How do Atheists and Agnostics deal with death?

[sergeant]

I’m really curious how you deal with death......it would be so hard if I lost a child and had to think I would never look upon their face again. Therefore, it must be a very difficult situation far more worse than a Christian’s experience. :(

[PatrickHenry]

Prepare to be called an idiot for believing in the immortality of the Soul. But not by me...

[sergeant]

Quote by: PatrickHenry Prepare to be called an idiot for believing in the immortality of the Soul. But not by me...

Well....I didn't call them idiots....lets see who can show respect and who cannot...!
Is this why no one is responding?

[PatrickHenry]

Quote by: sergeant Is this why no one is responding?

It takes a while...
But you should get some bites out of this question.

I had to wait four months before anyone responded to the first topic I put up: http://www.volconvo.com/forums/thread887.html

I know that for me, I have hope that I will recognize my friends and relatives in eternity, and that without time limitations, I'll get a chance to know everyone there. Even the ones from long ago or far away...

[sergeant]

Well, I’m looking for the answer to the question....I have always wanted to know how they dealt with situations like this....what must go through their hearts and minds.....it is never easy for anyone....but wow....there is a lot of comfort in our belief.

[Sonart]

Quote by: Sergeant I’m really curious how you deal with death......it would be so hard if I lost a child and had to think I would never look upon their face again. Therefore, it must be a very difficult situation far more worse than a Christian’s experience.

Sergeant, I'm reminded of a movie somewhere in which the pagan co-hero asks the Christian co-hero, "How can you possibly live with just one God?". I guess my point being that it can be almost impossible to explain things which you believe in your bones. It's not that I don't believe in God, I know beyond any doubt that there's no such thing as a God. You might as well ask me to believe in Casper the Friendly Ghost. So I also know, beyond any doubt, that when I die, that's it, I'm outta here. Been fun, would love to stay, but this is the way it works. And knowing that, I've made peace with it years and years ago and since that's how I've always felt, the idea of whether or not I'll see my loved ones again has simply never occurred to me. My parents are both gone, I miss them now and then, but they're gone and that's simply how it works. They live on in their children and my memories, just as I'll live on in my family, in the positive contributions I've made to my society, and in the students whom I've taught, and I'm perfectly satisfied with that.

Well, maybe I do have one little daydream. When I put my dog down a few years ago, the vets gave me a lovely card, which told of the Rainbow Bridge. That's where beloved pets go when they pass, to romp and play with other dogs until the day their masters finally come for them and are joyfully reunited. That just choked me all up, so I cheat a little and keep that thought nestled in the back of my mind. :)

Anyway, I doubt this satisfied you, but it's really the only way I can explain it. I'll regret not seeing more of the world, but death really doesn't scare me, so when I gotta go, I gotta go.
.

[tinybear]

What do you mean by 'deal with death'? Death comes to everyone. No question of 'dealing with it', except for accepting it as inevitable. That's all.

[LetThereBe]

Heh, I think I've always been a coward when it comes to death.... despite my theism. Strange, and perhaps contradictory, I know.

[Jack]

Death, the one absolute we all share. The greatest unknown there is. The one event common to every living being yet explored by no one alive. Like Tiny Bear says, it's inevitable, yet very difficult to wrap your mind around.

Like Sonart, I accept that when I die I will simply cease to be. It's called The Big Sleep for a good reason. It will be much like going to sleep, but without the dreaming and waking up parts. My atoms will return to the Earth to be used for other purposes.

I think the young have a hard time accepting death, believer or not, because it's so far off. As we get older and closer to death, the easier it becomes to accept it.

[LetThereBe]

Quote by: Isherwood I think the young have a hard time accepting death, believer or not, because it's so far off. As we get older and closer to death, the easier it becomes to accept it.

Really? I always thought the reverse would be true. Certainly few of my age talk about the subject.... but then again if you did they'd probably try to get you into counseling.
I think I've accepted the inevitablity of death... I just fear the method. I don't want to rot away from some long, painful battle with a disease. I think I fear aging more than death...

[rmnunez]

They figure their time is up?

[Jack]

I think I fear aging more than death...

Ah, my friend, on that point I agree.
I hear the phrase, "to grow old gracefully" and wonder if I'll be able to pull that off. I just moved my 82 year old mom into my house this year. She's doing the best she can, but watching her problems and frustration at not being able to do now what she used to do so frequently before (driving, visiting the zoo, going out to dinner) have me hoping I just drop dead at some point before I have to start deciding what size of Depends I need.

[Scribbler1]

Quote by: LetThereBe Really? I always thought the reverse would be true. Certainly few of my age talk about the subject.... but then again if you did they'd probably try to get you into counseling. I think I've accepted the inevitablity of death... I just fear the method. I don't want to rot away from some long, painful battle with a disease. I think I fear aging more than death...

"Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather, to skid in, broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn out and loudly proclaiming: 'WOW... What a Ride!' " -- Author Unknown

[Starboy]

Quote by: sergeant I’m really curious how you deal with death......it would be so hard if I lost a child and had to think I would never look upon their face again. Therefore, it must be a very difficult situation far more worse than a Christian’s experience. :(

It's funny but the Christian experience doesn't seem to help all that much. Loss is loss. I would think that it would be even more difficult for a Christian because they would have to reconcile how this loss could come to be from a god that they associate with complete love. For many it is at this point that they loose their "faith". Doesn't seem to me that the ability to cope with the emotional strain is much aided by Christianity at all. But it would be interesting if there were studies comparing the two groups. As is often the case in such studies the Christians do not do as well as they have been taught they should.

Starboy

[Sonart]

Quote by: Isherwood I think the young have a hard time accepting death, believer or not, because it's so far off. As we get older and closer to death, the easier it becomes to accept it.

Quote by: LetThereBe Really? I always thought the reverse would be true.

I thought the same thing Isherwood did when I saw your post just after mine, LTB. It occurred to me that I was considerably less cavalier about death when I was younger. Maybe it's because there's still so much you think you want to do. Anyway, as I became more comfortable with what I believed in life... and became simply older... I became more comfortable with the idea that everything and everyone dies, and that since I've concluded that evolution has worked out everything else involved in human existance, evolution has probably worked out mechanisms for how we deal with dying.

Quote by: LetThereBe I think I fear aging more than death...

Yeah, not too crazy about that part.

.

[Scribbler1]

The sense of running out of time to do things you want is the biggest fear for me. It's like I can see the finish line of a race I didn't really want to be in.

When I was a lot younger I had all the time in the world.

[Jack]

I started feeling old the day I realized that I could no longer have sex with anyone under 25 without it feeling perverted.

[Protostar]

Quote by: Isherwood I started feeling old the day I realized that I could no longer have sex with anyone under 25 without it feeling perverted.

Hopefully I'll never feel that way. Does anyone here believe in reincarnation? I'd like to think that I would be given another chance at life in a whole new body. That makes me feel better about death. I don't believe in a god because it simply makes no sense to me. The bible just isn't logical as far as I'm concerned. If people want to believe in it, that is their choice; I will not belittle for it. I just don't like to think that when I die I will just sleep forever with no dreams. That to me would be boring. I wish to come back as another human being and experience life from another prospective.

[Protostar]

Moved to Philosophy and Religion.

[Critter]

Quote by: Protostar Hopefully I'll never feel that way. Does anyone here believe in reincarnation? I'd like to think that I would be given another chance at life in a whole new body. That makes me feel better about death. I don't believe in a god because it simply makes no sense to me. The bible just isn't logical as far as I'm concerned. If people want to believe in it, that is their choice; I will not belittle for it. I just don't like to think that when I die I will just sleep forever with no dreams. That to me would be boring. I wish to come back as another human being and experience life from another prospective.

I don't know the who's and why's and how's, but I have to say I do believe in reincarnation. It's certainly a much beter alternative than hell.

"Okay, you screwed up big-time, and I hope you learned something. Let's try this again."