Death

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Permalink Reply by Jezzy on October 11, 2009 at 11:41am

Thanks, all of you. The funeral was yesterday and we had a wake at my brother's house. There were a lot of toasts, and it was really really good, especially since everyone could say the things they couldn't in an LDS chapel (my brother had an endearingly lewd/disturbing sense of humor). I think I'm doing better than most of my family, unless it hasn't hit me enough and I'm secretly doing worse. It just hurts to see them in so much pain. My dad never cries, so it scares me, and my mom is hypersensitive to begin with, so she's hysterical at times.

I actually went through the anger phase a little at the viewing. Just these little things made me really mad, like people wearing colors that were too bright, or they weren't crying enough, or they didn't know my brother well enough to be there. I got upset because my brother collected gems and stones and my sister-in-law put some on the table for people to take, and I didn't want kids and strangers taking my brother's things... I've never liked church or social functions to begin with, so I tried to hide but it didn't really work, and I was on picture duty anyways.

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Permalink Reply by Jo Jerome on October 5, 2009 at 8:07pm

Talk about frustration. Good vibes to you and yours.

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Permalink Reply by Charles on October 6, 2009 at 12:51am

Death of someone you love is always hard.Sure, I wish I could see them again but we know that isn't possible.That makes me sad but I would rather live with that than in a delusion.I get so upset when people say,"Well, She is with Jesus now"I know it's not so.It's great being an atheist as far as my death is concern.I know when I die I will simply not exist.Really no different before I was born.I think if I were a Christian or Muslim I would be scared of dying because I would wonder if I was going to heaven or hell.

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Permalink Reply by OutlawGirl on October 6, 2009 at 1:11am

Even if your family member went to heaven they'd be gone to you. Besides, whose to say they went to heaven? That's not the only place you might wind up after death. I've heard the south side club is a lot easier to stumble into. In fact you can live a perfectly righteous life while believing in god and still find yourself living perminently in that downtown club on a technicality, like worshiping the wrong god or never having your last rights. So if heaven did exist your odds (and your mother's odds) of getting in would be slim to none.

By the way, does anyone else find it strange that physical death is the only means by which a person can "meet" god? That's started to seem suspicious to me lately. If you claim to know, for sure, that an impossible being exists, what better way to cover up your lie than to say that he only reveals himself to you and people who have died? It's so simple. No one really knows what happens after death so no one can contradict you. Further more since most people are afraid of death, when you tell them that there's some magical paradise that exists after death they're inclined to believe you because it alievates their fear. The afterlife makes people feel secure.

The atheist's idea of death is death as it should be. Death is the great equalizer. There are a lot of positive things that can be said for death without the afterlife.

1. People who were suffering in life are no longer in pain.
2. Good people don't burn in eternal torment for worshiping the wrong god.
3. Evil people aren't rewarded for worshiping the right god.
4. The greatest peace there can be is simply not to exist, because existance always leads to struggle.
5. Life has more value when it can end for good.

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Permalink Reply by debby on October 7, 2009 at 5:40am

Time is the great master, It will tell you what to do ! don't bother about it and enjoy every moment of your life positively sympathy words

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Permalink Reply by Mike Kleinman on October 7, 2009 at 6:22am

I have had plenty of experience with loved ones dying. My daughter, my mother, father, grandmas, aunts, uncles... The hardest thing to accept is the notion of your own non-existence. I was in a bad accident and in a coma for 4 weeks. There was no 'light' or god or anything. Actually, It was about 2 years later that I realized that it was simply nothing during those 4 weeks. No awareness at all. I credit it with my atheism. Since death effects 100% of the earth's population you would think that humanity would be better at dealing with it by now. Thats what you get for thinking.

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Permalink Reply by Barb on October 7, 2009 at 6:56am

I was raised catholic and the specter of hell weighed upon me even after I rejected all religions.
To tell the truth, I was a bit suicidal before coming to the conclusion that there is no kind of god at all, and now I am looking forward to life again, so the truth about death has been an improvement to me.

I don’t remember where I heard this, but, death is the same state we were in before birth. It's been our state for all but the tiniest blip of time which is our lives. It is our natural state interrupted by our life.

I am fairly new to atheism, but I am hoping this thought will help me should I become upset by the fact of my own and other's endings.

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Permalink Reply by Jaime Paredes Muñoz on October 7, 2009 at 11:14am

We go from being nothing,to being nothing.When people is older,has a desire to die, sometimes.We cannot change the laws of natrure.Schopenhauer the German phillosopher put it simply:"after death, there is nothing,absolutedly nothing".Religions make us believe there is something as a prize for a good life, but this is against freedom.There are no sins, just options".

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Permalink Reply by Ursula on October 8, 2009 at 1:23am

Death does not scare me one bit. Call me crazy, but I cant wait to see what happens!!! There are so many "What ifs" What if we all get reincarnated?? Or what if there is a special afterlife?? Or what if it's just nothing?? It truly is life's greatest mystery. But dont worry, I'm not going to go and kill myself anytime soon. And losing someone is hard because we miss them so much!! My heart goes out to all of you who have lost someone and are still grieving.

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Permalink Reply by Nate on October 8, 2009 at 7:47am

Call me crazy, but I cant wait to see what happens!!!

I think being dead means that you can't "see what happens". Show's over.

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Permalink Reply by Eric Tawney on October 11, 2009 at 2:35pm

Death does not frighten me. The process of dying, especially in America frightens me alot. We give more compassion to suffering animals than to humans. I don't want to die in pain, but it will probably happen here. I am not concerned about my 'soul' or other such nonsense. I'm concerned about living a good life full of joy, giving, and love. If I die while doing those things, I will die happy. Others may worry about where I'm going after I die, but I won't.

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Permalink Reply by Sam Prescott on October 27, 2009 at 4:06pm

The thing about death is that it is inevitable. You can not avoid it, so one must either shy away from it, or confront it. Confronting death is not easy, but remember that death is truly permanent.

Being an atheist does not mean that our mourning is wrong - we are mourning for the person's passing, not asking for forgiveness from "God".

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