Rhea

It's driving me nuts! Why do Christians get so worked up about death? I am totally baffled. Don't they _believe_ in heaven?




Scenario -
My kid gets a great opportunity for a job overseas. A job that I know he will like SO MUCH that he will not be sad about our separation. The job will be SO PERFECT that he will really enjoy the experience even without me there.

NOT ONLY that, but I KNOW after what seems like a long time now but will pale into a heartbeat later, that I will see him again. So, in the grand scheme of things, trying to compare a finite time to the concept of eternity, my son will be away for, say a YEAR, and then I will see him again and we will BOTH be happier than we have ever been before.

And over this I cry my eyes out? For this I spend days, months, years as a wreck? My son is HAPPY! I will see him AGAIN! It does not seem to deserve even one tear. I just don't get it.



Honest, I understand grief. I do NOT understand grief in the face of a TRUE belief in heaven. It seems to me that Christian grief just makes no sense whatsoever.

christ-on-a-stick

I think that for many Xians it's this tiny little part of them deep, deep down inside that realizes they don't really know what's going to happen after death, and whether or not they will see their loved ones again.

I don't think this applies to ALL Xians, and I have in fact seen some seem hardly affected by someone's death, so strong was their belief in the afterlife. This has mostly been with older people though (my grandparents' large circle of church friends are starting to drop like flies) - I think that in the case of a younger person dying, even if they strongly believe in an afterlife they may still be grieving the "things they never got to do/experience in life", etc.

But I think my first point is more common than it might seem... I know that this applied to me even as I was in the most fervent stages of my belief, and I have talked with others as well who recall that "tiny little voice of doubt". Turns out it was the rational part of me screaming "Let me out! Let me out!"

Mediancat

In some cases also, I suppose, the Christian in question might be grieving because they think their friend/loved one is going straight to Hell and so they'll never see them again.

Betsy, a Buddhist I knew in college, died tragically in a car accident; her best friend was as devout a Christian as they come (although truly secure in her beliefs and so didn't proselytize) and believed that all who didn't accept Jesus as their savior were headed for the fiery pits.

I never had the callousness to ask her if she thought her friend was now burning for all eternity; I did ask her sister, a friend of mine to this day, what her opinion was. Her response was that "sometimes we have to believe God makes exceptions for those who are truly good," and Betsy had indeed been a truly good person; still, from the depths of their grieving, I can't help but suspect that they thought Betsy was going to Hell, and hated that.

Rob aka Mediancat

Rhea

But they're IN HEAVEN! They can do anything they want except sin. So again it appears that the grievers are not actually embracing the concept of heaven.

One of the times I find this most remarkable is in the grief over a miscarriage. And perhaps this is exactly what they fear? Curious. And interesting the prevaricating that you witnessed. "God makes exceptions for good people". That contradiction is present in the Bible I guess - Grace not works (except for the prostitute).

Yellum Notnef

Exactly when do dead Christians go to Heaven?

Early Christians believed their bodies would pop out of their graves when Jesus came back. This is supposably why they did away with pagan cremations and started piling up the bodies in underground catacombs.
But later Christians stole pieces off all the earlier bodies because they thought owning some bones of an earlier Christian was good luck. Well so much for REALLY BELIEVING your beliefs! Didn`t they think the Jeez would be pissed or did they not really believe he was real?

Then somewhere down the line the whole idea of Jesus coming back to bring all the dead Christian bodies to Heaven was scrapped and in it`s place they decided that dead Christian spirits popped out of the body at the moment of death and zipped right up to Heaven.

Did anyone consult Jesus regarding this serious change of protocol?

It`s simply amazing how anyone in todays world can take this nonsense seriously.