Im a teenager and consider myself to be an agnostic. I have nothing against atheists, im just interested, I understand you accept there to be no after life or 'heaven', but does/has the thought of when you die and there being nothing, just not existing anymore, ever scare you? (or scared you as a child?). Im sure for some people if you were raised that way you would have been conditioned to accept that, but for me, the thought of not-existing, really freaks me out..
2007-11-30 11:10:26 · 43 answers · asked by Andy M 1 in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
weemaryann AM: I fully accept the natural process of death. If you didn't understand what I said, I fear the absence of afterlife and non-existence in a spiritual sense. So please don't call me a child. I think I can ask rational questions without being labeled that.
2007-11-30 12:10:40 · update #1
"I understand you accept there to be no after life or 'heaven"
Not exactly. The only commonality is a lack of belief in deities. The word literally mean "not Theist".
"does/has the thought of when you die and there being nothing, just not existing anymore, ever scare you?"
I was raised christian and I had to come to terms with this in my teens. It was scary for a brief time but it only makes life more special and precious that we get a single shot at it.
2007-11-30 11:14:29 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 4⤊ 2⤋
I know what you mean - life is all we've ever known, so the end of that is a very odd concept to get to grips with, and can be scary to contemplate. It's really a question of significance. If, as atheists think, we human beings have no cosmic significance, then our death is just the same as the death of a radish, a cow, or a chinchilla. If death is just an inevitability, then being scared of it is ultimately just a way of wasting the time we have. If we only matter by virtue of what we do while we're here, it shifts the focus, and makes death less important. It's ultimately no more scary than recognising there was a time before you were born. You weren't here then, you won't be here again. The trick is to live well while you are here, and make a difference to the people in your world, or to the world at large. That's a kind of immortality - and in the atheist mindset, it's the only kind of immortality genuinely available to us.
Hope this helps with your fear issues. Peace.
2007-11-30 22:40:26 · answer #2 · answered by mdfalco71 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I believe I will live on in everyone I have met, influenced, touched and with whom I have connected while here. In that sense I believe in an after life.
This also create imperitives for ethical and noble words and actions with a long term view.
As a child ( I was raised within a christian belief system) I felt that the after-life was always a bit 'pipe-dream' and wish-fulfillment (thought I didn't use those terms - it always just felt more like Santa Clause), but I always felt it incredibly significant that so many people who had died were still having a lasting influence on every part of society. Then I realized that even those people who never become or became famous are living on with significance even if they are not recognized as such.
Anyway, it's never brought me any fear - actually the opposite. A sense of - 'now this makes sense - finally' without a feeling of fairy-tale santa story about it...
Just a few thoughts... This is where I am right now. I hope I'm always open to influence... ask me again in a few years... ya never know... I love the richness of life-long learning
Enjoy the journey
2007-11-30 11:23:53 · answer #3 · answered by Can'tBYY 2 · 1⤊ 1⤋
Yeah; I know what you mean.
I've never believed in any sort of Invisible Sky Critter but I always allowed myself the luxury of there being something after death ... some sort of continuance.
A few years ago I realised that the story about there being a soul and an afterlife of any description was just something to salve the FEAR the ego was experiencing.
After I realised that, it was as if I experienced a new freedom.
After all - this afterlife 'they' talk about - how long does it last?
10, 100, 1,000, 100,000, 1,000,000,000 years?
Sounds like the ultimate boredom to me.
I'll take this one life and wring every drip I can from it and meet the big sleep with pleasure BUT it will always be like leaving the movie before the end.
You'll get used to the idea.
It's no big deal; enjoy it - it gets old far too soon.
.
2007-11-30 11:22:39 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 1⤋
The idea of being killed frightens me about as much as anyone, I don't want to be hit by a car tomorrow or fall off a cliff simply because I don't want my life on earth to end. However, even people who believe in an afterlife are quite attached to their lives. I'd like to avoid death but I don't really care what's afterwards, as far as I'm concerned it's nothing to do with my current life and therefore irrelevant.
2007-12-01 02:32:08 · answer #5 · answered by QuestionGuy2004 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I think it's very, very common for people - especially young people - to feel as you do about death being the end but you get used to the idea. I am scared by the idea of *premature* death because I won't have done everything I want to do but I'm accepting of the idea that I will die one day and that will be the end.
The important thing is to remember this life is the only one we can know we have and to make the most of it. There's no rehearsal.
2007-11-30 11:15:46 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 3⤊ 1⤋
I'm an atheist because the only reason there is the fear of 'hell' is so that church leaders and the like can control a person into doing what they want done. I don't know if there's an afterlife or anything, but I don't think it is controlled by a god or gods.
2007-12-02 04:26:14 · answer #7 · answered by AtheistforLIfe 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I don't really think about death much so no it doesn't scare me. I just don't dwell on it, I never have.
Of course you've just illustrated why most people really believe - they're scared of not existing that's it. Not because they're genuinely convinced there's some nice diety out there - have you ever noticed that absolutely no one thinks they're going to hell? All "believers" believe they're getting into heaven (regardless of their actions).
However I don't consider wishful thinking a valid reason to believe in a god. I'd really like to win the lottery - wishing for it won't make it come true though
2007-12-01 02:43:22 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋
why does it freak you out???? think about this! you have never seen this God! never spoken to him! it is all what you believe right? - so if that does not exist any longer what changes in your life? absolutely nothing!
other then you could channel good deeds(be a volunteer) into the time that you have spend praying and going to church!
but nothing changes! and when you die all systems stop working! - have you ever had surgery? when they put you into a coma and paralyze your body under Anesthesia?
who hangs out with God during that time ? your body is suspended until they reverse this! A soul has never been found! why is that? what does it look and feel like?
When you die you become worm food! There is nothing Creepy about this! it is the cycle of life!
2007-11-30 11:19:28 · answer #9 · answered by Anonymous · 4⤊ 1⤋
Dear Andy ...
The scare you are talking about caused A God/Gods get existence! and because of that life after death created ...
This way we will exist till eternity..
let me ask you something, when you talk to a religious one ( no matter what the religion is! ) he/she says our goals in this life is preparing for life after death in heaven, but whats our goal in heaven ?!!
someday we got existence and someday we should change to non-existence ... ! this is a process we all experience ..
2007-12-01 06:44:24 · answer #10 · answered by Siamak J 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋