Freethought & Rationalism Archive

Goliath · 11-18-2002, 11:45 AM

Heathen Dawn,

Quote:

Originally posted by Heathen Dawn:
I have been afraid of death since I was eight years old

no chance that a couple of words and logical philosophy could cure such a deep-seated problem

How do you expect us to react to you when you say things like this? What do you want us to say?

Just curious,

Goliath

Biff the unclean · 11-18-2002, 01:16 PM

And I have not been afraid of death since I fought in the jungles of Vietnam.

All are not riding the conveyor-belt towards darkness. There is no darkness, there is nothing.
For "you" to exist you need your brain to be able to think and to perceive. But your brain will be gone. It's a physical organ and it will die and decompose or be burned. You won't perceive darkness, you won't perceive anything. There can only be nothing without your brain.

You aren't afraid of nothing are you?

Because you know that in your heart of hearts you don't actually believe the things you claim to believe in. You've as much as said so.

11-18-2002, 06:29 PM

HD, I encourage you to read <a href="http://www.positiveatheism.com/writ/dawkins3.htm#ANAESTHETIC" target="_blank">this article</a> by Richard Dawkins. It might change the way you feel about life and death.

Here's an excerpt:

Quote:

We are going to die, and that makes us the lucky ones. Most people are never going to die because they are never going to be born. The potential people who could have been here in my place but who will in fact never see the light of day outnumber the sand grains of Arabia. Certainly those unborn ghosts include greater poets than Keats, scientists greater than Newton. We know this because the set of possible people allowed by our DNA so massively exceeds the set of actual people. In the teeth of these stupefying odds it is you and I, in our ordinariness, that are here.

...

After sleeping through a hundred million centuries we have finally opened our eyes on a sumptuous planet, sparkling with colour, bountiful with life. Within decades we must close our eyes again. Isn't it a noble, an enlightened way of spending our brief time in the sun, to work at understanding the universe and how we have come to wake up in it? This is how I answer when I am asked -- as I am surprisingly often -- why I bother to get up in the mornings. To put it the other way round, isn't it sad to go to your grave without ever wondering why you were born? Who, with such a thought, would not spring from bed, eager to resume discovering the world and rejoicing to be a part of it?

[ November 18, 2002: Message edited by: atheist_in_foxhole ]

GeoTheo · 11-18-2002, 07:59 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by lunachick:
Personally, I have no problem whatsoever with death being the great nothingness at the end of what I hope is a long and good life. To do nothing more than push up daisies sounds like bliss to me. I'm happy to decompose and become soil - and will i be pissed if I ever wind up in any kind of afterlife - I just don't want it. Death is the end, and I'm happy it is.

Do you look both ways when you cross the street? Do you go to the doctor when you get sick? What makes you think you won't do these things when you turn 80? Just because your old you think you'll want to disapear?

Biff the unclean · 11-18-2002, 08:37 PM

What's the matter Geo? Are you afraid too? Does it all come down to courage?

Is that the difference between lunachick and the rest of the Atheists and the believers?
You believers are afraid of oblivion?

Don't be, you'll be oblivious to it. Buck up

lunachick · 11-18-2002, 08:49 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by GeoTheo:


Do you look both ways when you cross the street? Do you go to the doctor when you get sick? What makes you think you won't do these things when you turn 80? Just because your old you think you'll want to disapear?

LOL! Of course I do, GeoTheo - I like life, and want to live. But this has little to do with that fact that when death comes, my life will be over. If all goes well, my death will come late to me in life. But when it does finally come it will be the end of me, except in the hearts and memories (hopefully) of those I'd loved in life. I personally think that's very nice. My body becomes soil - I think there's beauty in that.

Heathen Dawn · 11-18-2002, 09:50 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Biff the unclean:

You aren't afraid of nothing are you?

I am.

Look, none of the things you all say or articles you post here takes the spectre of death away from me. I thank you for your efforts in trying to help me, but I think my only cure is belief in life after death. Even if I don't fully believe in it now, I must work on it until I attain complete belief and am thus cured of the fear of death.

You call it deceiving oneself, I call it treating oneself. I have a right to peace of mind. Feeling good is a thing I value above all other things, including truth.

MadKally · 11-18-2002, 09:51 PM

pardonez moi

[ November 18, 2002: Message edited by: sockpuppet ]

Biff the unclean · 11-19-2002, 07:28 AM

"I do not wish to go among mad people," said Alice.
"Oh, you can't help that," replied the Cheshire Cat, "we're all mad here. I'm mad, you're mad."
"Why do you call me mad," asked Alice?
"You must be,"replied the Cat, "or you wouldn't have come here."

Feeling good is a thing I value above all other things, including truth.
Then of all the possible places you could post why pick the one site where you will be challenged for that very thing?
All, every one of us, of we Aheists honor truth to such an extent that we have sacrificed our own comfort for it.

Heathen Dawn · 11-19-2002, 09:04 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Biff the unclean:

Then of all the possible places you could post why pick the one site where you will be challenged for that very thing?

You've got a point there. Maybe Beliefnet is a better place for discussing such ideas. Then again, a week off from the IIDB I really feel I'm missing something. The company here is good.

Quote:

All, every one of us, of we Aheists honor truth to such an extent that we have sacrificed our own comfort for it.

Bah, that's what the Christians say also. Few and far between are those who, like me, boast of not putting the truth in the first priority.

I was born in an atheist family and raised on nothing but the truth. My parents get an A+ in that respect. However, since the harsh truth has been continuously hurting me for years, I don't value it so much as others do. I decided to let my emotions lead me through life.

Blessed be...

11-18-2002, 09:51 PM	#18
MadKally Banned Join Date: Nov 2001 Location: LALA Land in California Posts: 433	pardonez moi [ November 18, 2002: Message edited by: sockpuppet ]</p>

Thread Tools	Search this Thread
Show Printable Version	Search this Thread: Advanced Search

11-18-2002, 01:16 PM	#12
Biff the unclean Banned Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: an inaccessible island fortress Posts: 10,638	And I have not been afraid of death since I fought in the jungles of Vietnam. All are not riding the conveyor-belt towards darkness. There is no darkness, there is nothing. For "you" to exist you need your brain to be able to think and to perceive. But your brain will be gone. It's a physical organ and it will die and decompose or be burned. You won't perceive darkness, you won't perceive anything. There can only be nothing without your brain. You aren't afraid of nothing are you? Because you know that in your heart of hearts you don't actually believe the things you claim to believe in. You've as much as said so.

11-18-2002, 08:37 PM	#15
Biff the unclean Banned Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: an inaccessible island fortress Posts: 10,638	What's the matter Geo? Are you afraid too? Does it all come down to courage? Is that the difference between lunachick and the rest of the Atheists and the believers? You believers are afraid of oblivion? Don't be, you'll be oblivious to it. Buck up

11-19-2002, 07:28 AM	#19
Biff the unclean Banned Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: an inaccessible island fortress Posts: 10,638	"I do not wish to go among mad people," said Alice. "Oh, you can't help that," replied the Cheshire Cat, "we're all mad here. I'm mad, you're mad." "Why do you call me mad," asked Alice? "You must be,"replied the Cat, "or you wouldn't have come here." Feeling good is a thing I value above all other things, including truth. Then of all the possible places you could post why pick the one site where you will be challenged for that very thing? All, every one of us, of we Aheists honor truth to such an extent that we have sacrificed our own comfort for it.

Freethought & Rationalism Archive

The archives are read only.