"Joan, I'm glad to hear your good news, and hope you don't vomit too much.
That's all I have time for now, as I'm working in the garden most of each day now."
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To the Religious: Deep Down, You Probably Already Know That Your Religion is False
When push comes to shove, there aren't many religious people who truly believe in their religion. The litmus test is how a person feels about death itself.
Assuming you are a religious person, allow me to ask you a few questions:
Firstly, how do you feel about your own death? Are you afraid of dying or are you looking forward to it? Does death seem like a wonderful journey? Or are you scared?
How about any friends and family that you currently have that are dying? Are you happy for them? Do you think of that person lying at home or in a hospital bed, and smile to yourself? Or are you filled with a sense of dread and impending loss?
If you are sick, are you currently going to a doctor to get treatment? Or are you hoping to die as quickly as possible?
If you are religious, you should be happy to be getting sick, and happy for any of your friends
and family that are currently dying. It is God's plan. They will soon be nearer to "paradise".
Are you happy about death? If not, ask yourself, why not?
Please take a few minutes to think about this. It's serious stuff.
...
If you are in fact not looking forward to taking a dirt nap, could it be that deep down, you realize that you aren't really going to "heaven"? You realize that your religion won't really save you from death.
You are in good company. When Cardinal Joseph Bernardin of Chicago had cancer some years ago, guess where he went? He went to the hospital for some (sadly unsuccessful) treatment. Was the Cardinal trying to give God a little bit of a hand with his master plan? "Oh, God must really want me to live longer, but just doesn't have the time to cure my cancer. Poor old overscheduled God."
Or perhaps the Cardinal was just terrified of dying, just like most of the rest of us.
A religious person going to a doctor - that tells me that their faith isn't quite as rock solid as they might have hoped.
One more question: Have you ever been to a funeral? If so, was it a happy or sad affair?
If it was a religious funeral, shouldn't it be a happy occasion - a time for rejoicing?
Funerals that I have attended have been sad. Naturally, we all know, deep down, that the person has died. They aren't coming back, and we aren't ever going to see them again as we remembered them.
In our hearts, if we are honest, I think almost all of us know the truth.
-Buford Twain
PS - I have created the group "The Exit" for further discussions on the cheery topic of death. All welcome. Let's get ready for the big event together :)
Assuming you are a religious person, allow me to ask you a few questions:
Firstly, how do you feel about your own death? Are you afraid of dying or are you looking forward to it? Does death seem like a wonderful journey? Or are you scared?
How about any friends and family that you currently have that are dying? Are you happy for them? Do you think of that person lying at home or in a hospital bed, and smile to yourself? Or are you filled with a sense of dread and impending loss?
If you are sick, are you currently going to a doctor to get treatment? Or are you hoping to die as quickly as possible?
If you are religious, you should be happy to be getting sick, and happy for any of your friends
and family that are currently dying. It is God's plan. They will soon be nearer to "paradise".
Are you happy about death? If not, ask yourself, why not?
Please take a few minutes to think about this. It's serious stuff.
...
If you are in fact not looking forward to taking a dirt nap, could it be that deep down, you realize that you aren't really going to "heaven"? You realize that your religion won't really save you from death.
You are in good company. When Cardinal Joseph Bernardin of Chicago had cancer some years ago, guess where he went? He went to the hospital for some (sadly unsuccessful) treatment. Was the Cardinal trying to give God a little bit of a hand with his master plan? "Oh, God must really want me to live longer, but just doesn't have the time to cure my cancer. Poor old overscheduled God."
Or perhaps the Cardinal was just terrified of dying, just like most of the rest of us.
A religious person going to a doctor - that tells me that their faith isn't quite as rock solid as they might have hoped.
One more question: Have you ever been to a funeral? If so, was it a happy or sad affair?
If it was a religious funeral, shouldn't it be a happy occasion - a time for rejoicing?
Funerals that I have attended have been sad. Naturally, we all know, deep down, that the person has died. They aren't coming back, and we aren't ever going to see them again as we remembered them.
In our hearts, if we are honest, I think almost all of us know the truth.
-Buford Twain
PS - I have created the group "The Exit" for further discussions on the cheery topic of death. All welcome. Let's get ready for the big event together :)
Comment
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Comment by Clarence Dember on December 16, 2008 at 12:55pm -
What I've seen most in death is the loss of viability as a life form as death closes in.
There are varied reasons for this. Some are related to misunderstanding some important process of the body that gets disrupted and leads to breakdown but most of the degraded viability as a life form is built in and takes place over time.
The amazing thing is that we can choose to get a few things done before we hit the wall. We don't all have to go out like Ernest Hemingway. We can go on till the end, like Amadeus Wolfgang Mozart or John Denver or George Carlin or Bob Fosse.
The point I see here is to avoid wasting valuable time on the inevitable curtain closing of life before we have authored and acted out the complete screen play.
Pharaoh's got a great tomb, but no life.
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Comment by Buford Twain on December 16, 2008 at 8:20am -
To Michael: Religious folk have a way of justifying everything to themselves, I have noticed.
To Robin: I was a Christian too, you are probably right in the case of extremely devout religious people. However, there is a very large contingency (the majority?) of religious folks who simply have not taken the time to seriously think through their belief system. These are the people who were brainwashed as children and continued going to church because it's the "done thing". Those are the folks who I think will realize they are on shaky ground when they think hard about some of these points. That was me before I started thinking for myself about these things.
To Mr. Black: Thanks for sharing that story - I often think that assisted suicide is the way to go in the case of extreme, debilitating and/or painful illnesses. We do it for our pets, after all.
To felch: You are lucky to not be afraid of death. I am somewhat afraid, but getting less afraid with age. Or maybe it's just a brave phase I am going through ... that may change later :)
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Comment by Фелч Гроган on December 16, 2008 at 6:03am -
I only really have to wishes - 1) a source of independent income where I do nothing, or, failing that 2) a quick, painless and unexpected death.
I have no fear of death (if its quick and painless). I could die now and know I've lived a richer, more satisfying life than most of the god-ridden. I may even have done more good for those around me and the world I live in. Death would not mean loss to me. Those that truly know me understand this, and a lot have similar sentiments.
The theists on the other hand live in perpetual fear - the contradictions and the bullshit of their belief systems means none of them really know how the scales will tip. How many sins have they committed without knowing ? Thinking that god is a hanging judge - for whom ignorance is no excuse for the law - means that even the most virtuous may end up frying. Screw them. Their hell is here. Their hell is now.
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Comment by Robin Johnson-Perkins - Babel Fish on December 15, 2008 at 9:52pm -
It's all to do with missing them and there company and love etc, etc. Even us so called hard hearted atheist do this we morn for friends and some times great people.
Thats nothing really to do with religion and remember the religious will bring up in conversation that so and so is in heaven. Also a widower or widow will tell you their expecting to meet their dead true love in heaven when its their turn.
The cardinal going to seek medical attention is the norm of many religion believe that medicine and medicare works if its not the follows time to die and go to heaven. Prayer is given to ask for help to easy the suffering and pain, selfish prayer will be given to keep the dying person on earth of which is wrong in relious moral princible.
I hope I have helped you both in understanding Christians its easier when you have been one once upon a time.
The fear of death is natural its how we are programmed to survive, such as one in their right mind does not step off a cliff or wants someone to kill them. Faith does help people come to terms with their death or with athiest knowing that nothing exists after death makes it a waste of time worrying about it other than avoiding accidents and takin care of ones health etc.
I have asked this death question before on the web and there are of course differing opinions but the main fits in to my explainations.
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