When it happened to me, I thought of my wife and kids, how they would feel, how they would manage without me, how they would have to sort out all my stuff, whether they would be able to access the family digital photos in my account on the PC, things like that... the nonsense idea of a god or an afterlife was the last thing on my mind.
2007-07-09 02:01:55 · 30 answers · asked by Anonymous in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
Jared: That's what I expected - all that nonsense about atheists in foxholes... :-)
2007-07-09 02:06:31 · update #1
Marilyn: Thanks.
2007-07-09 02:06:45 · update #2
salient: I think you're right! At least you could imagine one existing, whereas a creator god is logically impossible.
2007-07-09 02:07:38 · update #3
Paul: Quite so...
2007-07-09 02:08:02 · update #4
Sue:
2007-07-09 02:08:37 · update #5
RedQueen: Exactly, that's the sort of thing that really matters when the chips are down.
2007-07-09 02:09:31 · update #6
mypublicident:
2007-07-09 02:10:21 · update #7
Locust: Interesting!
2007-07-09 02:11:00 · update #8
Darth: Thanks.
2007-07-09 02:11:23 · update #9
Champion: I know what you mean :-)
2007-07-09 02:11:45 · update #10
Katrina: Exactly, that seems to be pretty much the same for all of us. So much for the repenting on the death bed thing...
2007-07-09 02:12:37 · update #11
Granny: Interesting point of view, thanks.
2007-07-09 02:13:12 · update #12
Chaz: Thanks!
2007-07-09 02:13:50 · update #13
Confirmed Atheist: A very sobering and illuminating account of something far removed from anything I've ever experienced. Thank you.
2007-07-09 02:15:20 · update #14
mbucket: Absolutely, well said.
2007-07-09 02:15:49 · update #15
Patriot: Thanks.
2007-07-09 02:16:18 · update #16
Marilyn: I like your additional comment about the priests...
2007-07-09 02:16:57 · update #17
Rachel: Thanks for your answer, and you make a good point.
2007-07-09 02:18:32 · update #18
mr danger: Yes indeed...
2007-07-09 02:19:02 · update #19
Jesus, no.
Of course I didn't think about "god", any more than I starting hoping for Superman to appear and save me.
I thought about getting out of a life-threatening situation.
2007-07-09 02:06:36 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 5⤊ 0⤋
My cousin is an oncologist, and she is around the dying every single day. (I certainly don't envy her that.) I once had a long talk with her about the subject of "atheists crying out for God on their deathbeds" because it's something you hear all the time--from Christians. I asked her what she had seen in her experience. She told me that the claim that atheists all repent at the last minute or cry out to God in their suffering was a load of B/S. She said that it's not that it's NEVER happened, but the majority of atheists are unwavering in their beliefs right up until the end. She also said that she had seen just as many Christians on their deathbeds say that they no longer believe that there's a God, because if there was, how could he put them--and innocent children and babies--through the type of pain and suffering they were experiencing. She said that the things people say and do in a moment of excruciating pain or agony or fear is not a reflection of someone's true beliefs any more than a woman in labor telling her husband that she's going to rip his tongue out by the roots is a reflection of her true personality. lol. My cousin is a devout Christian, so she would have no reason to lie and say that the popular Christian rumor about atheists calling out for God from their deathbeds is untrue.
2007-07-09 07:35:42 · answer #2 · answered by Jess H 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
No, not once in the three times I have been in a life-threatening situation. Thank you so much for posting this question. I just hope that a few of the fundies who always get this wrong will actually take the time to read all these answers saying essentially the same thing: Being near death DOES NOT make a believer out of an atheist.
2007-07-09 04:15:01 · answer #3 · answered by Phartzalot 6 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Two weeks ago I was in a bus accident and they thought I was going to die, even though I was fine in the end. I was being wheeled on a stretcher to the ambulance, looking at the sky, and all I thought about was that it might be the last time I see the sky and the sun, and I tried to appreciate it as much as possible. Just the feeling of being alive. No God, no sensation of any awesome power. I just suddenly felt things for the way they were. And I never thought of an afterlife, I assumed that I was just about to be switched off forever.
2007-07-09 02:09:13 · answer #4 · answered by Katrina W 2 · 4⤊ 0⤋
Happily I have never been in a life-threatening situation (apart from being alive, obviously).
It's curious to think, though, that people have so little understanding of the atheist perspective that they can think that what is manifestly illogical and devoid of evidence to me will suddenly make sense and take its place on firm intellectual foundations in the event that I'm thrown from my bicycle into the path of a speeding lorry. They assume that atheists are as self-interested as they are - the "insurance" model of faith. But an afterlife NEVER gets realistic. It's just fantasy, and I'll no more turn to religion as I face death than I will ensure I have a coin on me when I die to pay the ferryman across the Lethe.
2007-07-09 02:16:13 · answer #5 · answered by Bad Liberal 7 · 4⤊ 0⤋
My boyfriend is very lacksadisical when it comes to his life so he's been in several life-threatining situations but has always escaped by some amazing luck (Giving him the impression that he may be invincible). When I asked him the smae question he said he thought how cool it was to have everything happen so suddenly and then couldn't wait to find out how right he was about death.
It IS kind of interesting isn't it? He lives his entire life without fear of death. I've NEVER seen him NOT smiling, he must be the happiest individual I know.
2007-07-09 02:08:20 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 0⤋
I think the same things that you list (family, things we leave behind, etc.) are the things that everyone's minds would turn to. I'm a Christian, and I don't think I'd immediately think of God in a life-threatening situation. Sure I'd pray (of course) but I'd be worrying about these concerns you bring up. It's human.
2007-07-09 02:15:54 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
An interesting question that brings several quotes to mind.
"Pray. To ask that the laws of the universe be annulled in the behalf of a single petitioner confessedly unworthy" Ambrose Bierce.
"God, whose entity is in doubt, we all pray to in time of distress." (You just do not know)
J. Murphy.
Even an Agnostic would agree your atheist answer to the question is sensible, logical, and compassionate.
2007-07-09 10:47:20 · answer #8 · answered by Lou B 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
When it happened to me all I could think of was keeping a small, low silhoette and returning fire so that my battle buddies could flush them out and we could all go home. God has no place on the battlefield. Bullets don't care what your religion is, and neither do IED's. I really didn't have time to think about the wife and kid, they tell us to take care of all that stuff before we get shipped to the desert. When you're out there, the last thing you want to worry about is stuff you should have already taken care of. I just wanted to do my job and make it home safe. The afterlife is for dead people, and I planned on living.
2007-07-09 02:12:10 · answer #9 · answered by Anonymous · 8⤊ 0⤋
I was still Christain then and now that I think about it, I did NOT think about god and death or anything. I was just scared because I could not move and had no feeling as I was transported to hospital. Strange, maybe even then I knew subconsiously that prayer was all but useless
2007-07-09 07:41:28 · answer #10 · answered by FallenAngel© 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋