How a Philosophical Atheist Thinks About Death

[rug]

By James Kirk Wall, Wednesday at 8:07 pm

Deeply contemplating death is the blessing and curse of a philosopher. A young and healthy philosopher will obsess with death as if they were very old and terminally ill. When thinking about death one thinks about life. How much time do we have and what do we plan on doing with it? How do we intend to die, what do we want our final state of mind to be? How will we be remembered? How we die is directly bound to how we live.

I have thought about death since childhood. Falling asleep every night signifies another day gone. How many remain? I do not know. There is a good chance I will live through tomorrow and that tomorrow will be a good day. When it comes to death I am an atheist. I believe very much that this life is all we have. I also believe that our lives have great meaning while we are here and that the present is no less significant than the past or the future.

Death through the eyes of an atheist

An eternity existed before I was born and an eternity will exist after I die. Life is but a short distance of the needle hitting the vinyl on a never ending record. Everything that makes up our identity is in the physical brain. Our personality, sense of humor, mannerisms, memories, mood, cognitive ability and all our mental strengths and weaknesses are not eternal. Physical trauma and chemical imbalances within our skull can change us. There is no rational reason to believe that we exist after our physical brain shuts down.

The thought of immortality is seductive. The ability to view the world 100 and 1,000 years from now is desirable. Wouldn't it be nice and comforting to believe that our lost loved ones will someday be reunited? These dreams only exist for those who can believe based on convenience, desire, fear and super-naturalism. Other people like me are not capable of such faith. Our beliefs are built on reality as in what we know to be tangible. We keep our knowledge of the natural world and our beliefs closely aligned. We don't allow our faith to linger in fantasy. Rationality has overcome the survival instinct.

http://www.chicagonow.com/an-atheist-in-illinois/2017/01/how-a-philosophical-atheist-thinks-about-death/

[no_hypocrisy]

1. My mother was and I am an atheist.

So was her mother and her mother's parents.

When Mom was dying in the hospital, it was just the two of us. We knew she had less than a week left, much less.

We had the "death talk" which was much worse than the "sex talk".

And it came to her asking me "Where do you think we go when we die?"

I gave her the best answer under the circumstances. I asked her "Where were you before you were born?" She didn't know. I told her she was going back there. That satisfied her.

I watched her take her last breath less than a week later. I'm convinced she just left. Where she went, I have no idea.

[rug]

3. My mother died in a hospital as well.

All these years later it is a vivid, sad memory. I don't know where she is but I hope.

[HAB911]

2. Thanks for this post

My sig line is where I am, attributed to Mark Twain:

“I do not fear death. I had been dead for billions and billions of years before I was born, and had not suffered the slightest inconvenience from it.”

[rug]

4. You're welcome.

I have disagreements with the author but none with what he wrote:

Death is to be lamented, but it shouldn't be feared.

[JenniferJuniper]

5. I a remember a boy in the 8th grade

in what class, I don't remember, commenting on the "where do we go when we die" question. "I'm going back to wherever I was in 1923. If it was okay for me then, it'll be okay for me again."

It's been 40 years and I've never forgotten his comment or the light bulb that went off for me at that moment.