Would you feel compelled to take away their faith before they die? I mean if you believe God is a lie and we are better off with the truth wouldn't you still feel compelled to enlighten them?
2006-10-04 00:59:14 · 19 answers · asked by Debra M. Wishing Peace To All 7 in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
What ignorance are you speaking of? I am serious.
2006-10-04 01:03:27 · update #1
For those who do not know: I am a Christian so I would not do this.
2006-10-04 01:05:40 · update #2
Earthman Mother Teresa NEVER refused anyone medical treatment. She herself said her goal was "To help a Muslim be a better Muslim, A Hindu a better Hindu, and A Christian a better Christian." Where do you get these ideas?
2006-10-04 01:16:06 · update #3
Faith is one of the things that is an individual decision and should not be subject to ridicule. We all choose our path (or lack of a path) regardless of different they may be. If you are truly a friend or loved one you accept that person for their faith regardless if it is different from your own. And even if our faiths are different I would offer what help I could from my faith and it would be up to them to accept or refuse it.
Blessed Be )O(
2006-10-04 01:13:05 · answer #1 · answered by Stephen 6 · 3⤊ 0⤋
Is this question only aimed at atheists? I would say, if I were in the same room with anyone dying, I would do everything possible to reassure them that they are going to a place of peace. Because my father had a near-death experience, I would also do my best to provide any details of what would make that faith more concrete and complete. In my grandmother's case, I didn't need to do much, as so many other family members were there, and she could already literally see where she was headed for, and who was ready and waiting there to meet her.
2006-10-04 18:18:36 · answer #2 · answered by Cookie777 6 · 1⤊ 0⤋
I would prefer to always seek truth and speak truth in and out of season. However I would of course not try to lead their last conversations on earth into a debate. If they asked me a question pertaining to religous beliefs, I will be honest. If they are suffering from great fear because they have heard all their lives of an eternal firey torture chamber that their maker has ready for all those who dont believe in God and they are scared, I will then try to comfort them and let them know, than no christian on the planet earth has ever known such a place to exist and that they only use that to invoke fear in the population.
It wouldnt be me who is the one who encourages evil.
2006-10-04 08:16:13 · answer #3 · answered by CJunk 4 · 2⤊ 0⤋
Suppose this someone believes in reincarnation. Do you tell them that their beliefs are a lie and that they're never coming back? Do you try to enforce that Jesus is the only way to God etc. No, you leave them to believe whatever they want as to do otherwise would be to severly disrespect them. No 'friend' would do that.
To be honest, I wouldn't push my beliefs or dis-beliefs on anyone. I would only question somebody's beliefs in the appropriate circumstances - eg. while I openly mock my mother's creationist beliefs, I wouldn't do it if she was sick in bed or gravely ill.
I think you're just trying for guilt from non-theists, it's not big and its not clever.
2006-10-04 08:08:33 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 3⤊ 0⤋
The person that does not believe in God probably also believes that when you are dead, you are dead forever. No afterlife, no function no life. Dead as a doorstop.
That being the case it shouldn't matter what a person believes when they die if they're going to be dead as a hammer anyway.
Let someone die with their beliefs. Should they ask questions, by all means answer. Other than that, let them go in their peace.
2006-10-04 08:07:22 · answer #5 · answered by rangedog 7 · 3⤊ 0⤋
NO! Bad friend, bad friend! Its'a a comfort to anyone who is dying to believe that there is something so much better than this crappy world. Don't tell her anything like that, especially when what you would say is not true. God is real, and people who are about to die quickly realize they don't just want "the end". They want something more and that is what God offers even to the moments before they go to Him.
2006-10-04 08:04:08 · answer #6 · answered by +SalvavidaChica+ 2 · 4⤊ 1⤋
Why would you impose your beliefs on them if their beliefs are making this transition easier for them? If you want to discuss religion at this time, you could ask them what they believe and how they think eternity will be for them. (Your side doesn't matter - you're not dying.) Then, focus on enjoying your time with them. If you truly believe that there is nothing after death, why are you wasting time discussing the "after" part. Now is all you have with them whether God is or is not real. Now is YOUR time with them. Don't "crap " it away over differences.
2006-10-04 08:10:33 · answer #7 · answered by Grace 2 · 3⤊ 0⤋
What's the matter with you woman, who ever heard of atheists trying to do deathbed conversions that's way more the territory belonging to Catholics and they do it with a fury...look at Mother Teresa of Calcutta as an example of a ruthless converter, you don't accept Christ you don't get treatment, mind you with her it was also you accept Christ you still don't get proper medical treatment.
Reply: you could take a look here, scroll down to the section titled "Controversy and Critics"
Baptisms of the dying
In addition to these primary critics Mother Teresa has garnered criticism for her encouragement of sacramental baptisms being performed on the dying (a majority of which were Hindus and Muslims) into the Catholic faith. These were done without regard to the individuals' religion. In a speech at the Scripps Clinic in San Diego, California in January, 1992, she said, "Something very beautiful... not one has died without receiving the special ticket for St. Peter, as we call it. We call baptism 'a ticket for St. Peter.' We ask the person, do you want a blessing by which your sins will be forgiven and you receive God? They have never refused. So 29,000 have died in that one house [in Kalighat] from the time we began in 1952."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mother_Teresa
It's always good to hear both sides of a story.
2006-10-04 08:12:37 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 3⤊ 4⤋
Only if they ask me about it.
In any case, I'm told -- by various sources -- that "enlightenment" is a personal thing, that it can't really be forced, spread, compelled, or even shared; so I would say the question is moot.
2006-10-04 08:08:58 · answer #9 · answered by ? 7 · 2⤊ 0⤋
No I certainly would not contradict their faith under those circumstances. Who is to say they are wrong anyway? Each person has their own method of seeking 'God'. People NEED their beliefs when they are ill.
2006-10-04 11:16:04 · answer #10 · answered by a_delphic_oracle 6 · 1⤊ 0⤋