There's an interesting discussion going on on the Raving Atheist Forums.
Antix, whose grandmother has just died at the age of 93, says,
"And now here I am. An atheist and my grandmother just died. So how do I feel? Sad, of course-- we were pretty close. But at the same time... inspired I guess is the best word I can think of. Memories remain and that's a pretty powerful thing. I know now she's in a state of "existance" so to speak... no pain and suffering. No regret. No unanswered questions... Nothingness. Yet memories do remain. A part of our lives that remain strong until our own time comes.
One thought did spring up in me quite strongly when I first heard the news. I will not mourn for the recently deceased. I instead will honor her through remembering all the positive things she did in life and remember the wisdom in which she held. I will always remember that life is a wonderful thing not to be squandered by doing nothing while waiting for the "next life"..."
Wednesday, May 24, 2006
Atheists and Death
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6 comments:
Hear, hear. I've struggled with the death thing a few times with my kids, so far only with small furry things, thankfully. How easy it would be to fill their little heads with images of fluffy white clouds and angels, but knowing my kids it wouldn't be long before their logical little brains kicked in and they started to wonder how big heaven would have to be for everyone's dearly departed hamsters and guinea pigs to fit in… Living on in the memories of people who loved you seems like the best form of immortality to me — the kids seem to quite like it too.
Antix had my admiration for his/her attitude. The way this wonderful person deals with death is wonderful. My sincere condolences to the family.
Well said Antix. Lets not waste time messing around waiting. Lets not waste anything, because it's all you're gonna get...
There's less for atheists to worry about when it comes to dying.
For the theist there's: what will heaven be like? Do I take my old body with me, even if I just got minced in a wood shredder? Will I fit in? Will my dad know it was me who burnt his Elvis records? Do I have enough clean socks to last eternity?
LMAO I like the "taking your old body that was mangled in a woodchipper incident to heaven" vision... reminds me of that scene in Erik the Viking where they reach Valhalla and there are norsemen cleaved in two and stuff like that... it was a long time ago and the room was full of smoke... I can't remember much more than that ;)
First off, thanks for stopping by my blog. I appreciate the comments.
I second my opinion in that Antix has a great attitude about death and dying. I'm a closet trekkie and one of my favorite episodes was when Data threw a party for Geordi after they thought he had died. His reasoning was that celebrating his life was the best way to honor him.
Also, I think theists assume that they will all turn into supermodels after they die. Either that or they will be reattached to God like some ethereal barnacle. Either way, I agree it's just more to worry about and distracts from what's really important which how we live now.
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