Atheists, do you ever find it frightening?

Question

The idea that upon your death you will simply cease to exist? Does this depress you or cause anxiety that this is all there is? I am a Christian and believe I will live on, but I am curious what it would be like to truly believe I would end for all time. I think I would fear death. How do you feel?

Daniel, I am not judging you. I am trying to understand a point of view that is different from my own. I am not sure why my question offended you.

Danjo and Luke, why did you choose to address me personally rather than answer the question?

Answer 1

There are a couple ways to look at this. First, there is the ridiculous Pascal's wager that says you might as well believe in god because the alternative is far worse. Well, that all depends on which doctrine of which religion you choose. Through the ages there have been millions of religions with billions of contradictory doctrines. Which will end you in the great weenie-roast and which will seat you at the hand of god? Who knows. What if you pick wrong? Is it better to imagine going to sleep and never waking or burning in hell for all eternity?

I fear death, but I think you do as well. I, however, treasure each moment on a far deeper level than do you. Every moment I hold my little girl or read with my son or see my wife smiling is one more prescious moment. There is not other world, there is no better place, there is no future life or sudden knowledge and peace awaiting me. There is here. There is now. There is the unfathomable chance that I ever existed. There were the millions of years before and there will be the millions of years after --this moment is glorious.

I lost my father last year. I hold him in my thoughts. I pass on his spirit to my children. I smile at sudden memories and mourn the inability to pick up the phone and share a laugh with him or even to ask him how to repair the sink. But I know he's not watching over me. I know he was here and I had a prescious few moments to share with him and if I'd wasted them waiting to see him again instead of feeling the full weight of that loss, I wouldn't be the father I am to my son. I'd be less of a man, teacher, husband and father. No question.

So, do I fear death? Certainly. Am I crushed by the weight of this fear? To be certain, I'm instead enlivened with it. I'm inspired and driven to live every moment to it's grandest potential. Nothing less would be acceptable. Nothing less would be living.

Answer 2

I'm not an atheist, but if I were, how could I "fake" believing? And do you believe that atheists stop existing when they die? And if you are an atheist, wouldn't you be at peace with your belief?

I don't see much point in fearing death, there really isn't much we can do about it, is there? What will be, will be. Death will come like a thief in the night, often when you least expect it. The ONLY thing I fear about death is leaving my child without a parent, but I don't worry about myself because I have no control and I also believe my soul/energy will live on ...

And as far as "judgement day" goes, if there is such a thing, I'm not too worried. I highly doubt God is as unloving and as judgemental as so many people are ...

Answer 3

I'm not in the slightest bothered about being dead. I'll be just like I was before I was born - absent. If you would like to experience it, try a general anaesthetic, which is very similar.

*Dying*, in the other hand, is very concerning. There are very many highly inadvisable ways to do that: drowning in your own fluid-filled lungs; lying by the side of the road watching your femoral artery empty you; stuck in a burning building etc. All definitely to be avoided.

Happily, one can buy various things that allow you to slip off into a warm haze and just never wake up. Much better.

The notion of fearing actual death means nothing to me. It must be horrible to be so worried about something you really can't avert. I suppose it helps to cling to this fantasy about 'living on' as you put it, though I don't see how that gets around the dying business. After dying, I'm perfectly happy to spend a nice, relaxing eternity not existing. The idea of having be alive again sounds abysmal.

CD

Answer 4

I find it frightening to live a life in denial, to avoid exploring the edges, to live a nuts-and-bolts existence and then die anyway. Truly, we all fear death, or at least the idea of death does not enhance our cool any. You can bury your head in the sand like and ostrich, or spit death in the eye and fly a hang glider, for example. And you should not go "quietly into the night." Sadly, many people die long before their bodies give out. Look, nobody can do eternity. If I had to spend another 1,000 years inside my head, I would be stark raving mad. By placing an emphasis on an afterlife, you miss a lot of the only life you'll ever get. Perhaps there is something that ties us into universal consciousness in a way we have not yet discerned. Look to science, however, not to the ridiculous dogma proffered by lazy people unable or unwilling to think for themselves, if you seek answers to such deep questions.

If you don't care to do that, at least ponder the night sky and look into the face of God. Do you honestly see the stuff proffered in the Bible up there in the "heavens"? That creation is all about human beings? Why not all about cats, or dogs (a sweet creature if there ever was one)? We lack imagination, but like it or not, education is coming to one and all at an exponential rate. I would be quite surprised if Jehovah does not go the way of Zeus in my lifetime.

Answer 5

Why would that be depressing for an atheist?

An atheist could treat the guaranteed cessation of their existence as motivation to make sure that they make the best of the time that they actually get.

Why would an atheist fear death? After death, there is simply nothing, and they won't be around to notice anyway.

I would thing that believers would have a lot more to worry about :)

Answer 6

I won't say that the notion of non-existence has never frightened me but I just figure that before 1982, there was a whole stretch of time when I did not exist. Sometime in the future, I will not exist again. I am happy to have been given a comparatively rare chance to exist on this planet and lead the best life that I can.

I find beauty in the transient nature of life. That nothing in it lasts forever makes it all the more precious to me while it does.

Answer 7

Not all that believe they are Christian will actually live on. In fact there are probably more "alleged" Christians that will not be let into or chosen to be in the Kingdom of God. You will be judged by what you do in this life not what you think. Do you live in fear everyday that you may not be chosen because of what you did or did not do in this life? Saying you are Christian or proclaming Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior does not automatically guarantee your name to be placed in the Lambs book of life. The question you ask is perhaps manifested by your supreme confidence and pride, pride being the primary reason that a certain angel was cast out of heaven. Ponder that and wonder how you live your life, you know the sin of omission if the gravest of all sins and many are not even aware that they commit it on a daily basis. As you come to a higher understanding and awareness of your true role as a Christian, you may come to find that the more you know the more you commit the sin. Knowing this are you so certain you will be accepted into heaven? Is the prospect of everlasting Hell easier to live with than the prospect of none existence after death?

Answer 8

What difference would it make if there is absolutely no ability to realize that there is nothing? I think it sounds great. Besides, a question for religious people.
Why are religious people afraid of dying if you think it's going to be a trip to heaven?

Another thing why are religious people so concerned with other peoples beliefs. I don't see the purpose of "living on" after my death. I believe that the love we feel on earth lives on in each other until we die and the living carry it on. And, that is enough for me.

The only part of dying I'm afraid of is the part when you get killed and it might hurt for a short while.

Answer 9

Wow!! Listen to all that programing working!! Intolerant, egotistical and that little twist of persecution at the end!! Acceptance of a supernatural claim tends to promote cooperative social relationships. This communication demonstrates a willingness to accept, without skepticism, the influence of the speaker in a way similar to a child's acceptance of the influence of a parent. By encouraging this kind of behavior where the most intense social relationships occur it facilitates the lack of skepticism and deters more open minded thinking. They are christian, Muslim or the other religions depending where they were born simply because they were indoctrinated by their parents as very young children. They will go on to indoctrinate their own children and those will go on to indoctrinate their grandchildren!! Atheists have the intellect to see through the conditioning and escape into the real world!! Agnostics have the intellect to see through the conditioning but lack the courage to throw of the conditioning entirely. Sadly Christians, like yourself, are still held firmly prisoner by the self perpetuating brainwashing!!

Answer 10

I don't want to live on. I want to live a long life and die and that's it. Our mortality defines our existance. It makes us alive because everything in this universe all share a common outcome. From stars to galaxies and planet and people is that we are all born, we life and we die and that's it. Death isn't anything to fear because it's going to happen no matter what you do in this life. Since we only have this life, doesn't that make life more meaningful? The idea of an afterlife is a very dangerous thought.