Most of us have come to the understanding that to die is to simply cease existing. There's no heaven or hell, so we just "stop." Even those that still cling to a religion have the hope of a better existence. Why, then, is death still such a taboo?
2006-09-16 11:36:01 · 9 answers · asked by Anonymous in Social Science ➔ Sociology
Please refrain from preaching your one true religion. Thanks.
2006-09-16 12:11:41 · update #1
Because if humans weren't afraid of death they wouldn't avoid it that much. Then the human species wouldn't do as well as it is right now. It is natural to fear death for this reason. Religion provides an explanation so people are more at peace with others dying or their own impending death.
I think that if everyone knew exactly what happens when we die (and it can't be that bad if everyone does it), people wouldn't do so much to try to avoid it.
We pretend it will never happen and that is called "healthy denial". It is a psychological mechanism that allows us to keep on going and not be affected by something that obviously will be quite traumatizing to us when someone we love or ourselves passes away. Without this denial I think humans would be quite preoccupied with the natural phenomenon of death.
2006-09-16 12:16:09 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 0⤋
Because it hurts to die. Because it is wrong to rob another of life.
But it is part of life, like birth, eating, etc. You've got to do it sometime. So it shouldn't be taboo. In spite of the fact that our schools have been robbed of all religions except Atheism, most of us here in the US are still clinging to religion, because most of us have found proof, not just hopeful myths. So death doesn't scare us much. Pain does, but not death.
I know a lot of people, myself included, that know God, not because we read about Him, but because he is very real, and we know Him like we know our friends. We don't belong to the same denomination or cult, we're just various kinds of Christians. Yes, we do read the bible, but He is more than just words on a page. And I'm more than just words on your screen :)
Besides, you can check the non-religious source below. I read a very thick book, written in the late 1950s on research complied in the 1940s and 1950s on Near Death Experiences. Beyond what it says about the clinically dead, there were people that had been dead for days, until the undertaker arrived to witness them reviving. All the hundreds of stories had the same theme, Tunnel, light at the end, greeted by people that they knew, told that it wasn't their time, sent back. It got boring half way through, but I had to finish to see if there were any deviations, there were none.
Have fun with life! The simple pleasures have more depth then you could imagine.
2006-09-16 19:10:29 · answer #2 · answered by J Z 4 · 0⤊ 1⤋
Because people are afraid of it.
No matter how strongly someone believes that they are going to heaven or something like that, there is no way to know what will happen. As humans, we fear the unknown. Since death is about the biggest unknown there is, it's also one of our biggest fears.
We all know that we're going to die someday, but knowing something intellectually and facing it emotionally/spiritually are different. Because we don't have the courage to face it, we pretend it doesn't exist.
2006-09-16 18:45:37 · answer #3 · answered by Kate F 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Uh, has anyone close to you ever passed away? If so, then you would know. It is one of the most painful things that you'll ever feel, because it is beyond you and larger than you.
It is even evident that there are animals that feel grief and mourn the passings of other animals. This seems to indicate to me that the feelings and the apprehension of the unknown is quite natural.
2006-09-16 18:47:54 · answer #4 · answered by Kleo 1 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Well, I'm not as gloomy as you, but we still have a fear of the unknown. No one has ever gone to heaven and then been able to come back to fill us in on what happens. I think heaven is a continuation of whats makes you the happiest on earth. Hell is your worst possible nightmare for eternity.
2006-09-16 18:45:25 · answer #5 · answered by dlobryan1 4 · 0⤊ 1⤋
funny that my answer was already thought of before i saw your name. i was going to say that euthanasia is becoming more and more widely accepted and en vogue (not just "kill everyone over 80" but i mean in more rounded terms, like "right to die" and "vegetable since the accident anyway" .... etc.) so it became even more poignant to me when i saw that your name is Youth in Asia :)
2006-09-16 19:04:43 · answer #6 · answered by Hot Lips 4077 5 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Because it is the end of everything you know and the beginning of something you are totally unsure about.
2006-09-16 18:40:48 · answer #7 · answered by bruinfan 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
This is still something we dont know a lot about.
2006-09-16 18:43:44 · answer #8 · answered by cfoxwell101 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Talking about it will make it happen??
2006-09-16 18:43:05 · answer #9 · answered by MK6 7 · 1⤊ 1⤋