Question for atheist and non-believers only.?

Question

I am not trying to stir you up, just a simple question. In my 40 some years, I have lost a lot of loved ones. My mom, all my grandparents, even my very best friend. Losing these people hurt greatly, but at what seemed to be a point of despair, especially when I lost my best friend about 4 months ago, The peace of my Lord came and I could instantly feel his presence as he lifted me up, and assured me that we would indeed be together again. I am a Christian, and this has happened on many occasion, but only when I knew that the one who had passed was indeed a true Christian, not just in word, but someone who had indeed trusted their life, and heart to Christ as their personal savior. My question is this, I do not fear death. I don’t want to die, not yet anyway, but when the time comes, I believe that I will “awake” in the presence of my Lord and Savior, and eventually I will be reunited with those I loved who have passed before me. What I would like to know, is how do you deal with your belief, when you lose a close loved one. How do you accept you belief that you will NEVER, EVER, see, speak, or love that person again? Does that not leave a great void in your life, especially if that loss is a child of yours, how do you cope with that? If I live in a delusional world, when I die I will not even know it, but If you are wrong, and you find your self separated forever not only from God, but from everyone that you ever cared for, what then?

Answer 1

I'm an atheist and I have lost some loved ones and one loved one is lying on her deathbed right now. I just think of dying as a normal course of life. Instead of thinking about how I will never ever spend time with them again I think of all the time I DID have with them. I think of all the fun we had together, all the things we got a chance to do. I keep their memory in my heart and keep loving them after they're gone. I just don't expect to be with them again and I accept that. You can't always have everything you want, but life goes on.

I hope that explains it to you. I know that the way we think of death and a world without gods is hard for you to understand, but we just have our own ways to cope with things like you have your ways to cope with them.

Answer 2

What i believe is that there is either a good place good people go when they die, or in fact there's just nothing and it doesn't matter. I'm not going to muster up impromptu faith simply because i fear the afterlife. It's simple, i am just not afraid of it. If my lack of faith requires i burn in some fiery pits of hell as a result then so be it, i guess i should have been given more signs or something cuz it's just not happening. How can you say that you know you have it all right or all wrong, maybe you're a little right that there is a god but completely wrong about the type of religion you follow. Maybe because of that you'll go to hell instead of heaven? How would YOU cope with that? My point is this. You think you're either 100% completely right and you'll go to heaven and dance with angels, or there's just nothing and you were wrong. There are many shades of gray in this matter. When family members die for me, i assume that because they were good people who led good and moral lives they will end up in either a good place as a result or there's just nothing and i don't have to worry about it. This feeling you seem to get about 'the lord savior' is kinda weird if you ask me, and something that's manufactured by your fear of god and the afterlife which fuels and even generates your faith, seemingly.

Answer 3

I get the impression that you have posed this question in order to make us convert to your way of thinking, and your argument is a familiar one to most of us Atheists; but, you must understand that Atheism is not a choice. It seems to have something to do with the way our brains are wired, but where you see evidence for the existence of a God, we see none; and, from there, we just have to find our own center.

My center is the realization that going to sleep one day and never waking up is not all that bad. And, if I never see my loved ones again, well at least I know they have found the same peace in oblivion that I someday will find. At least I know I don't have to worry about them burning in someplace like Hell forever just because they just didn't happen to see things in a certain way.

I have lost my father, mother, brother, and several other members of my family during these last few years. As a youngest child, both my sisters are a lot older than I am. Odds are they will go on before I do. I have a nephew who can die any day now. My cat is 14 years old and asthmatic. He will not live much longer. 'Tis life.

Answer 4

The possibility of living forever, even if it is in eternal bliss, terrifies me.
Its unimaginable, time going forever, no end to anything.
When I think about this i feel the same way as I do when I think about the universe suddenly ending, like you just hit a wall and theres nothing on the other side.

As for never seeing the person again, I recently lost a close friend to suicide, and although painful at first, the little everyday things that remind me of him make me feel like even if I never see him again, he has left an imprint on my life that will always be there.

Answer 5

Fewer than 1/3 of the people on Earth have any form of Christian belief. If we are talking "true Christian" (whatever that means) then lets take that down to maybe 5%.

So you are happy that 95% of all the people alive - some of whom you know and love - will be damned and never see their loved ones again and suffer eternal torment.

And you gain consolation from a belief system like this.

There is a word for people who believe cruelty like this. That word is "sick".

Answer 6

Losing a loved one hurts. I deal with that death the way that I think everyone does.

I would love to think that I will get to see the people I love again, but I understand that that just isn't reality. So instead, I remember the person when they were alive. I think about what great people they were, how much I love them. I write about them. I remember them, because that is the only "afterlife" that any of us get.

(P.S. The Pascal's Wager at the end isn't going to get answered.)

Answer 7

My mother died this past winter. There was a wake and a funeral, of course, but the rituals provided no comfort, nor did I expect them to. I found comfort in the only place where I have ever found it: in the embraces and tears and laughter and strength of friends and family.

I was an atheist before January 17, 2007 and I remain an atheist. Death comes to all living things, without exception. I don't like the prospect of death any better than you do, but I don't expect childish fantasies to change anything. Do you?

Answer 8

as the above question, i believe i can answer it well.
I have lost both my grandparents 7 days different.
Tho i was broken heart when they die, i know that they are gone.
i know this day will happen, every living thing have to die.
So before they have left, i make sure i have spend my time with them.
that is the best way to repay them when they are still alive.
i don't hope to reunite after death as no one know whether there is a afterlife. i do it in real life.
whether there is a afterlife or not, don't serve any purpose at all as if there is, i will unite with them, if no, at least i don't regret.

Answer 9

Believing in the afterlife is wishful thinking. When the time comes, and someone close to me passes away, I will not have a huge void in my life. I will always have the memories of them until I pass away. And that pascal's wager at the end warrants a drink.

Answer 10

"If you do not think in punishment from sin ("our devout scare tactic of looking to scare men and women into behaving", which plenty of men and women name it) " SIN is a faith-detailed time period. It defines as an offense in opposition to a detailed god. It best applies in the ones detailed perception methods which incorporate judgemental gods who make a decision the fates of souls. "Sin" makes lifestyles be approximately enjoyable a god for worry of punishment. I do not believe that is what lifestyles must be approximately. "Why might you even hassle to confess that you're making errors and that you are no longer ideal?" It is the honorable factor to do. And I admit to wrongs to not preclude punishment (in hell), however to take accountability for my movements and to undergo the weight of my wrongs on this international; to take possession of some thing punishment society might levy for what I did, and to take a look at to make it correct no longer to a few god, however straight to the character I harmed. BTW, I am no longer an atheist. I am Asatru.