Serious question for atheists please?

Question

I mean absolutely no disrespect, but I am interested in your beliefs. I am a lapsed Catholic and struggling with the idea of life after death. Part of me is just terrified that this life is all we get. When I close my eyes for the last time that's it, there's nothing else? Somehow I can't wrap my mind around the concept that someone who is alive and sentient could just be gone into nothingness in a split second. How do you resolve the thought of death and nothingness and not live life absolutely terrified of death? I'm starting to get scared to drive for fear of an accident etc....

Answer 1

I'd rather have everything just end than have to worry about eternal torture. I didn't exist for billions of years before I was born and it didn't bother me any at the time. I imagine after I die will be the same. Living the 1 life you get to the fullest is what's important.

Answer 2

It doesn't worry me mainly because I'm so convinced in what I believe. What I really think though is that I would rather make the most of my life because it's all I'm getting. There's no point in preparing for death, because that's all there is. I wouldn't even care about whether I'm cremated/buried or anything, what sort of coffin I have, who goes to the funeral; it just doesn't bother me. By not spending my life preparing for death, I feel that I am making the most of the time I do have, hence it is not regrettable. You say that you're Catholic - but maybe you're really agnostic.
Have you considered that by believing (or expecting) a lack of an afterlife, you are upsetting the accepted norm of catholicism, so in a way are not an ordinary Catholic. I view this as a good thing, because it means that you are not taking bliss from your own ignorance. The ability to question things is great, and it's an ability you seem to have.
That's just one example of something good in your life, so surely that means you're already getting the hang of living life to the full!

Answer 3

You resolve it by trying to do good works, I guess. Maybe you can make a lasting impact. Maybe time is an illusion, and our lives are permanent fixtures in a frozen block of spacetime.

I think your fear should pass. Maybe read a little Buddhism to confuse yourself in a beneficial way. The cause of all suffering is inappropriate desire; your desire to cling to life is impractical and it is causing you suffering. Neat, huh?

Go enjoy something, or help someone. Life is a continuous gambling spree. Work it like a bookie with an attitude.

Leaving Catholicism is not the end of the world; you can still light scientists on fire - you just don't get points for it anymore.

Christ, I'm gonna get a violation for that.

Answer 4

It's natural to be afraid of things we don't understand. Everyone is afraid of death at least on a subconscious level, but we push these fears aside because we accept it as an inevitability. I believe this is one of the main reasons that religion exists, to give us a comfortable explanation for what happens to us after we die. I just try not to think about it because I know that every living creature dies, that is just a part of life and there is nothing I can do about it.
There's really nothing to be afraid of if you think about it, you don't remember anything before you were born, right? That's how it will be after we're dead. The only reason we fear death is because it is mysterious to us

Answer 5

I believe that with the end of life comes the end of consciousness. Now, I'm not looking forward to death; I've got a lot of life left to live and a lot of things I want to do before I die. However, the idea of "non-existence" doesn't scare me. I didn't exist before I was born, and I won't exist after I am dead. It doesn't bother me a bit.

Instead of focusing on death (and what may or may not come after), try focusing on life. Doing volunteer work always helps me if I'm feeling anxious or depressed.

Answer 6

First:
You were not made to live for ever. Death will happen whether you like the idea or not. In fact the only thing you actually have to do after you get born is to die. everything else is optional.

Second:
You do get to (hopefully) pass your genes on to another living being. You should try to make the world a better place for your descendants and make them better able to survive and pass their genes on as well.

So look after your kids and raise them well because they are the only claim you actually have on eternity.
Look after the world as well as you can so that your descendants have a place to live.

Answer 7

its like getting old, there is nothing you can do about it. sure you can try to prolong it, but it is inevitable. like a lot of aspects of life, it doesnt seem fair, but hey, what are you going to do about it?

if you are really paralyzed by fear of death, then maybe you should try to convince yourself there is an afterlife where everyone you love floats away to and lives forever. a lot of people do this.

heres the kicker though, if you come to to the realization that in all liklihood this is our only life, dont you want to maximize your time while you are alive? while the inevitablity of death may seem distressing at first, it can be liberating if you take the right attitude

Answer 8

Respectfully:

I'm beginning to suspect that kind of terror is a large part of why believers believe.

I believe that when we die, we're gone, over and done with. I'm not wild about that, but the fact that I don't like it doesn't make me deny it. It certainly makes this life much more valuable than it would otherwise be, and it makes early death the tragedy that I believe that it is.
=================
Firebrand (below): Atheists haven't "forgotten" this, we simply recognize it as an invalid argument. How do you know that it's not the believers who are taking the bad risk? If there is a heaven and a god, it is FAR more likely that atheists will wind up rewarded by that god than it is that believers will be.

Answer 9

Atheism is not a lack of belief in some kind of afterlife, rather it is the lack of belief in a GOD type figure. VERY different.
Besides, death is nothing to be afraid of.You know what I am really afraid of? Getting so old I can no longer care for myself, or getting Alzheimer's and not knowing anything. Or having a stroke and losing feeling in half my body, including my brain. That, to me, is REAL fear...not death which is the perfect sleep.

Answer 10

While I don't entirely dismiss the possibility of an afterlife, I'm perfectly comfortable with the idea that there isn't one. As far as I'm concerned, the only thing we can be certain of is that we get this life. Don't be scared to live it. If you get another one, great. If you don't, you're not going to know, so it doesn't matter.