Freethought & Rationalism Archive

Tony · 05-11-2003, 09:55 AM

In one soviet movie a veteran of WWII was dying from the old wound. He had only a few months to live. His 7 years old grandson knew that his grandfather is ill and will die soon. The grandson asked: �Are you afraid of death?� The grandfather answered: �Why to be afraid of death. While we�re alive - there is no death. When death will come - we won't be around."

I don't care what will happen to me after I die. Everybody dies. I�m not different. I might think that I�m unique, but � no. There is more that 6 000 000 000 creatures like me.

If I was afraid of death I would definitely look for some kind of guarantee that I will never die. Since reality doesn't provide us with any proof of immortality (damn reality :boohoo: ) I would pretend to believe in anything if this anything will promise me that I will never die.

I think it's a one of the main reasons why people believe in god.

Spaz · 05-11-2003, 10:02 AM

I agree with the WWII guy

And I also think that many people believe in god because of the immortality.

mecca777 · 05-11-2003, 10:30 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Spaz
I agree with the WWII guy And I also think that many people believe in god because of the immortality.

I'd go a touch further, and say "all believers".

After all, you can say it's about the beauty of Creation, but we pesky Evilutionist Atheists get to look at that as well. You can say it's about Justice, or God's Will, or the Power of Prayer, but these are notoriously inconsistent in their manifestations. But the ultimate trump (no pun intended) is always going to be "Eternal Life vs Burning In Hell/Rotting In The Grave".

And personally, the prospect of death doesn't scare me. If it comes suddenly, I probably won't even notice. If it comes following pain or terminal illness, I will welcome it with open arms, though it means oblivion. What scares me most is the prospect of a wasted life.

abe smith · 05-12-2003, 07:44 AM

No, I'm not afraid. "Komm', suesser Todt"; no rush however....

Stephen T-B · 05-12-2003, 08:02 AM

I don�t know.
Is being afraid of death the same as not wanting to die?

Rational BAC · 05-12-2003, 08:26 AM

I think it is very natural to fear death. It is definitely a human trait. I don't know for sure, but I doubt that dogs and cats think about death and its consequences at all.

When you think about it, the idea of complete non-existence of personal consciousness after death really isn't that bad. But the idea of a continuing and never ending personal consciousness in some form or other is very enticing.

And that is the power of the concept of an afterlife. Great drawing card for any religion.

All of you who have decided that there is nothing after one's time on Earth---if you can handle that easily--more power to you. I like to believe in my own immortality in some fashion or other.

However, I do believe that an immortal life on Earth would get seriously boring after a while. A spiritual immortality I could go for.

Bree · 05-12-2003, 08:29 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Stephen T-B
Is being afraid of death the same as not wanting to die?

I personally don't think so. I see being afraid of death as being afraid of something that is unknown, something never experienced before. I see not wanting to die as wanting to extend your time here as long as possible in order to experience life to the fullest.

Inconnu · 05-12-2003, 09:08 AM

Fear of death for most is fear of mode of death....

Selsaral · 05-12-2003, 09:20 AM

Yeah I don't fear death, but I do fear not living anymore. I like being alive.

BioBeing · 05-12-2003, 10:56 AM

I was looking for somewhere to mention this, from The Lancet (Volume 361, Issue 9369, 10 May 2003, Pages 1603-1607)

Quote:

Effect of spiritual well-being on end-of-life despair in terminally-ill cancer patients

Colleen S McClain,a, Barry Rosenfeld,a and William Breitbart,b

a Fordham University, Bronx, NY, USA
b Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York, NY, USA

Available online 8 May 2003.

Abstract

Background The importance of spirituality in coping with a terminal illness is becoming increasingly recognised. We aimed to assess the relation between spiritual well-being, depression, and end-of-life despair in terminally-ill cancer patients.

Methods 160 patients in a palliative care hospital with a life expectancy of less than 3 months were interviewed with a series of standardised instruments, including the functional assessment of chronic illness therapy��spiritual well-being scale, the Hamilton depression rating scale, the Beck hopelessness scale, and the schedule of attitudes toward hastened death. Suicidal ideation was based on responses to the Hamilton depression rating scale.

Findings Significant correlations were seen between spiritual well-being and desire for hastened death (r=-0�51), hopelessness (r=-0�68), and suicidal ideation (r=-0�41). Results of multiple regression analyses showed that spiritual well-being was the strongest predictor of each outcome variable and provided a unique significant contribution beyond that of depression and relevant covariates. Additionally, depression was highly correlated with desire for hastened death in participants low in spiritual well-being (r=0�40, p<0�0001) but not in those high in spiritual well-being (r=0�20, P=0�06).

Interpretation Spiritual well-being offers some protection against end-of-life despair in those for whom death is imminent. Our findings have important implications for palliative care practice. Controlled research assessing the effect of spirituality-based interventions is needed to establish what methods can help engender a sense of peace and meaning.

So, people use spirituality to help them cope as they approach death (no big surprise there really). I would be interested to see if some of these people became MORE spiritual after their diagnosis.

Personally, I am not afraid of death (I'm only 35 and healthy) but I do not want to die. There's just too much living to do!

05-11-2003, 09:55 AM	#1
Tony Regular Member Join Date: Apr 2003 Location: Toronto, Canada Posts: 197	�Are you afraid of death?� In one soviet movie a veteran of WWII was dying from the old wound. He had only a few months to live. His 7 years old grandson knew that his grandfather is ill and will die soon. The grandson asked: �Are you afraid of death?� The grandfather answered: �Why to be afraid of death. While we�re alive - there is no death. When death will come - we won't be around." I don't care what will happen to me after I die. Everybody dies. I�m not different. I might think that I�m unique, but � no. There is more that 6 000 000 000 creatures like me. If I was afraid of death I would definitely look for some kind of guarantee that I will never die. Since reality doesn't provide us with any proof of immortality (damn reality :boohoo: ) I would pretend to believe in anything if this anything will promise me that I will never die. I think it's a one of the main reasons why people believe in god.

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05-11-2003, 10:02 AM	#2
Spaz Veteran Member Join Date: Feb 2003 Location: 6th Circle of Hell Posts: 1,093	I agree with the WWII guy And I also think that many people believe in god because of the immortality.

05-12-2003, 07:44 AM	#4
abe smith Veteran Member Join Date: Apr 2001 Location: springfield, MA. USA Posts: 2,482	No, I'm not afraid. "Komm', suesser Todt"; no rush however....

05-12-2003, 08:02 AM	#5
Stephen T-B Veteran Member Join Date: Apr 2002 Location: Leeds, UK Posts: 5,878	I don�t know. Is being afraid of death the same as not wanting to die?

05-12-2003, 08:26 AM	#6
Rational BAC Veteran Member Join Date: Apr 2003 Location: Tampa Bay area Posts: 3,471	I think it is very natural to fear death. It is definitely a human trait. I don't know for sure, but I doubt that dogs and cats think about death and its consequences at all. When you think about it, the idea of complete non-existence of personal consciousness after death really isn't that bad. But the idea of a continuing and never ending personal consciousness in some form or other is very enticing. And that is the power of the concept of an afterlife. Great drawing card for any religion. All of you who have decided that there is nothing after one's time on Earth---if you can handle that easily--more power to you. I like to believe in my own immortality in some fashion or other. However, I do believe that an immortal life on Earth would get seriously boring after a while. A spiritual immortality I could go for.

05-12-2003, 09:08 AM	#8
Inconnu Regular Member Join Date: Apr 2003 Location: here Posts: 121	Fear of death for most is fear of mode of death....

05-12-2003, 09:20 AM	#9
Selsaral Veteran Member Join Date: Dec 2002 Location: Ann Arbor, Michigan Posts: 3,095	Yeah I don't fear death, but I do fear not living anymore. I like being alive.

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