atheists: how did you deal with this

[Guest Challenger]

let me assert my firm belief that the only thing we have to fear is fear itself—nameless, unreasoning, unjustified terror which paralyzes needed efforts to convert retreat into advance.

 

FDR

 

Unreasoning fear is our greatest enemy. Why do you fear Death? All things must die in order to make room for new life. Accept it and move on.

105074[/snapback]

 

 

From the day we arrive on the planet

And blinking, step into the sun

There's more to see than can ever be seen

More to do than can ever be done

There's far too much to take in here

More to find than can ever be found

But the sun rolling high

Through the sapphire sky

Keeps great and small on the endless round

 

It's the Circle of Life

And it moves us all

Through despair and hope

Through faith and love

Till we find our place

On the path unwinding

In the Circle

The Circle of Life

 

It's the Circle of Life

And it moves us all

Through despair and hope

Through faith and love

Till we find our place

On the path unwinding

In the Circle

The Circle of Life

[Guest Challenger]

(willybilly30)

I would not fear death if I knew id be alive after it.

 

Willybilly, do you have children?

 

If you do. . .then your afterlife is assured, through them.

[willybilly30]

No I wish I did

 

 

 

 

 

(willybilly30)

I would not fear death if I knew id be alive after it.

 

Willybilly, do you have children?

 

If you do. . .then your afterlife is assured, through them.

105083[/snapback]

[DanInPA]

I think of death as "eternal sleep". Our brains shut down and that's that.

 

There may be an "afterlife" but no one knows (as opposed to believes) anything about it so I don't fret. I try to make the most of this life.

 

I like to think that we "live on" through the way we touch others' lives in the here and now.

 

Dan

[Mythra]

Why don’t you want to live forever? your life that terrible?

104997[/snapback]

 

Fuck, man. I didn't say I wished I was dead. I've got a great life. I wouldn't trade places with anybody. I'm a very happy, contented individual.

 

I said I don't want to live forever. Big difference.

 

Not existing didn't bother me before I was conceived. I'm quite sure it won't bother me after I die.

[Ro-bear]

But if I didn't have a chance to finish raising my girls. . .that would really piss me off.

104978[/snapback]

 

Same here, Bro. Mine are ten and seven. They will need me for a while. Forty years or so, I'm thinking.

[willybilly30]

I'm sorry I thought if you did not want to live forever you was not happy with life.

I guess fear of death would end at death if the afterlife didn't exist.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Why don’t you want to live forever? your life that terrible?

104997[/snapback]

 

Fuck, man. I didn't say I wished I was dead. I've got a great life. I wouldn't trade places with anybody. I'm a very happy, contented individual.

 

I said I don't want to live forever. Big difference.

 

Not existing didn't bother me before I was conceived. I'm quite sure it won't bother me after I die.

105128[/snapback]

[Guest JPD]

Responding to the OP, freeing myself from the christian belief in heaven and hell has quieted a great deal of my fear of death. While the belief in heaven might be comforting, you can't have it without hell. And hell is 100 times more disquieting than heaven is reassuring.

 

I find that the idea of the lights just going out is comforting in it's own way. So much of my life has been wasted believing that what really mattered was the afterlife. When you know that this is all you have, it just makes it that much more valuable. But, I don't feel the need to "believe" anything, one way or the other, on the matter. There's no way to know. You just have to trust life to do what it's going to do. I think we'll be okay, whatever happens.

[spamandham]

Reminds me of the saying

Eat drink and be merry for tomorrow we die

I don’t know who said it though

 

Epicurus, but it was "Eat and drink, for tomorrow we die." It means "enjoy life today".

 

It's instinctive to fear death, but you need not be terrified by it. Like any other fear, you only conquer it when you face it. Imagine your own lifeless body. Contemplate on what "nothing" really means. Think about the time before you were born, or the times during the night when you are neither awake nor dreaming. Is it really so bad?

 

The proof in the pudding comes when you lose a loved one. I don't know if it's just because I've been to so many funerals, or if it's because I no longer believe in an afterlife, but personally, it has been less traumatic to deal with death now that I no longer believe in an afterlife than it was when I still believed.

 

I think there are two reasons for this. Before I quit believing in afterlife, I had no motivation to really contemplate death, and so I didn't. When I lost a good friend in high school , it haunted me for years. I susbsequently lost another old friend who I had drifted away from, and my beloved great grandmother, as well as attending several other funerals including those of children (there's a nonhomicidal reason for these). These all hit hard.

 

Once I lost faith, I could not whitewash death away like I had before. I had to face it. It took me at least a year to come to terms with annihilation. Shortly after that, one of my grandfathers died. Oddly, it didn't hurt much. "I'll be there myself in a short while, and it won't matter at that point," went through my mind. A year later I lost a grandmother who was closer than the grandfather. It was the same experience. While I was busy accepting my own annihilation, I hadn't noticed I had mentally faced the annihilation of my loved ones as well.

 

That was reason #1. Reason two is that, if you accept annihilation, the doubts you have will comfort you (alternative to annihilation is afterlife)! On the other hand, if you believe in an afterlife, the doubts will terrify you (because you've never come to terms with annihilation.

 

It is the doubts that determine your state of mind in difficult situations, not your primary beliefs.

[Guest Challenger]

But if I didn't have a chance to finish raising my girls. . .that would really piss me off.

104978[/snapback]

 

Same here, Bro. Mine are ten and seven. They will need me for a while. Forty years or so, I'm thinking.

105130[/snapback]

 

40 years? Why so little time?

 

I plan on being around for a while.

 

I think overall we have a pretty savvy generation coming up. . .some of them are on this site.

 

I'd like to see what it's like once they start running things.

[pandora]

I don't fear what comes after death at all... in fact, I think I would prefer just to not exist.

 

What does scare me, however, is the fact that my last conscious experiences may be full of pain and some vague tunnel experience that would leave me expecting something that won't happen. I don't like that.

[All Gods Fail]

Responding to the OP, freeing myself from the christian belief in heaven and hell has quieted a great deal of my fear of death. While the belief in heaven might be comforting, you can't have it without hell. And hell is 100 times more disquieting than heaven is reassuring.

105174[/snapback]

Simpatico!

 

What's non-existance compared to eternal damnation? I'd rather be nothing than live in agony forever.

 

And why is it so horrible that no one may be running the show? It's a huge relief to me that there isn't a giant eyeball in the sky watching everything I do. No offense to the OP, but man - why would anyone want that?

[MQTA]

I do not know were I was before I was born.

My mother’s womb I guess.

Im not sure what I was aware of.

It would be interesting to find out what a baby thinks.

I guess all I can do is live my life and hope theirs another one

 

 

No, not just before you were born, before you were daddy's little squirt. Like 80 years ago, where were you? 800 years ago? 8000?

[MQTA]

It is a scary thought when you first start to think about it.  That's one of the reasons why religion is so popular.

 

After awhile, it becomes no big deal to think about ceasing.  At least for me, that is.

 

You have something in common with every single living thing that exists or has ever existed on the earth. 

 

I don't want to live forever.  I'm glad that my life has an ending someday.  And, for now, it just makes me want to get everything I can out of it while it's here.

104997[/snapback]

 

As one who's life totally changed going on 4 years ago now, don't put off til tomorrow... especially the things that require physical activity.

 

You can surf the web as long as you can see and type, but you never know when you won't be able to walk any more, or much at all, or run, or go on long excursions away from, um, facilities.

 

If you can, don't assume you'll always be able to, go out and do all you want to do, as time permits, while you can do it.

[MQTA]

But if I didn't have a chance to finish raising my girls. . .that would really piss me off.

104978[/snapback]

 

Same here, Bro. Mine are ten and seven. They will need me for a while. Forty years or so, I'm thinking.

105130[/snapback]

 

40 years? Why so little time?

 

I plan on being around for a while.

 

I think overall we have a pretty savvy generation coming up. . .some of them are on this site.

 

I'd like to see what it's like once they start running things.

105209[/snapback]

 

I guess it depends on how old you are. If I see another 40 years, I'm gonna have a party! If I see another 34, we'll have a great party. If I have another 10-20 semi-good healthy years left, I'll be very fortunate.

 

I never used to think about what life would be in my 60s or 70s and if I'd make it to the 80s. But after the last going on 4 now, I can't imagine how things are going to be in the next 5.. not as bright as it used to look

 

One Day at a Time. When I have opportunity to go do something, I go do it. The summers of 2003 and 2005 have been the most totally awesome summers in the last 4+ decades.

[MQTA]

I don't fear what comes after death at all... in fact, I think I would prefer just to not exist.

 

What does scare me, however, is the fact that my last conscious experiences may be full of pain and some vague tunnel experience that would leave me expecting something that won't happen.  I don't like that.

105214[/snapback]

come towards the light

 

then it looks like those old b&w tv sets with the one little white shining dot in the middle... and then *poof* gone.

[MQTA]

Responding to the OP, freeing myself from the christian belief in heaven and hell has quieted a great deal of my fear of death. While the belief in heaven might be comforting, you can't have it without hell. And hell is 100 times more disquieting than heaven is reassuring.

105174[/snapback]

Simpatico!

 

What's non-existance compared to eternal damnation? I'd rather be nothing than live in agony forever.

 

And why is it so horrible that no one may be running the show? It's a huge relief to me that there isn't a giant eyeball in the sky watching everything I do. No offense to the OP, but man - why would anyone want that?

105234[/snapback]

 

 

Oh, but there IS a giant eye ball in the sky, er, heavens, er, galaxy? somewhere up there. Never saw it? May not be watching us, may not look like it without some color magic, but it sure is there, no? LOL

 

 

Let me see if I can find it...

[MQTA]

[willybilly30]

What does op mean?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Responding to the OP,

[MQTA]

Opening Post

 

Post #1 in a thread

[willybilly30]

The thought of it makes me feel a little angry.

I get a life then later get it took away.

It is kind of as if I gave you an ice cream cone then snatched it from your hands.

What a rip off

Therefore, im not better than a car or this computer it tears up then im gone.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Reminds me of the saying

Eat drink and be merry for tomorrow we die

I don’t know who said it though

 

Epicurus, but it was "Eat and drink, for tomorrow we die." It means "enjoy life today".

 

It's instinctive to fear death, but you need not be terrified by it. Like any other fear, you only conquer it when you face it. Imagine your own lifeless body. Contemplate on what "nothing" really means. Think about the time before you were born, or the times during the night when you are neither awake nor dreaming. Is it really so bad?

[willybilly30]

I did not think about that.

I do not want a god running my life like im a puppet on a string

I think id rather spend eternity in hell than not exist though

Humans can adapt to anything.

I think death will be like hell no matter what anyone believes

The body dieing cant be a pleasant experiance

 

Ill probably go out of this world the same way I came in it

Kicking and screaming

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

What's non-existance compared to eternal damnation? I'd rather be nothing than live in agony forever.

 

And why is it so horrible that no one may be running the show? It's a huge relief to me that there isn't a giant eyeball in the sky watching everything I do. No offense to the OP, but man - why would anyone want that?

105234[/snapback]

[willybilly30]

A spirit in the afterlife waiting to be born again so I can learn some more

80 years ago: a hippie in a commune I died in a war protest grabbing a gun away from a soldier

800 years ago: I was a Native American hunting down a deer. I was killed in a war fighting for my land

 

8000 years ago: damn that is so far back I do not know what happened back then.

Shit I guess im just daydreaming. No wait I was a cave man and a dinosaur ate me

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I do not know were I was before I was born.

My mother’s womb I guess.

Im not sure what I was aware of.

It would be interesting to find out what a baby thinks.

I guess all I can do is live my life and hope theirs another one

 

 

No, not just before you were born, before you were daddy's little squirt. Like 80 years ago, where were you? 800 years ago? 8000?

105242[/snapback]

[willybilly30]

The no god idea I think I can accept

If theirs no god I can do whatever I want

I can be my own god be lord of my life

That feels very powerful too say

I do not have to have any morals or commands

[MQTA]

The no god idea I think I can accept

If theirs no god I can do whatever I want

I can be my own god be lord of my life

That feels very powerful too say

I do not have to have any morals or commands

105273[/snapback]

No, you sure don't, you just have other humans to condend with, unless you want to live by yourself.

 

You can have all the views on morals you want, but if any of them require another human involvement, you may not be so fast to find it.

 

You can, and always could, do whatever you want, alone.