folk Religionists." Southern Economic Journal 73.3 (2007): 770-790. Advanced Placement Source. EBSCO. Web. 20 Oct. 2009. 2. Significant information (2) Haddow, Agnus H. "Dying, Death and After Death." Journal of Religion & Psychical Research 23.3 (2000): 133. Advanced Placement Source. EBSCO. Web. 20 Oct. 2009. (3) Anonymous. "Christian Holidays." ReligionFacts. 8 February 2007. [from "Updated:" on the left of the article] Accessed 8 December 2007 [date you accessed the article] . (4) Anonymous,. "Islam Q&A." //There will be no end to the life of the Hereafter// . IslamQA, Web. 28 Oct 2009. . (5 ) Anonymous,. "Atheism." //Religious Tolerence.// 28 July 2007. Ontario Consultants on Religious Tolerance, Web. 28 Oct 2009. . (6) The Holy Bible (7) The Qu'ran