XT Vengeance
Member
This. Life is only so sweet because it has an end.Celebrate life. Live it to the fullest. Love, laugh, forgive, because nothing lasts forever.
This. Life is only so sweet because it has an end.Celebrate life. Live it to the fullest. Love, laugh, forgive, because nothing lasts forever.
I think the ideal perspective would that of returning to ecosystem. Cycle of life thing.
Celebrate life. Live it to the fullest. Love, laugh, forgive, because nothing lasts forever.
So something can exist without being "real"? Is it then "fake"?
Or existing on a different plane of *AHEM* reality perhaps?
So something can exist without being "real"? Is it then "fake"?
Or existing on a different plane of *AHEM* reality perhaps?
Actually I found it to be enlightening when I let go of my religious beliefs. No longer was I living my life to satisfy some god so they could let me into heaven, I truly started to live for myself after that point, I felt free.it would suck to not believe in an afterlife, glad I'm not in that boat!
There is nothing quite as terrifying as the first moment you take the time to truly consider the idea of your consciousness not existing in any form anymore. I think I was 12 or 13 when it hit me and the dread that filled my mind was far more then I could handle. I could not sleep.
Even today, my way of dealing with it is to not fully consider it when it comes to mind. I know what I believe, death is the end, nothing more after, but even as I type this, I keep the thought on a surface level without thinking about what that truly means.
I grew up in a huge conservative Christian family but I've been an atheist for about a decade now. I know of only one other relative who is atheist. Everyone else goes by the book and their whole approach to things is God and Heaven.
My children will grow up without religion but what's concerned me is what do i tell them about mortality? I will admit, the idea of Heaven was comforting as a child. My uncle recently died but my kids only met him twice (my oldest is 3). Eventually I'm going to have to talk to them about death when they lose someone they know.
In general what are some largely atheist society's approach to life and death? What do they tell children who have experienced loss?
But you must be following some kind of philosophy that is affected by your belief in a god, right? Isn't that a religion?
I find that hard to believe - what point is there in holding on to a belief if it serves us no purpose whatsoever?
The person may appear gone but he/she just returns to the Earth and that energy is reused to create new people, plants, and animals. So in a way that person always remains.
A person isn't energy. A person is the functions of their brain. Just because your matter/energy stays behind when to die, doesn't mean "you" do.
You were born with no name,
and in such a way, you still remain.
The true you is nameless.
Who were you before you were given a name?
Who were you before time began?
Look deep within, you are still that.
The word with which you are referred
is only a concept of human creation;
the true you is beyond any such individual distinction.
Reality cares not for the names of things;
life and death make no such preference.
The wind still blows no matter what its called;
and the rivers still flow despite their provincial decree.
When the clocks are no longer wound
and time stands still,
the grass will still grow
and the birds will still sing.
All outward appearances
dissolve in the infinite fabric of time,
including all comforts, conveniences and contrivances
of your well-considered and genial life.
In the mirror of the infinite,
you stand shirtless.
The real you rests easy and unperturbed,
unaffected by any cultural tradition or societal facade,
unadorned by any garments, decorations or manufactured belief;
your True Self bears no mark of any such conceptualized and un-real things.
You are nameless.
Strip yourself of your costume of identity.
Smash your ego on the rocks of liberation.
Dissolve your false sense of self in the waters of truth.
Awaken from the dream of worldly illusion!
The poetry of Life is wordless;
it is wondrous and genial, perfect and complete
even when it has no name.
A person isn't energy. A person is the functions of their brain. Just because your matter/energy stays behind when to die, doesn't mean "you" do.
This is important.Just tell your kids if they remember anything before being born. They will answer no, and tell that's how you will feel when you die. You cease to exist. It's like sleeping but never waking up. Eternal unconsciousness that has nothing to do with being in dark lifeless lonely place after death that might be commonly believed by some people or try to scare people with no faith.
This was always weird to me. Are you just the matter that composes your body? If so, are you proud of all the dead skin and bodily waste you leave behind on a daily basis? Or is this energy of "you" only released upon death?
some people have convinced themselves that they can reason away the most instinctual fear. great in theory, great on paper, but doesn't work in practice.
it's one thing to type the words "there is no need to fear death" but let's see how much good that sentence does for you when your parent or other loved one is dying in front of you.
I always feel like atheism is an unnecessary hard line. We can't prove or disprove the existence of higher power. It's an unknown. We are just beginning to comprehend the known universe and nature.
There is literally an infinity of things we can't prove, specially if you want to prove the absence of something. Atheism is as much of a hard line as saying ghosts and pink elephants don't exist.I always feel like atheism is an unnecessary hard line. We can't prove or disprove the existence of higher power. It's an unknown. We are just beginning to comprehend the known universe and nature.
I always feel like atheism is an unnecessary hard line. We can't prove or disprove the existence of higher power. It's an unknown. We are just beginning to comprehend the known universe and nature.
I always feel like atheism is an unnecessary hard line. We can't prove or disprove the existence of higher power. It's an unknown. We are just beginning to comprehend the known universe and nature.
I always feel like atheism is an unnecessary hard line. We can't prove or disprove the existence of higher power. It's an unknown. We are just beginning to comprehend the known universe and nature.
I would assume atheistic societies would have the most peaceful view of death. By being scientifically literate, they'd be able to see that death is a continuation of process, and that there's no fixed "form" that is added or removed from anything, and this self is what makes us fear death.
Who dies during death? This may sound like a silly question, but I am asking something nuanced. You are living and dying in every moment: millions of your cells have played this game while reading this post. Where is the fixed "I" that we get spooked about vanishing into darkness? Is it the loss of this image that gives us the heebiejeebies? An image is not a thing, it's a think; a unit of thought.
I always feel like atheism is an unnecessary hard line. We can't prove or disprove the existence of higher power. It's an unknown. We are just beginning to comprehend the known universe and nature.
What happens after you die?
I disagree with this sort of scientific mysticism (sorry if that's an unfair categorization). I maintain a set of memories going back to a young age despite my continually dying cells. What dies is that continuity of consciousness. This is not a continuing process, it's a fundamental break equivalent to being born.
To take it a little further I think a person can effectively die long before their heart stops beating. People with advanced Alzheimers for example, gradually cease to exist as the person they were. It's an incredibly sad process, and one I'd prefer not to extend for myself.
Death doesCelebrate life. Live it to the fullest. Love, laugh, forgive, because nothing lasts forever.
Czech person here. The country is quite non-religious. Death is sad because that's that. Nothing else to say about it. The only approach to a kid freaking out about death is to tell them something along the lines of "you're so young. You don't even have to worry about that."
Does anybody here find death intimidating as fascinating as well?
Is the ultimate experience, no matter how boring your life is, you are not prepared for this.
What does it feel like the last moment of consciousness or the void?
If you think about it, the one thing in universe that resemble death are black holes, once you cross it there is no turning back, the only way to see what is inside, is getting in.
Which is why it's important to observe the evidence and go wherever it leads, and to not assert anything that isn't objective.
As an atheist I want something proved. Believe nothing, know things.
No atheist struggles with this hair-splitting. Humans have hypothesized several thousand gods throughout history. We can't definitively disprove any of them, but there's no particular reason to believe in any of them either.
This kind of argumentation generally serves to emphasize doubt where none is necessary. It's functionally similar to climate change denial, although I'd argue (reluctantly) that the climate denialists have a much stronger case than the theists.
There is literally an infinity of things we can't prove, specially if you want to prove the absence of something. Atheism is as much of a hard line as saying ghosts and pink elephants don't exist.
Most atheists that I know of are agnostic atheists, atheism is a response to the question, "Do you believe in a god?" If the answer is no, then you are an atheist. Agnosticism and Atheism are not mutually exclusive terms in that way, you can say you do not know whether there is a god, but you do not believe in one and that is an agnostic atheist so in that sense its not such a hard line. It's a rejection of the god claims made by all religion. Beliefs should be supported by evidence.