Congradulations! You’re Dead!
I’m always a little bit confused by people’s reactions towards death. Virtually everyone I know fears death (you’d have to be tired of life or depressed to not), this brings a strange phenomena to attention:
If heaven is such a great place, and we all have everlasting souls that will carry our existence on well after death.. why would anyone fear death? Surely this afterlife will be more amazing than words can describe, right?
I can only come up with two explanations for this.
- People who fear death, think they aren’t going to heaven. Hell after all, is supposed to be really scary, painful and overall.. bad
- They don’t really believe that they will have an afterlife, instead they think this really is the end, and they’ll cease to exist once they die.
Maybe this is just one big conspiracy, people love life on earth so much that they can’t believe the afterlife will actually be better? Nah, they just realize that the notion of heaven and hell are just bullshit being peddled by religious figures in order for you to listen to them.
Hey, you wanna live forever? Want to have 2000 hot virgin women waiting for you in the most amazingly amazing place where all your desires come true? Yeah? All you have to do is believe in my church, my god and comes visit my store (church) every Sunday and be sure to make a nice generous donation (more money = more virgins, i swear) when the collection plate comes around.
Man, this deal sounds so sweet! I’m totally gonna go sign up for ALL the religions out there, just so I can enjoy the benefits of ALL the afterlifes.. COMBINED! Beat that bitches, I’m so gonna have the pimpin’-est soul out there.
I totally can’t wait to die. Can you?
Jan 28, 2007 @ 09:03:14
I’ve made this point several times. I’d just love to hear about some fundementalist who has learned that they are have some terminal disease, just so I can send them towards this post! ;-)
Oh, I recommended you for the Atheist Blogroll (for atheist/agnostic/freethinker/sceptic blogs) BTW.
Aug 11, 2007 @ 17:01:42
I once managed to convert a Christian on her deathbed to atheism. Quite fun, and I know that might sound horrible, but it’s what she gets for being all high and mighty, loudly proclaiming how everyone is going to burn, and making thinly veiled threats.
I don’t want to go stealing the spotlight, Ian, but I think anyone that Stumbles upon this page might enjoy it. It’s kind of related, too.
I knew this one girl; her first name was Lena, and that’s all I’ll say, as I do have some respect. Through high school, she would bother me, and all the other “Non-believers”, telling us in vivid detail the horrors that awaited us in Hell. I mean, very vivid details; she got so explicit about some of the tortures, you’d probably wander about her mental health.
Anyways, a few months ago, she was dying of cancer; she was a chain smoker. I went to visit her, and told her exactly what this site says [though I have only recently come upon this place.] she should be happy that she’s about to die, because she’s clearly going to Heaven now! Right? I mean, isn’t that how it works…?
She was absolutely frightened. She didn’t want to die. She didn’t beleive she would go to Heaven. I made her stay in the hospital worse when I started repeating to her the things she told me; about all those “wonderful” ways she will suffer in Hell, and how the demons will delight in the irony of someone who condemned others to Hell, ending up in Hell.
A few days before she died [I had visited her several times, despite some protests], I managed to convince her to become an Atheist. I assured her that only Christians can go to Hell, because only Christians believe in hell; so if she’s not Christian, she won’t believe in hell, and therefore, won’t go there. She asked me what Atheists believe in, and I said “Nothing. So when we die, we don’t go to heaven OR Hell. We just cease to exist.No pain. No suffering. Nothing.”
She said that sounded good, and she wanted me to forgive her for the way she acted; admitted she was wrong, and such. So I forgave her [as I’m not completely heartless].
I wonder how many people are like that?
Oct 03, 2013 @ 21:48:49
You come across as a bit of a sociopath Shane. What a horrible thing to do to someone on their deathbed.
Oct 22, 2008 @ 14:00:09
What is “congradulations”?
Learn to spell.