I've heard a lot of this, "religion exists due to fear of death," stuff. I always kinda thought this was just a theory or simply out dated, because I'm not afraid of death. However the other day, my atheist fried mentioned this theory and said he was afraid of death.
This got me wondering.
How many of you are afraid of death? Why or why not?
I'm personally not afraid of death because I don't see how my life is important enough as opposed to any other to not have an end, or even think of my death. This was realized when a Christian was trying to convert me, and as I told her that even though I don't believe in god I feel I am a good person who tries his best, and if god exists I'll be ok, and she responded by saying that if I don't embrace Jesus I won't live for eternity. At that point my aforementioned feeling was realized and I didn't really even ever think living for eternity was an option.
Also I think I embrace death as an end to my life, because if gives me motivation to do the best I can while I can.
Edited by: PsychoDolly at January 15, 2009, 07:09pm
its hard to say whether or not a person is afraid of death when not faced with it, no matter what a perceived reaction could be. Since I'm under no threat to my life, I'm going to lean towards I would probably be a bit afraid, but thats more natural than no fear at all.
"It's always been my dream to become a verb."
-- Judd Apataw
"I think religion is just something to help people cope with death, you know, to think the people they lost are in a better place or what not. And of course the bad people are in hell like always. And when its their time, I guess its an excuse to believe that you were a "good" person when your time came."
There's no reason to just think that. Ask a Christian and see if it's true, or accept it as just a testable theory, that you don't feel like testing(severely impacts your credibility).
I doubt fear of death is what causes people to become religious.
A viewpoint of ' after death, nothing happends' sound a lot less threatening then ' after death, you'll either be bored in heaven or tortured in hell, for all eternity!!'
The only cool way to dance is to keep your hands at your sides and your eyes looking at the ground. Then every three seconds you take a drag from your cigarette.
it's not the fear of death that drives people to religion.
the fear of what might come after death however does contribute.
Nobody knows what happens after you die and the fear that there might be a being that keeps score of what you do in life and hands you the cheque when you check out has some people rattled.
And personally I don't fear death, it's just the manner in which it will be achieved that kinda bugs me (example: I don't want to burn to death or be shoved into a woodchipper feet first)
~I have no Fear, I feel no Pain! I am the number 1 contender!~
I fear death because if what I will feel right before I die not so much after. I have no clue what it will be like after. From the christian standpoint we are all going to hell anyway. but i have no clue what happens, maybe it will just be like before we were alive to begin with.
I personally don't fear death at all since its highly doubtful that I may live forever I might as well accept it. And I do believe in a existence beyond death even if there isn't one and there just exists nothing. Well its not like there would be a me to suffer it would there?
I am not afraid of death either. It is more the fact that I may not do most thing that I wnt to do with my life that im worried about. If I did most thing, then I have no reason to fear death.
You know what...
I don't afraid of death, but I afraid of Pain that comes with it.
Also I afraid of deat as the "end" of everything because i got some plans for my future.
no,
but i am worried i wont learn enough before i die.
i dont mind dieing, there was a time that that was the only thing i wanted, funny enough, before that i was frightend as hell for death.
now there is a balance
~Normal psychology proves certain common sense in matters of death, as I see it - Human fear of death never exists within when you have your ever desired tasks completed when you know what's it all about in terms of satisfactory conditions in the possible after death despite of what you've ever done prior to death.
Fear of death exists despite of any tasks completed or not completed, due to the lack of knowledge of what's it all about concerning structure in the heerafter.
~When such an intensive positive relation is established in a physical and mental sense, conditionally, a pack of energy becomes like an obsticle within oneself, although simingly a worthy 'pleasant reality - the only problem as I see it is as follows: If one's psyche is too consumed in rhythm like a day dream too idolized, that idolization means nothing but trouble to any being personally except for the valubale lesson of one's own time and comfort-place to keep. How's that?
~There is a common sense that rules the psyche for what it is in its rhythm concerning fear of Hell or Purgatory as follows - When the psyche-rhythm of any being whosoever bears too intensive pain, it gets to master pain gradually to great extremes so plainly natural till all pain that was normally painful gradually becomes a pleasure - in other words, pain as it is normally felt by common beings thus becomes a pleasure to that intensive bearer's experience. So, who wants to go through that one? ...well, well, I can tell you that earth-bound experimental psychology proves that beings are creatures of habit, and what becomes habitual will become a fact of reality if pursued far enough; You might say, according to particular studies, a kind of madness would consume the great pain bearer, although rational in common responsibilities. Today, it can be proved fact to the media on earth. Try during the King Henry days!...
~A saying:
The Divine fire of the spirit side of life can be painful, pleasant, or politically, an aid to action - it all depends in where you're at of yourself as a being! ...so much for the crisscross bums who think they have means there-on-earth in some countires today!
Edited by: Scrollsavior
at January 20, 2009, 05:09am
I, myself, am afraid of death, and I'm not really sure why, I dont think alot of people really do. I guess its more the possibility of death rather than the certainty (to steal off farscape), I've heard that just before people die, they are at peace (probably related to chemicals released in the brain to make dying more peaceful) although I cant verify this.
Though I did have a dream that made me slightly less afraid of it, or more importantly made me less afraid of dying in the future. In the dream my girlfriend had died and I was old, and I felt peaceful. Its hard to express exactly why, but it was something along the lines of the cliche 'my time is up' and 'I'm going to see her again'. That was a comforting feeling.
After that, I felt as though in the future, when I am old, or when I do die, it won't be so bad.
I am not afriad of death because like alot of other people i have come to realize that death is going to happen to everyone. I am however afriad of what my death will do to others such as how my family and friends respond, funeral cost, more of worries than fears.
The fear of death is natural though which is why animals and such fear predators, they naturally fear death and all humans are animals but we are animals with the ability to reason.
Physically i am scared of pain and i would prefer to die painlessly and after i have lived a full life but it is not my choice to make, it is chance's and chance's alone.
I do not believe in any form of god or gods so i do not fear eternal retribution for "sins" or wrong doings in life, i try to live what i think is a good life without expecting some etheral prize of perfection waiting for me when i do die.
So death comes to everyone and it is just something we have to learn to expect and prepare for however we see fit.
I'm slighty fearful of death, I think too hard sometimes I think and can't imagine just being dead one day and that's it. Like one day I won't be alive anymore, my thoughts, my life, nothing left, kinda hard to explain.
-Welcome To The Crisis Zone- "Man is condemned to be free; because once thrown into the world, he is responsible for everything he does, It is up to you to give life a meaning"
-Jean-Paul Sartre-
I doubt that animals fear death. They fear for their lives to be on their own goodness; As for the dying part, no! ...they don't know death - they know the instinct that pays to be kept.
~As I stand, I have a nerve that's not very nice if death comes against my intent to be on earth at this time.
I used to fear death. But that was when I was younger... And this should more likely be called a "fear of uncertainty" since I really had no idea what happens after life.
Now I don't fear death. I do fear dying however. Death is inevitable, so why should I fear it? What I should fear is what way or manner will I die and whether or not I have accomplished anything to be proud of by then.
It's all relative, from my perspective, to fears of uncertainty, instability, unaccomplishment, dissatisfaction, and pain.
I do not fear death. I fear who, what, why, and where I am at the moment of death.
You know what crazy is? Crazy is enjoying the rules
The fear of death often proves mortal, and sets people on methods to save their Lives, which infallibly destroy them.
Joseph Addison (1672-1719) English essayist, poet, and dramatist.
>I agree with this quote!
Im a fallen angel in this world,
a mortal with numbered years,
my destiny not known,
my soul tampered and toyed with,
my heart beaten and abused shattered and nonexistint in its place my darkest fear of hope and sanity.
~Want to collect intriguing DATA? Proceed with an easy going attitude in your search for info after death, and do not jump into sudden conclusions! After all, it's more of an individual quest in being solid in one's sense of faith in fact and conceptions.
...there is a saying in holding fast to faith... What does that really mean? Is it a whip of a wonder?...
I can honestly say that I fear death. It is encoded directly into our DNA. It's the reason we have the feeling of fear. Not the "public speaking" fear. That's another feeling all together. We all have a self-preservation mechanism built into our brains. For those of you who say that you're not afraid, I ask you this: Would you walk into a busy highway with no reservations or hesitation? Hopefully, you said no. If you were not afraid of death, you would not stray away from poisonous animals. You wouldn't get that firey feeling in your gut when you feared for your life. For the suicidal, you may disagree with me. But that is my opinion. Yes. I'm afraid of death.
"For we're the outstretched fingers,
That seize and hold the wind"
!
