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When you guys die do you have wakes and funerals ?
Well, I can't speak for the rest of my fellow non- believers...but I won't be having any funeral. I've never really seen the logic in laying a dead someone out to be looked at by family, friends, and people they haven't seen in 10-20 years....yuck. I'll be cremated.
I have a question for atheists, this is something I've been thinking about a lot. Assuming that you don't believe in a God, you probably don't believe in an afterlife, right? I can't see the point in waking up every morning if I believed that I would just cease to exist.
Here we go again..."How can you possibly want to live if there's no god??!!"
You know, I've heard this preposterous question so many times and it's just as inane now as it has been all those times before. What if I walked up to you and said "How can you bear to get out of bed in the morning knowing that there's no Santa Claus?!"
What's the point of anything then? Even if the human race continues, with 4 billion of us right now, in another 10 generations, nothing any of us did will make any different, no one will remember our names.... I don't get it. If we will all just die and just cease to exist, then why bother? I just can't wrap my head around this. I know the standard answers: live for today, make a difference, leave this place better than we found it... but those differences will dissapear too...
Yes, why bother? That is a question you need to answer for yourself.
What is with the irresistable drive to be remembered? You need to have the knowledge that people will remember your name? Forever? In the scheme of life, how can that possibly matter?
What you need to wrap your head around is that the universe does not revolve around human beings - we are a species, not the center of the everything. Your statements make you sound desperate and afraid. But don't worry - in time, nobody will even remember that you ever felt that way.
RoaminRed, B. Frank,
I think maybe you misunderstood my intention in asking my question. It wasn't at all meant to be argumentative or insulting. I happened to be struggling with my own faith and was seriously looking for a perspective because that is one of the things that keeps my mind going back and forth. I didn't at all mean it like "atheists should just all die".
RoaminRed, B. Frank,
I think maybe you misunderstood my intention in asking my question. It wasn't at all meant to be argumentative or insulting. I happened to be struggling with my own faith and was seriously looking for a perspective because that is one of the things that keeps my mind going back and forth. I didn't at all mean it like "atheists should just all die".
Thank you. My response was because more than once in my life I have been told that I should just kill myself or that I have absolutely no reason to be alive since I am an atheist. Your post sounded very like that. If that's not what you meant, then I am glad.
Here's my perspective: as an atheist I am glad for each and every day of my life, because this is all I get. As such, I try to do my best and be the best person that I can be. When I'm gone, I would much rather people remember me as someone who made a difference (however small) than as someone who would have been better off just not existing at all. I try to be a good person because it's the right thing to do, not because I have any eternal reward or punishment awaiting me if I do not. As an atheist, there are no "do-overs".
It's like having a scrumptious chocolate cake in front of you, and savoring every bite because you know that once it's done, you don't have anymore cake. You enjoy the cake you have, even if there's not another cake waiting afterwards, and you don't refuse to eat or enjoy it simply because you only have one.
RoaminRed, B. Frank,
I think maybe you misunderstood my intention in asking my question. It wasn't at all meant to be argumentative or insulting. I happened to be struggling with my own faith and was seriously looking for a perspective because that is one of the things that keeps my mind going back and forth. I didn't at all mean it like "atheists should just all die".
Hi dmarie,
You are right - I did misunderstand the intent behind your question but my original answer still stands.
Too many people are so starved for attention (or love? acceptance? I don't know) that they constantly crave and seek out ways to "be remembered". That is a sad waste of time and I don't fully understand the drive.
I think that if you are looking for ways to justify a religious faith, you will have to find better reasons for it than simply not wanting to ever cease to exist.
For me, the idea of no afterlife is not a scary one. In fact, if you can accept that idea, I believe that your life on Earth will be enriched because you will have shed a little bit of the natural fear that we humans carry around. On the other hand, "everlasting life" appears to be the most important thing to religious people, and if a religion can supply that to you, then I suppose you should investigate how it does and embrace that.
Every good path will lead you away from fear so find one that works for you.
Good luck.
Here we go again..."How can you possibly want to live if there's no god??!!"
You know, I've heard this preposterous question so many times and it's just as inane now as it has been all those times before. What if I walked up to you and said "How can you bear to get out of bed in the morning knowing that there's no Santa Claus?!"
I don't know how I lived when I tried to believe there was one. Honestly, what would have been the point in trying to with all the things I was supposed to do, to avoid, to worship, to not worship. There wasn't a part of my life they didn't try to dictate.
b. frank,
Thanks. I don't think that my issue is fear, I guess it's the old adage about the point of life. If there ceases to be any life after death there really is no point in being afraid becuase it's not like there will be any level of conciousness that will suffer or have regret. I just can't fathom, literally can't fathom that. Religion, on one hand, seems science fiction-ish to me, impossible at times... but that's why they call it faith I guess. But the thought of all the beauty in the world ceasing and there not being more is just as unfathomable to me. There is so much that science can't explain... but it could be just that our capacity to understand the scientific explanations is limitied. I suppose there are some things we are just not meant to understand. It hurts my brain to think about it. I guess that where the fear comes in is not that I'm afraid of ceasing to exist, but that I'm afraid of being able to find some sort of motivation for persevering through the hard times in life if I believe that it literally just ends. I don't know if that makes any sense. I suppose each person has to find their own motivations.
I guess that where the fear comes in is not that I'm afraid of ceasing to exist, but that I'm afraid of being able to find some sort of motivation for persevering through the hard times in life if I believe that it literally just ends. I don't know if that makes any sense. I suppose each person has to find their own motivations.
That makes pefect sense. And your post shows that you are indeed a thoughtful person and will find the answers that you need.
I think it may be helpful for you if you attempt to suspend your disbelief and just play around with the notion that things you find unfathomable may be true. Spend some time imagining that life does literally simply end and then see how you feel and how your life would be impacted. That way, when your actual answers come they will be strong and informed.
and a person's belief or view can change sometimes.Its my understanding for example,that Benjamin Franklin went thru different phases in his life being atheist or agnostic then latter believing in God.
When I read the bible,it comforts me,it makes me stop and think,I think thats all the proof I need.The argument of science over faith,I think science is about learning how God makes things "tick".One should not necessarily be at odds with other.Albert Einstein was very religious,which is why he was at odds with quantum mechanics,as he believed everthing must be in "order" with no room of uncertainty.
C.S. Lewis used to be at the LEAST an agnostic...and became one of the MOST Christian writers in later life.
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I've never really seen the logic in laying a dead someone out to be looked at by family, friends, and people they haven't seen in 10-20 years....yuck. I'll be cremated.
