It Just Takes a Little Time

So lately, I have had some Atheists that have denied their Christian upringing like I have and are my same age ask me about how I became alright with dying. They asked what were they supposed to do now that they did not believe in a heaven and hell. I took some time to think about it and this is what I came up with.

"In being a Christian, we wasted so much time thinking we had somewhere to go after we were dead. We were told that nothing in this life matters because what is coming is sssoooo much better than whatever we have here. Now you have but that rediculous thought aside and now you must realize that you will die. You will just die. Nothing afterwards. You have one life, now you get the chance to really live it. You can be passionate about the world we live in and make it a better place for future generations. That is even more exciting than believing in some "afterlife"."

It took me a long time to accept this. One night, I was up all night afraid of what was going to happen to me when I died. I was sad that I would never see anyone I loved ever again. Then I realized I have been given something beautiful, life. It just takes a little time to come to this conclusion. I am enjoying life more now and I intend on living to the fullest.

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Comment by Apple on April 9, 2010 at 4:37pm: That's right. You know have a world view that lets you live your life to the fullest with no regrets.

This is not saying that Christians don't live life to the fullest. They tend to do so as well, which makes them hypocrites. They still love to work their way up the corporate ladder, live a comfortable lifestyle, own nice things, etc. It's just that a lot of what mainstream America values is anti-christian. If churches didn't keep watering down christianity every generation to try to keep up with the times then there wouldn't be any christians in America today.

Tell you friends that if the bible is true then everyone is going to hell anyway. It's just all so silly. I mean, is it really that hard to realize that we're not immortals?

Comment by Mario Rodgers on April 9, 2010 at 5:41pm: I still like entertaining the notion of Buddhism's version of reincarnation. I think it makes more sense than the doctrines of eternal heaven and eternal hell. The end of your life is still the end of THAT life, but if you do get reborn into another life, you won't remember it anyway. However every now and then I find myself getting flashes of thoughts and feelings that don't seem to belong to me. It's sort of the reverse of Buddhism's idea of "one river, many boats". Reincarnation is like "one boat, many rivers."

Comment by Mercedes Anderson on April 10, 2010 at 11:13am: I do wish I could live longer to see things change too, I would also love to see if some where out there, there were humans living on another planet similar to ours.

Comment by Mario Rodgers on April 10, 2010 at 11:39am: I don't believe in reincarnation. I just think on some level on might make some kind of sense. I like to entertain thoughts about it to solve the problems of oblivion. Buddhism's version of reincarnation doesn't require a belief in an immortal soul. Technically life is an electro-chemical process, but everything is either energy or matter, and neither can be created nor destroyed. Since everything is within a self-contained system, even when populations change or grow, the energy output of the universe stays the same. Even if the universe is destined to suffer heat death, the multi-verse still provides balance. Now if you can imagine that life is not an immortal soul inhabiting a body but as a life energy inhabiting a shell of matter, reincarnation is just another way of looking at the energy-matter equation. Knowing that nothing can be created or destroyed and that everything has to balance out, the idea of existing immortally in either heaven OR hell makes no sense whatsoever!

Now don't go thinking I'm a Buddhist, because I don't agree with many of their views. However some of their ideas I find to be fun thoughts. Alternate viewpoints doesn't change my atheism, and I'm still skeptical about a great many things. I mean if you think about it, skepticism taken to its ultimate end point would mean that we wouldn't have the boatload of theories concerning how the Big Bang came about or about whether there are alternate universes out there and then we'd have nothing to test against and no reason to scan the galaxies more. Some of the weirder sciences is really like pin the tail on the donkey, but at least we know that the donkey is there.

Comment by Mario Rodgers on April 10, 2010 at 11:51am: Of course if death is like sleeping but for all time, well then I'll have no problems with that too. But man. . . think of all the planets I'll never get to see or all the things I'll never get to find out.

However a lot of things about nature and the universe suggest that everything is a circle, self-contained and balanced. I don't see why existence should be different.

I've looked up some things about Buddhism just to be sure. And indeed, Buddhism has NO concept of an immortal soul. The idea of one is just alien to the Buddhist.

Comment by Robert E. O'Dell on April 18, 2010 at 11:52am: Nothing says more about a man (or woman) than his (or her) ability to face his own mortality.

Comment by Robert E. O'Dell on April 18, 2010 at 11:56am: Sorry, I forgot that last (or her). Were they even necessary?

Comment by Elgaurdo Pantanvich 3 on September 13, 2010 at 3:10am: I have lived to be 44 this year and have seen enough to know when the lights are out ...the show is over.I have had a lot of heart aches with loss of friends and family (suicide,drug overdoses,accidents and health issues.) I experienced theses losses and learned naturally about the psychology of how it effects me and saw how others where effected. Without any indoctrination of religion I was open to figure things out my way and not buy into peoples GOD TALK dance about everything. I see how people need to have a comfort area in the mind to feel better about loss or sadness of death.We are the only animal that knows it will die. Other animals get uncomfortable or sense the body is shutting down but do not contemplate its arrival.I feel that it is like sleeping without dreaming ...I do not remember anything at all (no sense of breathing,pain or feelings of any kind..till i wake up with a mean hangover haha).We are wired to have emotions and I have come to realize (with age) It is all brain chemistry. I remember my 1st love broke my heart ,I mean I could not go on!!! Till the next chapter of life came along and those feelings and thoughts went away along with so many girls and an ex wife later. My point about that is its all interpretation and my thought analysis is what makes the day or breaks it with people places and things.Some people marvel at the beauty of a baby and say Oh there must be a God. I say Jeffry Dahmer ( the serial killer) had parents that thought the same way about him also I bet. Its ok to feel sad about it (death). I hope that i keep those feelings because I would be worried that my brain was freaking out!, and on the other hand if I stayed that way I know to get to a doc and check for depression and get some MEDS. This is a mean ole world that really wants to kill us (scientifically speaking) I guess I try to be a seasoned vet as a human and take the path of least resistance and ride the wave of life. I tell ya i feel a whole lot better now knowing where i stand.Less head trips.

Comment by Jon Heim on September 13, 2010 at 3:50am: we have a life filled with friendship, experiences that change your out look on life, memories to celebrate, love, beauty and creativity . Who could ask for more?

yes, we die after living our lives the best we can. but even after death our decaying bodies become one with the earth and influence growth.

lets call this, Pageithesm.
Pagan view of death...the soul becomes one with nature and is reborn, mixed with atheism....there is no soul, but our body is nutrient for plants.