Guest kcdad Posted January 17, 2009 Share Posted January 17, 2009 I am just home the memorial service of a friend who died much to young from a 4 year long battle with cancer. The Preacher made the obligatory comment that he was in heaven and at peace and out of pain... I don't have any problem with the last two points. I am really irritated at the idea that we can trivialize the loss of such a terrific guy by saying we will see him again, resting in the arms of his lord. There is no loss in death because we will all be reunited in heaven. We ALL KNOW that is not true. We all feel the real loss of loved ones, and we know that the world is a lesser place because of their passing. Certainly the world is better for their having lived, and in my friend's case, no one is to blame. But in war, murder, drunk drivers or whatever... there is NO solace in that the loss of life is irretrievable. Get rid of the idea of heaven and life becomes precious again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest QuidEstCaritas? Posted January 17, 2009 Share Posted January 17, 2009 I am just home the memorial service of a friend who died much to young from a 4 year long battle with cancer. The Preacher made the obligatory comment that he was in heaven and at peace and out of pain... I don't have any problem with the last two points. I am really irritated at the idea that we can trivialize the loss of such a terrific guy by saying we will see him again, resting in the arms of his lord. There is no loss in death because we will all be reunited in heaven. We ALL KNOW that is not true. We all feel the real loss of loved ones, and we know that the world is a lesser place because of their passing. Certainly the world is better for their having lived, and in my friend's case, no one is to blame. But in war, murder, drunk drivers or whatever... there is NO solace in that the loss of life is irretrievable. Get rid of the idea of heaven and life becomes precious again. I agree that Heaven poses an obstacle to people being able to truly grieve and realize how precious life is. Believing in someone going to "Heaven" is really a half-assed grieving process where things get compartmentalized psychologically and grieving is denied through religious belief. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PiracyOfTheHead Posted January 18, 2009 Share Posted January 18, 2009 I am just home the memorial service of a friend who died much to young from a 4 year long battle with cancer. The Preacher made the obligatory comment that he was in heaven and at peace and out of pain... I don't have any problem with the last two points. I am really irritated at the idea that we can trivialize the loss of such a terrific guy by saying we will see him again, resting in the arms of his lord. There is no loss in death because we will all be reunited in heaven. We ALL KNOW that is not true. We all feel the real loss of loved ones, and we know that the world is a lesser place because of their passing. Certainly the world is better for their having lived, and in my friend's case, no one is to blame. But in war, murder, drunk drivers or whatever... there is NO solace in that the loss of life is irretrievable. Get rid of the idea of heaven and life becomes precious again. Yes, this is true. One thing that I noticed was that when Abraham lost Sarah, he freaked out in mourning....the 'friend of god' weeping and wailing, in full morning, not with a beatific pan am smile pretending its all good cuz "I'll fly away oh glory....", and we are of course led to believe Abraham knew full well she would be "with god"...same with other 'saints' in the bible, they go through absolute mourning when their other 'saint' friends die etc. This whole attitude you speak of has XTIAN BS written all over it. Good point. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
par4dcourse Posted January 18, 2009 Share Posted January 18, 2009 Hebben and hell are the only weapons xians have to control the heathen masses. They can't take a shit without trying to "convert" someone to their TRUTHTM. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest QuidEstCaritas? Posted January 18, 2009 Share Posted January 18, 2009 Hebben and hell are the only weapons xians have to control the heathen masses. They can't take a shit without trying to "convert" someone to their TRUTHTM. Ramen. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OpheliaGinger Posted January 18, 2009 Share Posted January 18, 2009 George Carlin covered that: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dkRA9n2WWaY Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Justin Posted January 19, 2009 Share Posted January 19, 2009 One thing that I noticed was that when Abraham lost Sarah, he freaked out in mourning....the 'friend of god' weeping and wailing, in full morning, not with a beatific pan am smile pretending its all good cuz "I'll fly away oh glory....", and we are of course led to believe Abraham knew full well she would be "with god"...same with other 'saints' in the bible, they go through absolute mourning when their other 'saint' friends die etc. Have you ever noticed that when a loved one dies, most christians mourn like the rest of us do? When my mamaw died back in September, all my family members were extremly sad, and all of them, save for me, are christian. It's like they know what they believe is no more true than the man on the moon. I think it is during times like the loss of a loved one that one can really see the silly facade, the make believe front crumbling away and how the whole thing is one big sham. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Neon Genesis Posted January 19, 2009 Share Posted January 19, 2009 Oddly, even when I was a Christian I never really mourned at a funeral. It's not that I didn't miss the person that died or that I was glad they were gone or anything. I just never cried because I thought death was something inevitable. I was always more sad seeing the other people around me going through the pain of their lost. But it's strange that xtians will always preach about how wonderful heaven is going to be and how we shouldn't focus on the pleasures of this world so much, but they don't act so glad when faced with the reality of death. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MathGeek Posted January 19, 2009 Share Posted January 19, 2009 I cried at my Grandpa's funeral for two reasons. I missed him dearly and I wanted my faith back. The night before at the viewing, my aunt had to train-wreck the process by prostelityzing to the rest of the family. She said that my Grandpa's wish was to see that his children and grandchildren accepted Christ as their Lord and Savior. Tried it one last time as a Catholic and it failed. Funny thing happened, my aunt sent my wife a birthday card a month early. She suggested we come down for a visit, or more like a brainwashing session. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vomit Comet Posted January 20, 2009 Share Posted January 20, 2009 The last funeral I went to as a Christian was an old friend of mine that got shot dead by a gang. I remember we were all hopped up and in fervor over the undeniable fact that we'd be seeing him in Hebb'in... although we just kind of had to assume that he repented from his backsliding in the ambulance before he went DOA. I remember writing "see you on the other side, homie", which I got from an Ozzy song (minus the "homie" part). Truth be told that was one of the high points of my faith, and possibly that of several others, for lots of complicated reasons that have to do with ghetto culture and shit. After I deconverted, I was like... fuck. Homie's in the ground, rotting, and that's it.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vigile Posted January 20, 2009 Share Posted January 20, 2009 I didn't lose anyone close to me when I was a believer, but have sure lost more than my share since becoming an atheist. The hardest was when my best friend died of a brain tumor. It's pretty hard to not go through a bit of a nihilistic phase after something like that. My grandfather's funeral gave me really mixed emotions. I really missed him and knew I'd never see that great man again. And I was incredibly pissed off at the little pissant of a preacher who only knew him for a couple of years who took it upon himself to give an alter call at the funeral because that's what grandpa would have wanted. It still pisses me off that such a great life can be reduced to such nonsense at the end. Most interesting to me though is the fact that both my grandfather and my uncle who just died of bone cancer (the most fucked up of all fucked up ways to die) clung to life until the very end. Both of them were die hard believers so why did life matter to them if it's really only fleeting and if death is merely a transition? My uncle was in pain that probably surpassed what the Viet Cong dished out at Hanoi Hilton and yet he fought and struggled to stay alive until his last breath. Why? If they really had faith that something better was coming, why stick through so much pain to avoid going there? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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