How do you view death?

[bugsbunny04]

I view it rather strangely I suppose. I do not fear it, nor seek it, nor do I think I can cheat it, I simply accept it. And my explaination is this:

If you fear death, you think it is something that can be avoid forever and you refuse to accept that it is going to happen anyway.

If you seek death, depending on the reason, you are a coward. If you are trying to escape from your problems, you are a selfish coward. If, on the other hand, you do not want to be a burden to others, or you want to avoid the indignity of being like Howard Hughs, I understand.

If you think you can cheat death and think you are invincible, you are an idiot. You will die, it is a matter of when and how.

Personally, I hope I die fighting for something I believe in, or put more simply, I hope I "die well" as Rodenberry's fictional warrior race, the Klingons would say. Real life examples of "dying well":

The Henly crew, the occupants of The Alamo, Japanese soldiers who, in WWII, fought quite literally, to the death, knowing they would lose the battle (not including kamakazi pilots). WWI soldiers who died fighting in the trenches, who charged after each other knowing the odds of survival and doing it anyway, that sort of thing.

Note that I do not think suicide bombers "die well", because they are killing civilians instead of the enemy too often (in the case of terrorists), and they generally have the option of doing it another way, and they are dying by their own hand, not being killed in honorable combat. I also do not think that persons who do not resist being ceremoniously executed "die well", because they are dying in surrender, instead of dying in defiance and resistance, plus they were captured to begin with and that is a no-no, unless you actually think you can eventually get an opportunity to kill more of them/

I am not seeking death, but I figure if I have to die, I might as well "die well." Anybody have any comments?

[PhanthomOps]

bugsbunny04:

Quite a profound and mature statement.

Personally, I don't look for death, although the squad I commanded in combat might say otherwise.

My time will come one day at God's pleasure. Not that I am anxious to die, but I would like to be with my Lord & Savior.

[PatrickHenry]

Morbid thread for you, bb04. For me, death is the doorway to the eternal kingdom. I'm takin' my time opening it, but my hand is on the door. I have promises from a trustworthy source that everything is cool. I know the landlord.

[GreatWyrm of Babylon]

I will find it when it gets here, but I am in no paticular hurry.

[Mr.Vicchio]

I personally have struggled with this question.

My logical and scientific mind considers the possibilities.

1. Death is oblivion. You die, and thats it, it over, there is... nothing. Eternal Nothingness. My mind shrinks from this thought. Its very difficult to accept that at some point.. I may cease to forever exsist.

2. That the Bible, Jesus, God and the Holy Spirit is all very real, and we have a soul. At this point I question the decisions in my life... am I good enough? Have I lead my life in manner that Jesus would accept me into his Kingdom? Have I an address in Heaven? I do not do anything to further this... let me say, I don't see an oppurtunity to do good, and think "That will help me into heaven!" I think thats a terible reason to do good. You do good becuase its... good to do.

I do not accept reincarnation, or becoming a spirit, or any of the other beliefs on Death.

In the end, I accept Jesus, and try to live my life as a good person, I try to follow the Word of Jesus... and when I die, I am content that I will get that which I deserve.



And yes, I too would like to die well. I would rather give my life for a good cause then waste away and die. But I do not seek death.

[Gorgo]

Death is, for now at least, part of life.

[Pooeypants]

Well when I die I expect to stay dead, if there really was an eternal afterlife why should I even bother staying here on this Earth and it's suffering?

[Igotarock]

BB04
That was very moving. My husband and I love to watch movies and we just finished watching The Last Samurai and that was the philosophy they lived by. It was beautiful to see that kind of dedication because they did not focus on death but on living life to it's fullest and when death was upon them was determined to die with honor.

I view death as the ending of one chapter and the beginning of another one. I hope my new chapter begins with "well done my good and faithful servant."

I hope to "die well" as well. I doubt I will ever find myself fightin to the death in a war or for a cause so my greatest hope is that when my time comes I have not been a drain on my family, I have not been a complaining sort of person, that I have borne whatever it may be well and that my family will remember me fondly and think of me often and not say "thank God that bitch is dead!"

[Paavo]

...not say "thank God that bitch is dead!"

Hahaha.

I see death as...well, dying. Brain stops working, body rotting, that stuff. Why are people afraid of seeing it that way? Why be scared of the end? After all, it is the end, you'll stop existing. Bliss! ; )

[Igotarock]

Paavo,

I'm not scared of death. I am a bit vain and would prefer to die before I stop looking good. :)

Maybe the "this can't be it" part of our human nature stems from the "why the hell are we here?" part. Maybe?

[bugsbunny04]

Originally posted by Mr.Vicchio, I personally have struggled with this question. My logical and scientific mind considers the possibilities. 1. Death is oblivion. You die, and thats it, it over, there is... nothing. Eternal Nothingness. My mind shrinks from this thought. Its very difficult to accept that at some point.. I may cease to forever exsist. 2. That the Bible, Jesus, God and the Holy Spirit is all very real, and we have a soul. At this point I question the decisions in my life... am I good enough? Have I lead my life in manner that Jesus would accept me into his Kingdom? Have I an address in Heaven? I do not do anything to further this... let me say, I don't see an oppurtunity to do good, and think "That will help me into heaven!" I think thats a terible reason to do good. You do good becuase its... good to do. In the end, I accept Jesus, and try to live my life as a good person, I try to follow the Word of Jesus... and when I die, I am content that I will get that which I deserve.

Me and Pooeypants have also considered the possibilities, however we have obviously come to opposite conclusions, mine being the one you accept.

[PhanthomOps]

PatrickHenry:
Right-On, how did I know you'd say that ??? :)

Mr.Vicchio:
Humble and to the point - see you on the other side :)

Pooeypants:
Quote: "Well when I die I expect to stay dead, if there really was an eternal afterlife why should I even bother staying here on this Earth and it's suffering?"

We are only really passing through for a time - and boy are you in for a surprise!

Igotarock:
Quote: "I hope to "die well" as well. I doubt I will ever find myself fightin to the death in a war or for a cause so my greatest hope is that when my time comes I have not been a drain on my family, I have not been a complaining sort of person, that I have borne whatever it may be well and that my family will remember me fondly and think of me often and not say "thank God that bitch is dead!"

From what I can glean from your other posts on various subjects, you are an intelligent, intutive, reasoning and sensative woman who would make a great loving and caring mother. That being said, I could not imagine your family saying what you stated at the end of the above post. :) :)

[Igotarock]

PhanthomOps:

Gee thanks for the compliment, I'm blushing. :)

[Pooeypants]

I don't need to delude myself with the thought that my consciousness is going last forever...infact that's quite a sad thought. Is immortality truly to be our purpose?

[Mr.Vicchio]

I see life as a test... a great test. Are you, as an individual being, made of the right stuff, or are you not worth whats next? I see the story of Job as my evidence for life being a test. If you can, you make the transition to something better. If you cannot, then death is a truly terrible thing. Who knows what waits for us on the other side of deaths door? Jesus tells me, it an adventure to make anything on earth pale in comparison, but only for those that deserve it.

What ever the correct answer is for you, the truth will be learned when your last breath is taken, your hear beats its last beat... You'll either go on.. or this whole debate is pointless seeing as you will cease to exisist and nothing really matters.

[Pooeypants]

Our life is a test set by nature, ofc now we've learnt to bend the rules, it'll be interesting to see where it leads.

[Nono]

Sounds like most posts express the writer's HOPES.

Can anyone articulate exactly how he/she has reached his/her particular conclusion about what, if anything, follows death? I mean, how can we possibly know? We're writing black on white here, brain to brain as it were. So this thread belongs to the realm of rationality.

Am under no illusions about my mortality, but I simply find the concept of death inconceivable. As Mr.Vicchio puts it so well, my mind "shrinks from" the thought of oblivion. Yet the old Heaven bit sounds like wishful thinking put about by ecclesiastics who have an all-too-earthly interest in people embracing their line. And how do THEY know anyway?

I'm convinced of one thing though: What counts is how you live.

[Mr.Vicchio]

Nono, I know this goes out there, but the NDE phenomenon, with a few verifiable cass of people clincally completly dead, having them.. is the best "proof" I can give you.

Anything else is faith, hopes as you put it, and well...

[PhanthomOps]

Pooeypants:
Quote: "Is immortality truly to be our purpose?"

Good question, why not ask the Creator.


Mr.Vicchio:
Quote: "What ever the correct answer is for you, the truth will be learned when your last breath is taken, your hear beats its last beat... You'll either go on.. or this whole debate is pointless seeing as you will cease to exisist and nothing really matters."

Yeah, but some of have hope, and some others only see the end, Oh well.


Nono:
Quote: "I'm convinced of one thing though: What counts is how you live."

That will determine where your spend eternity.

[Nono]

Near-death experiences ARE a striking and thought-provoking phenomenon, though they're by no means identical (from what I've heard).

A skeptic, though, might point out that in any case these reports are based on sensory perceptions (I saw this, I felt that), and these are brain-dependent and therefore subject to the chemical vagaries of an organ in the grip of severe trauma. I mean, anyone who's ever been anaesthetized with ether will know the things one can "see" and "hear" with the help of the right stuff running around up there. And let's not even talk about the less legal hallucinogenics.

Which brings us back to square one: How can anyone know? So we'd be foolish to rule out the possibility that it really is pearly gates and eternal harp-jam on fluffy clouds.

Though not directly relevant to this particular question (but interesting for anyone curious about metaphysics), I'd recommend "The way of the explorer" by former Apollo astronaut Edgar Mitchell. It's a mind-broadening read.