Are atheist or people who believe in atheism scared of death and dying?

I sure am, I believe that the physical is it so I want to experience life as long as possible.

Edit: Let me also add that I go through phases where I seemingly don’t care if I die lol, but I think that’s just when I’m depressed.

Doesn’t your question imply that those who do believe in some god are not afraid to die? Neither make any sense.

I’m an atheist who is not afraid of death. I don’t have to worry about a god with arbitrary and inconsistent standards passing judgment on me. I would find that more frightful, that I may be found wanting by a being that has power over me.

I AM somewhat fearful of the process of dying because, like most people, I am not fond of pain and suffering.

Why would you assume that all atheists would feel the same way? People have differing views for differing reasons. That’s the same as any other category of people. All Lutherans don’t drive a Buick. All Jews don’t learn Hebrew. Probably some atheists are reluctant to die because it may be painful to leave behind a loved one. Others may just rarein’ to go to the final embrace. Your implication is that non-atheists are not afraid to die. This is patently not true. I think that fear and reluctance are two different things and you are not making any correct assumptions and your question is unanswerable because your first position is false. You narrow down atheism into two broad categories,,,ahhhh. I can’t

Fact from fiction, truth from diction.
”With atheist there is like 2 varieties, those who deny God (you can’t really say gods because I deny them and I am no atheist) and those who do not believe there is a God or there are gods.”
1) No, it’s not only the denial of the existence of God as Christianity views it. It is the denial of all gods. Hence the name, atheist. “theos” is not Greek for the Christian God. It is Greek for all gods or deities.
2) Those are not 2 varieties. They are varying degrees of certainty. I can say that I know my car has not been stolen. I can say that I think my car has not been stolen. They are the same exact idea.

”Seeing that death is just and end of life and not a step towards or to anything else, why would any atheist be afraid to die?”
Is this a serious question?
Unlike Christians, who all seem to assume they are getting into heaven for an eternity of bliss, Atheists believe that this time on Earth is all we have.
An Atheist is afraid to die because that is the end of his or her entire existence, period.
An Atheist’s fear of death should be in direct relation to how much he or she enjoys his or her life.

I don’t think you understand how athiesm works.

Atheist here.

I am not afraid of what happens after death. I don’t fear any wrathful Gods or hell or anything like that. But that doesn’t mean I’m all blissful about it either.

Mostly, I fear what happens right before death. Will there be a lot of pain? Will I be able to communicate with my loved ones? And I fear what my death will do to others that may depend on me. And I don’t particularly care for the idea that someday I’ll never see another beautiful sunset, or sleep in on a Saturday, or kiss my man. I am very afraid for whoever ends up having to go through all the papers and craft supplies I’ve accumulated.

So I guess you could say I’m afraid of death in a way, but it’s not because of anything supernatural. Does that help?

Actually, the simplest response to this question is:

Why shouldn’t an atheist being afraid of death? It’s simplistic to equate fear of death with fear of judgment.

I am an atheist, and I’m terrified of death.
Death plays a big fear in my life because I feel like when I die, that’s it. That’s all the time I have to exist. My biggest fear is not having enough time to exist. It’s a scary feeling. Also, usually when I’m going through some kind of trauma, I think “what if I’m wrong?” there’s always a chance that us atheists are wrong and that would suck haha. Nothing’s 100%. Are religious people ever afraid that they might be following the wrong religion?

“With atheist there is like 2 varieties…” /sigh

I’m going to pass on this one…

Well said @Sarcasm

I hope so…

for you guys who are worried about pain, etc. – don’t be too scared – your body can only handle so much pain before you go into shock then you don’t have to worry anymore ;)

@eternal_serenity Yeah, because all humans are built identically and they can all handle the same arbitrarily quantifiable amount of pain. Right.

@eternal_serenity Yeah that’s why I want to die very quickly and smoothly. Something that just stops me dead in my tracks like a headshot or something lol. Suffering before you die is seriously the worst thing that could happen to a human :(

@Abyssmanaut Many who do believe in God and Christ are not afraid to die because death is the start of a better after-life, many are sad to leave not because of what would happen to them but because of those they can’t take with them that they would or might miss.

@lynfromnm & laureth If your death was going to come by way of a jet crash, you are flying back to grandma’s house of something and the jet hit a violent storm, gets thrashed about, a wing sheers off and you and the rest are taking a header into the side of a mountain where you know you are going to end up as pizza toppings, you will sit there in the seat with no fear of the impending death just minutes away?

@Trillian Oh forgive me for not spelling out to the tee by saying that I did not mean all. Maybe I should say some, but the implications would be the same as speaking of Christians, how can you call a Christian an Christian if he don’t believe in Christ?

“An Atheist is afraid to die because that is the end of his or her entire existence, period.” That has some legs but we all know death is coming and many of us won’t get to chose the manner in which it comes. If an atheist get inoperable brain cancer and it is not if but when they will not fear death? Should they then use what productive time they have to live it up instead of fighting the cancer, spending weeks or more in hospitals and taking drugs that might leave them feeling more lousier over a greater duration than the cancer would?

@the100thmonkey I would logically believe they should have no fear of death the same as a man who is not in a body of water large enough to engulf him would fear drowning. If life simply stops and evaporates when you die you’d never know it. It would be as if before you were born and tried to figure out where you were. An event would happen either by accident, natural causes, of by violence and you would just be gone, you won’t have a memory of the pain, the tree that fell on you, the thug that stole your wallet and stabbed you, nothing.

@Blackberry I think suffering through a non-instantaneous death would be worth it if you got to say goodbye to people. What if you got that headshot after you got in a big argument with someone you love and before you could apologize? I think there are worse things than pain.

While I’m not looking forward to dying, death isn’t particularly frightening. Yes, I believe this life is the once chance we get, but it doesn’t make death any scarier. It’s the journey, not the destination.

@benjaminlevi Yeah now that I think about, I would want to say goodbye….But if I was a lonely bitter old man….make it quick lol.

@Sarcasm BOOM HEADSHOT!

I’m agnostic and I’m terrified of dying. I used to be a very devout Christian and was equally terrified of dying.

As an agnostic, I’m scared because:
I don’t want it to hurt.
I don’t know what to expect afterward.
I don’t want to leave those that I love.
What if there is some religious path I was supposed to take that I didn’t, Christian or otherwise?

When I was a Christian, even though I believed that I would be comforted in Heaven, the tears I would cry for my loved ones would be wiped dry, and it would be paradise, there was still significant doubt. What if I was the freak who didn’t like Heaven? What if it changed by the time I got there? What if God turned out to be an asshole? What if I interpreted all those sermons wrong? What if those who delivered the sermons interpreted the Bible wrong? What if the original translators translated the text wrong? (which has actually been proven many times in many instances in The Bible).

Or even worse… what if I didn’t make it to Heaven for some reason? What if I didn’t believe hard enough? What if I wasn’t good enough? What if I forgot some important step in the obstacle course to salvation? What is eternal hellfire really like? What is eternity itself really like? Would I eventually go insane or would I endure pain new every day?

I’ve thought about this a lot, with faith and without. It’s no easier either way.

@Hypocrisy_Central “Many who do believe in God and Christ…” Huh? Which one? God or Christ? Because depending which one of the billions of humans you ask, and which one of the thousands of religious views and/or customs they hold, you’re going to get a lot of opposing answers. Don’t make the mistake of thinking that the Christ-based religions are the only ones to consider when trolling atheism and religion. Religiocentrism is extra-stupid when it butts up against atheism. Anyone who thinks “Christ” when they hear “Religion” shouldn’t be allowed to talk about atheism. Period.

@Hypocrisy_Central – If I’m about to crash into a mountain, then yes, I would fear that, just like any rational human being would – for all the reasons I already posted in my answer up there. What are you getting at?

Ok, ok. Let me take this one ridiculous passage at a time. First, I’m going to get a fresh cup of coffee.
Let’s start with: ”...many are sad to leave not because of what would happen to them but because of those they can’t take with them that they would or might miss.” So are you saying that atheists are so selfish that they’d take people with them when they died so they wouldn’t miss them? But since there is no afterlife for them, why would they? They wouldn’t benefit from the company.
Then, we have this charming nugget: ”...gets thrashed about, a wing sheers off and you and the rest are taking a header into the side of a mountain where you know you are going to end up as pizza toppings, you will sit there in the seat with no fear of the impending death just minutes away?” I’m not even going to bother with the appalling spelling errors, but I must point out that:
@lynfromnm said “I AM somewhat fearful of the process of dying because, like most people, I am not fond of pain and suffering.” You see? Exactly the opposite of what you attributed to her.
Next, you addressed me. This just keeps getting better and better: “Maybe I should say some, but the implications would be the same as speaking of Christians, how can you call a Christian an Christian if he don’t believe in Christ?”
The implications would not be the same. You’re talking about two different things and even if you can’t call a Christian someone who does not believe in Christ, your second position is still a fallacy. It does not follow that an atheist can’t be an atheist because he/she is afraid to die. The two have nothing to do with each other. The rest of your statement: “An Atheist is afraid to die because that is the end of his or her entire existence, period.” That has some legs but we all know death is coming and many of us won’t get to chose the manner in which it comes. If an atheist get inoperable brain cancer and it is not if but when they will not fear death? Should they then use what productive time they have to live it up instead of fighting the cancer, spending weeks or more in hospitals and taking drugs that might leave them feeling more lousier over a greater duration than the cancer would?”
What? You are not an atheist yourself yet you make this completely ridiculous and unsupportable statement and end it with “period” as if that means something? What? The rest is complete drivel with no syntax, and no sense at all. I’m calling jeruba to red pencil you.
The same goes for what you wrote to @the100thmonkey. From beginning to end it makes no sense and you sir, are making no point whatsoever other than that you haven’t a clue what you’re talking about.

i hope so…..

Not this one.

your answer and the details make my head hurt…because…

1. wtf are you talking when you attempt to compare atheism to some sort of bisexuality?
2. who says there are these 2 varieties of atheists that you list – any atheist will tell you that they’re not denying god(s) because no god exists. that’s it. over. period.
3. some atheists believe nothing happens after death and that’s okay by them – why would this be scary? it’s not…and some atheists say they don’t know what would happen but again this has nothing to do with god so it is possible…again, not scary
4.in the last portion, you answer your own question, do you not?

but, in general, people can be afraid to die because they love their life not because they give a hoot about the after life.

I am not only and atheist, but I am an anti-theist.

And, yes I am scared of death. No sane person wants to die. Sure, I would like to believe in a heaven or afterlife, but just wanting to believe in something because it feels good does not make it true. Otherwise Santa would exist.

I believe the purpose of the question was so the OP could extol the benefits of his or her faith (no doubt Christianity) and suggest that unbelievers must be fearful and insecure without the eternal bliss he or she knows comes after life.

This was thus, a disingenuous question.

@Dr_Lawrence I think you’re giving him way too much credit. And so far he hasn’t done any extolling. Maybe I should say extrolling.

I notice that religious and non-religious aren’t in a rush to die. That seems strange since things should be better for the religious, they should be happy that they are going to meet their maker.

Most normal people aren’t eager to die. There are some groups that are looking for the end of the world and the return of Christ but even they want to be the ones that live through it.

Those of us that don’t believe in a divine creator and divine judgement aren’t worrying about the actual death. The thing I worry about is will I have a physician to assist me if I persist on hanging on when there is no hope of recovery. I also worry about how much pain will be involved.

@eternal_serenity You sure don’t know anything about pain.

Um, well there’s A-theism (A = without, as in asexual reproduction), and Anti-theism.

The two are a long shot from eachother.

Most Atheist, are not without principles, absolute, not relative morality, and a sense of mans place in the cosmos, one of responsibility. Atheism, is a religion without recognized God. (little do they realize that the God of atheism, doesn’t believe in gods either)

Most Anti-theists are much more interesting, as in 666 and muhahahah.

I think my next avatar will have to be devilish.

@Hypocrisy_Central, I hope you don’t mind but I’m going to answer your question point by point.

You said, “If there is no God there is no after life, once you die you vanish into the great wide zephrum or something.”
• Great wide sephrum? Great scott! No, you just vanish. I imagine the experience is similar to my experience of not existing before I was born—which is to say, nonexistent.

“There is no reckoning of your time here on Earth,”
I reckon my time here every minute I experience living my life and dealing with the consequences of my actions. And others’ actions.

“no heaven to obtain or a hell to avoid.”
• Correct. Promising me a candyland in the sky or eternal spankings in the underworld doesn’t really enter into my thought process because I see such things as obvious fairy tales. No different from the idea that a fat man in a red suit will give you presents if you’re nice, or lumps of coal (or beatings by his demonic servitor) if you’re naughty.

“There is no good or evil there is just life,”
• The fact that the afterlife is a fairy tale has nothing to do with good and evil.

Would you say that “niceness” and “naughtiness” are defined by whether or not Santa gives you presents? Point being, morality is not dependent on the reward/punishment you get for following a moral code.

I don’t like throwing around the word “evil”—because it’s not specific and it’s not helpful. I do think the most important foundation for morality is _empathy_—the acknowledgment that your fellow conscious beings can experience suffering and that it is bad. I think people who ignore this foundation—psychopaths in their various forms—are what you might call “evil,” and are hugely problematic, as are people who blindly follow them.

“as it is with the animal kingdom.”
• Actually primates, dolphins and whales, and even dogs and wolves have well-developed social norms and enforcements that serve the same function as our ideas of “good” and “evil.”

“Be they slimy people here on Earth of Pope-like it would not matter, so there would be no fear of judgment or damnation or anything like that do death will have no significance.”
• No, that’s your religion. In your religion, Pol Pot could be in heaven right now if he accepted Jesus into his heart on his deathbed, for salvation is not earned but is a gift, a “grace” of God.

Unlike you, I actually believe the moral choices one makes in life matter. Like I said, I reckon with my choices every day, and what’s more my choices affect the people around me, and their choices affect the people around them.

“Seeing that death is just and end of life and not a step towards or to anything else, why would any atheist be afraid to die?”
• Because life is awesome and so are a lot of the people I know. Also, I want to see what happens in the future.

I’m an atheist and I’m more afraid of other people close to me dying. That’s actually the one thing I understand about why people are religious; the idea of an afterlife is so comforting. I’d much rather imagine my parents, for example, in some wonderful place rather than lifeless in the ground. Eek. When I die myself I’m not going to give a shit, since I won’t know I’m dead. I think death’s less stressful for us atheists because we don’t have to fret about going to hell or whatever.

But I do, as anyone would regardless of religion, fear premature death. I have my whole life ahead of me, and I want to be really old when I die.

@Abyssmanaut Which God? If you don’t believe what would it matter? Just as most believe Monopoly money has no value so they could care less if they stuffed $4,000 if it in their pockets and forgot to take it out. To them the money is useless. It would greatly come under faith, that is why they call it that.

@laureth “If I’m about to crash into a mountain, then yes, I would fear that, just like any rational human being would” I have seen your arguments on government so give me the same ferocity you use in debating those issues, why would people normally be afraid when 5 seconds or less after they hit it won’t matter, they are off to never, never land, cloud 9 the great wide zephrum or wherever where they no longer exist in any way shape of form?

@Trillian Got that coffee? Hope you got decaf this time maybe you will get less agitates and focus on making some points above quips and grips. “So are you saying that atheists are so selfish that they’d take people with them when they died so they wouldn’t miss them?” Let me spell it out –since you missed it so easily— I never said atheist were selfish, you invented that one.

And don’t use typos maybe not everyone uses Spell Check as you maybe, but I guess those who choose not to use Spell Check are committing some great crime?

Pain and/or suffering aside if this is all you have you won’t remember any suffering. So the fear of it would be relevant if you lived and did not dye. Once you are dead you would be as a match or candle that has gone out, no flame, no light, no heat, a whiff of smoke then nothing, as if it were never there. So knowing how your death might be painful going to make going to the sweet by-and-by any worse when you won’t have any knowledge of when you died, do tell that?

@Simone_De_Beauvoir I know you are so much better than that, I have seen your other answers. Put your head into it. 1st of all if there is another flavor of atheism please share it with me. I had to look it up several places just so be sure what it was; those sources, Wikipedia, Webster. American Heritage etc, only spoke of 2. “some atheists believe nothing happens after death and that’s okay by them – why would this be scary? it’s not…and some atheists say they don’t know what would happen but again this has nothing to do with god so it is possible…again, not scary” MY point exactly, thanks for that. Since there is no God or nothing after death in the principle of atheism there should be nothing to fear once death happens. Loving life is not the same as being afraid to die. You can love life to the fullest but when it is your time to go, you go because you know it is a part of life and when its time to dance with the reaper you give your best dance.

@Dr_Lawrence Really? You got all that from the question? The only reason God had to be in the question is that is because atheism is all about the non-belief or denial of God. To exclude God from that conversation would be like trying to explain the tricks of Tony Hawk and avoid saying they were done with a skateboard. If you are clairvoyant and know what I intended to say, think of what I am thinking now? If you get that out as a referendum of people who do not believe it was something your mind invented not what I said; so we are clear on that.

if it’s anything like unconsciousness. it’s going to be peaceful. nothing to fear about it except waking up. i’m only scared that i might not accomplish what i hope to accomplish before it happens. also scared of a slow or painful death.

also, out of all the gods and religions i’ve been introduced to in my time (many) i can honestly say that i don’t think any of those gods exist. i really don’t think i’m wrong about them… hence, i don’t fear them.

@Hypocrisy_Central – Like I keep saying, “normal” people are afraid of (1) the incredible pain of being smooshed on the mountain, and (2) all the things that they will lose along with life. Also, to some, I’m sure “no longer existing” is something they don’t care to experience, and are thus afraid of. I keep saying this. Understand yet?

if you dont believe in god, you should be affraid!

@slick44 Are you serious?

totally!

@slick44 /facepalm

@Hypocrisy_Central I’ll give this one last shot, then I’m out of here. Your original question asked if atheists were afraid of death/dying. Then you showed your version of the logic which correlates with your framework and world view. Then you asked “why” based on those views. Let me try to explain to you that your views are not the only views available, they are yours. You were given answers by several atheists and at least one agnostic. you were shown the fallacy of your original and subsequent arguments and yet you persist.
You cannot ascribe your views onto another person. Every person bases their views and decisions on his or her own experience. It goes like this:
1. I observe data and experiences. 2. I select data from what I observe. 3. I add meanings(cultural and personal). 4. I make assumptions based on the meanings I added. 5. I draw conclusions. 6. I adopt beliefs about the world. 7. I take actions based on my beliefs. (Senge, P. et al, 1994)
You keep arguing their conclusions based on your beliefs. You can’t do that. They base their beliefs on their experiences, not yours. Get it?

Peter Senge et al, The Fifth Discipline Fieldbook (New York: Currency Doubleday, 1994), p.243.

no, no faceplant. i stand by my answer. to each their own.

curious.. why should they be afraid, @slick44?
they aren’t afraid, by the way

@Hypocrisy_Central ”why would people normally be afraid when 5 seconds or less after they hit it won’t matter, they are off to never, never land, cloud 9 the great wide zephrum or wherever where they no longer exist in any way shape of form?”
Because it’s the end of your existence.
Some people like life. Hell, some people love life.
Leaving that lovely thing would be bad.
Get it?

if you beleive, you shoulnt be affraid. and if you dont beleive, well i guess it dosnt matter. does it?

:) so your opinion changed?

it’s not like i believe god doesn’t exist for fun or profit… i believe he doesn’t exist because.. well, because i don’t know what you seem to know. that’s all. i’m unaware of a reason to believe he exists.

is god going to torture me for this?

no. it hasnt. just made it easier to think about. y fear somthing u dont beleive in.

we are to complex to have just appeared on the earth one day. how would such a complex living being. just come to be?how did anything come to be? think about it. but like i said before, to each their own.

@slick44, you said:

“we are to complex to have just appeared on the earth one day.”
• I agree.

“how would such a complex living being. just come to be?”
• Evolution….you do understand that “evolution” does not mean “magically appearing out of nowhere,” right?

“how did anything come to be?”
Not sure what you mean. The universe itself has always existed; there is no point in time when the universe did not exist.

Complexity emerges from simpler arrangements of matter and energy over time. If you’d like an example of how a simple structure and a simple process, repeated over and over, can result in something more complex, look at cellular automata. Nature is replete with similar examples.

@Hypocrisy_Central look at this guy’s random suggestion about what kind of atheists there are…it is no less valid than yours…because it’s just an opinion
http://www.mwillett.org/atheism/sects1.htm

@slick44 You asked @ninjacolin “y fear somthing u dont beleive in.” @ninjacolin is afraid of a slow painful death. Death exists. @ninjacolin believes in something that is self evident. @ninjacolin does not fear the god/s. @ninjacolin doe not believe in them/it. If you’re going to argue something with someone, you must stick to what the other person says. Ok? @ninjacolin fears something we all not only believe in, we have quantifiable, indisputable proof if it every day. Pain, death. These things exist. These things are what @ninjacolin, very reasonably, claims to fear, or at least want’s to avoid if possible.

@Trillian has won the NinjaColin award of excellence.
awarded for 7 mentions of nc’s name in a single post

Thanks, (waves, stops to smile for cameras) I’m here all week!

Personally, at this point, I am not. I hope I won’t, for a long time, but that’s more because I like living than because I fear death.

Situation might of course chance if I knew the event was closer.

“You will not fear dying, because you know you will”, seems to sum it up pretty nicely for me. (No, I don’t remember where that quote was from.)

Qingu I love it when a person goes point by point, then I know exactly where they are coming from and their mind is at and what they want to say. Basically unknowingly made my point, and several others even though you may not understand it. What you commented “You said, ‘If there is no God there is no after life, once you die you vanish into the great wide zephrum or something.’
• Great wide zephrum? Great scott! No, you just vanish. I imagine the experience is similar to my experience of not existing before I was born—which is to say, nonexistent.” There is the whole logic n a nutshell. Once you are gone and there is believed to be nothing but NON-EXISTANCE all before that matters for nothing. Being afraid to die because you don’t want to leave this existence but it is weak. When a person passes out because of lack of oxygen, missed their meds with alcohol, overdosed, blow to the head, whatever, the only way they no they had even lost consciousness is when they gained it again and figured it out themselves or someone told them they were unconscious. Without an after-life, the moment you die you will never know it.
“I don’t like throwing around the word “evil”—because it’s not specific and it’s not helpful.” With no after-life there is no good or evil, correct. When a crock snatches the weak and infant wildebeests, or the killer whale dose the same to penguins and seals if they get them in the water or can get them off the ice there is not those evil orcas killing those defenseless sick or baby penguins, the penguins and seals are just food and it is who can out wit the other to last the longest. The crock and the orca did not kill for profit, revenge, joy, boredom, kicks, or anything because they were hungry oh I better mention that sometimes animals kill each other fighting over a mate to get some nookie from or I will be taken to task.

ninjacolin IMHO I would say it would be close to consciousness, but I can’t tell you for sure –and I am sure no one else could either. Vampires don’t exist and neither do zombies, and if any of those fictional undead creatures met up with you they would not want to answer questions about what is was like to be dead then alive again. Read up how I explained it in the 1st paragraph.

@laureth @Sarcasm Dealing with pain, dying, and missing life one last time then I am putting the horse in the barn since most atheist posting here haven’t. Pain is only a concern when you ARE dying, not after you are dead. Once you are dead and you just cease to exist as Qingu alluded to, you are as a flame on a candle or the head of a match, once it goes out it can’t do a damn thing, good or bad. It is just an unlit candle or a burned up stick. If the candle flame had sentience it might stress that the wick was almost used up or there was hardly any match left to burn but as soon as the wick was used up of there was no more match the flame is out and there is nothing, no flame exist anymore so how would the flame miss candles when it exist no more? The only thing I can see is people speaking from the conscious side of life. Be a parson take a head shot from a Bushmaster rifle from a sniper hiding in the trunk of a car that leaves you dead before you hit the ground, a heart attack that takes 7 minutes to polish you off before the EMTs got there, or slow chronic cancer while you waste away for months on meds and chemo at that point where your life is gone, and if you go into non-existence the last thing you heard, saw, touch is relevant. No matter how much you loved life or how much fun you had while you were here the moment you are dead it is like it never was and you will not have any memories or people you left behind to miss. Anyone that can show me that I am taking my hat to the, and buying them a steak. Scared of pain, OK; scared of leaving or for those you will leave, OK, show me how you will miss life when you will no longer have a mind to know anything?

@Simone_De_Beauvoir I will say since I value your input a lot definitions do and don’t mean anything, thing are what they are. You can toss around words like “terrorist” the patriot heroes who tosses the King’s tea into Boston harbor can be seen by some as terrorist, all depends of if you supported what they did or not. How many flavors of atheist there are, I don’t know. If you know and want to tell I am all ears.

@Trillian Every belief has some anchor. Many times that anchor of belief to logically figure out why someone did or did not do something. Have I experienced atheism personally? Never. Can I use logic to try to understand it? Sure. Logic is you should not fear something you won’t even remember if you have no memory of it where is the significance? Would be as significant as that burger you ate in the 2nd week of August back when you were 7 years old. God, there is reward or punishment. No God, there is nothing, nowhere to go to, so nothing to miss; hence why be afraid of nothing?

What was it that Ron White said you couldn’t fix? I give up.

@Hypocrisy_Central:

No matter how much you loved life or how much fun you had while you were here the moment you are dead it is like it never was and you will not have any memories or people you left behind to miss.

Now… Please tell me why I, as an atheist, shouldn’t find that absolutely terrifying.

@Hypocrisy_Central – Like I said. It’s not what happens after death that scares me, it’s what happens just before death. So you telling me that these things occur before death is not news.

From your quips here, it sounds like you would like us atheists to belly up and say that we’re afraid of dying because of what comes after, and admit that we’re just hypocritical theists. Well, that’s just not me. The reasons I fear death have already been listed. You’re not going to get me to say that there’s anything else, like a big wide space or a vengeful god. To me, those things just don’t exist – just as surely as to you, they do.

Once I am dead, I become compost. I decompose and my bits are recycled. I am not afraid of this. Plant a tree on top of my grave and call it a day. Like so many here have said, it’s not that I’m becoming dead, it’s that I’m unbecoming alive that’s the problem. I happen to like life, I don’t like pain, and I don’t ever want to leave my sweetie. I fear the process of dying, but I don’t feel any fear of what comes after.

I don’t know how I can hammer it home any further for you. I just don’t see the world the same way you do.

I would say that the fear of the end of sentient function motivates many to seek the afterlife. Not pursuing it does not mean its not feared. Not believing that a particular path will achieve the afterlife instead is why it’s not pursued, instead of the absence of fear.

Fear of death is nearly universal. Fear of pain or discomfort associated with lethal processes is undeniable.

It is possible to be spiritual without the paycheck of afterlife. There are many who try, believing they will never be worthy, in spite of the teachings of their religion. To me, expecting a paycheck for having integrity is silly. It’s like expecting to be paid for breathing.

I can think of no simpler way to reconcile the POV of both atheist, and deists.

By the way, one of my fantasies is to be cremated, mixed with potting soil, and used to plant a cherry tree so my elements can return to nature, and interested people can eat the cherries.

Then as a final gesture I can say “Eat me!”

‘course I can also imagine an asshole coming along with a chainsaw.

@laureth Heavens no! My question is not to brow beat you or any other atheist into admiting they are scared of death because of what there is after you die, I don’t want you to “belly up” to anything. I am not judging you or any other atheist because they don’t believe in the God I believe in or try to convince or convert you. You are an atheist so you do not believe in a hereafter, I KNOW THAT. As far as afraid of dying WE ALL ARE, but since it is a dance with the reaper no one will escape you hope it will be pleasant or at least quick, like a slug from a Bushmaster shot from some nut in the trunk of a car popping off people pumping gas; no one WANTS to suffer. But, my faith tells me I have to go through that to get to a better ending, this is just a speed bump in my eternity.

What I want you to tell me then is IF any athiest would be afraid of death, not the dying process before you are gone, but death itself if there is nothing after you die but non-existance, especially when you won’t even know you are dead? It is like fearing nothing, or nothing significant. All I want to know. Please just give me your take on it. :-)

PS Like it or not I will still pray for you, it is painless and to you just in my head so you will never know it happed, it is very non-evasive.

@Hypocrisy_Central – I think my ‘take’ has already been put out there. :) I’m not afraid of decomposing – in fact, when my time comes, I hope my remains benefit all sorts of living creatures.

My only fear is that my death will be ordinary. I want to die in some spectacular way like a fiery crash from in a supersonic airplane or maybe have a meteor drop on me. I want people to remember the day Ron died.

@Hypocrisy_Central, you said:

“Without an after-life, the moment you die you will never know it.”
• Correct. Relevance?

–“With no after-life there is no good or evil, correct.“_
Incorrect. That’s certainly not what I said. In fact I said the opposite. And if you believe this, you have the moral development of a child.

I believe something is bad if it hurts others. You appear to believe that something is bad if it gets you punished in the afterlife. “Badness” and “goodness” have nothing to do with the relations between you and other human beings. For you, they are defined by whether or not you’ll get spanked.

You mentioned animals. Punishing and threatening them is how you train them. It’s like you’re arguing that jumping on the table is “bad” because my cat gets threatened with punishment if he does it.

@Qingu I can see why you get all cheeky making my point tend to lead people ti make 3rd grade schiil yard insults. Maybe you should take a page from @laureth or @Simone_De_Beauvoir and learn some debate skills.

Well since my intelligence was call to action I will wait just a moment to put this horse in the barn. You made the point in bold strokes:
“believe something is bad if it hurts others. You appear to believe that something is bad if it gets you punished in the afterlife. “Badness” and “goodness” have nothing to do with the relations between you and other human beings. For you, they are defined by whether or not you’ll get spanked.
You mentioned animals. Punishing and threatening them is how you train them. It’s like you’re arguing that jumping on the table is “bad” because my cat gets threatened with punishment if he does it.”

The 1st part of that about humans feeling bad about harming other humans, not all humans feel that and those who don’t we call defective, sociopath or something. They are not look upon as right or even evil people like Manson, Gacy, McVeigh, etc. Why? Because they killed people, some of then killed kids. The only reason why it matters is that we as humans not only suppose to have humanity many have the belief that we have a soul that gives us our humanity and compassion etc.

The second part is the more telling part, punishment and reward is how you train them (us humans training them not other animals training them) is that not the same as God would do? A cat only knows not to get on the table or hang off the drapes because HUMANS step in with a harsh reaction to that activity. Of a dog performs a trick well he earns a doggie treat. The dog is not smart enough to trick the treat from his master without doing the trick, nor would he attack his master simply because he thought his master was humiliating him to get the treat. If humans were not in the picture there would be no drapes or table for the cat to be on and thus no punishment and nothing for the cat to worry about. Let go further and say some cats got into a winter cabin in the summer when no snow is around. Would they know to stay off the table, don’t hang on the drapes or climb all over the book case? No! Why? No humans to tell them that activity is not allowed so the cat would do as she pleased with out care. As with Manson, Gacy and the likes with no after-life, no superior being to say “you were on the table when you should not have, you messed up, and this is what will happen” what great sting is there to being a serial killer or mass murderer? You get caught and get a needle in your arm big whoop, they can’t trade your life for every single victim; they may get 1/5 or less in trade but not life for life. And after you get the needle in the arm and drift into unconsciousness you will know before they did it what they were doing but you would never know it happened when it hit you and that is the worst you would get. That is not too bad I guess, just to lose an existence you will not even remember for doing the same to 8+ people.

@the100thmonkey “’No matter how much you loved life or how much fun you had while you were here the moment you are dead it is like it never was and you will not have any memories or people you left behind to miss.’ Now… Please tell me why I, as an atheist, shouldn’t find that absolutely terrifying”

As an atheist I don’t think you should be terrified of it because you only know of it now because you are alive, once you are dead by your belief you just go into non-existence. No matter what you left, that sail boat you loved so much, all that cash in the bank, those season tickets you covet so well, the collection if vintage salt and pepper shakers, etc it is all irrelevant.

I would ask you, can you or how would you know you had anything or any loved ones after you go to a state of non-existence? Can you just explain that one two me? Enlighten me on this area of atheism, if there is a way to do it I don’t see please share it.

@Hypocrisy_Central, what is your problem with killing kids exactly? God commands this multiple times for various reasons in the Old Testament. Presumably you would be punished in the afterlife for not following God’s commandments. So “killing kids” in itself can’t be bad, because you’ve defined “bad” as “that which results in afterlife punishment.”

John Wayne Gacy killed a bunch of kids. Why was this wrong? Are you saying it is wrong because God will punish him in the afterlife for it? Because that seems incredibly twisted to me.

And, again, childish. The basis of your morality seems to be what you’ll personally get out of it—reward or punishment. Something is “bad” if it results in you being punished, “good” if it results in you being rewarded. Is the only thing stopping you from causing harm to other people the threat of a skydaddy punishing you?

@Hypocrisy_Central :

”… once you are dead by your belief you just go into non-existence.”

Granted.

”...No matter what you left, that sail boat you loved so much, all that cash in the bank, those season tickets you covet so well, the collection if vintage salt and pepper shakers, etc it is all irrelevant”

Granted it will be irrelevant after I die. Those are just things though, and while there are things that I like, they are ultimately irrelevant, and the argument that because they are irrelevant to a dead person (because they’re.. well… dead and can’t experience them) is spurious because they aren’t the reason I want to stay alive.

I’m unique, my experiences in combination with my genetic predispositions are what make me unique. My children are unique and although every parent says this special. I have a responsibility to them because I created them – a responsibility that I take seriously. The pleasure I derive from my interactions with them is while biologically determined unceasing. To experience their first steps, words, days at school; to experience the first time my eldest read a book all on his own, without help and prompting from me, is precious. Every experience I have is precious because once I’m gone, they’re gone.

I contribute and receive in (I hope) equal measure. The value I place on experiences is, in the final analysis, derived from their uniqueness, and they have to end. Death holds fear for me (as an atheist) because I don’t want to stop. I want to be remembered.

Life, to me, is about what you make of the opportunities you find. The end of life is the end of opportunities to do something I consider valuable. Fear of death, then, is the fear of loss – not of things, but of experience and action.

I hope you understand.

@the100thmonkey You hope in vain. The…person to whom you address yourself is patently incapable of understanding not only other peoples points of views, but that other people can have differing points of view. This was explained to him rather succinctly already, and he insists on repeating his reasons for why you should feel the way he believes you should feel rather than just admitting the simple fact that everyone has differing views for differing reasons. You’re wasting your time and energy. He asked a question but didn’t make clear that he already thinks he knows the answer and just wants to argue about it.

@Trillian (Walking by brink wall) Hello? (No answer so I keep walking)

@the100thmonkey Thank you, really, I see where you are coming from now. Please teach @Trillian how to analyze and articulate a point of view at least .001% as well as you just have. Where I don’t think all atheist have a fear of death really, more of dying, or even have the same reasons as you at least you were able –though it took some work—to at least show one point of why anyone who believes they will not be around in the hereafter might have a fear of death. Larvae, barnacles, plus 80 sea horses to you!

I am beginning to brew a “protection from evil” potion

After that I’ll work on a “peace and tranquility” spell.

Although I am a product of history, I have no direct knowledge of that history. When I die, I will be history. I may affect the future but will not be a part of it therefore this is the only time I have and I intend to make the most of it.

Don’t confuse wanting to live with fear of dying. The biology of dying is pretty gross and it doesn’t make one eager to become maggot food.