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Cultures who have no religion have funeral rites, a celebration of a life well led; in the case of the Irish, that their troubles have ended. What's the big deal? It's a cultural thing.
Once again, there is no stock standard answer to that. Atheists don't have a set of rituals we follow for things. We don't all believe the same things or do the same things or eat the same things or wear the same things. No group of atheists has sat down and voted themselves the Head Atheists and made up any set of rules or bylaws or any instruction booklet for us.
The ONLY thing we are guaranteed to have in common is our disbelief in any deity.
Personally, I plan to have a bitchin' wake before I die. Don't want to miss it, you see.
Dude, how can you have a wake if your still alive??? what if you live for another 10 years? mabe you mean a sleep?
when atheists die they can have a celebration of that person's life; we value our life and so do our loved ones. Why would we need a god or a religion to have reason to say goodbye and be happy we knew a person? We love, live and are happy and sad just like any other person.
I have a question for atheists, this is something I've been thinking about a lot. Assuming that you don't believe in a God, you probably don't believe in an afterlife, right? I can't see the point in waking up every morning if I believed that I would just cease to exist. I feel that someday the human race will cease to exist, asteroid, or the sun dies (all stars die), or whatever (not trying to be wierd of doomsday-ish here). What's the point of anything then? Even if the human race continues, with 4 billion of us right now, in another 10 generations, nothing any of us did will make any different, no one will remember our names.... I don't get it. If we will all just die and just cease to exist, then why bother? I just can't wrap my head around this. I know the standard answers: live for today, make a difference, leave this place better than we found it... but those differences will dissapear too...
I have a question for atheists, this is something I've been thinking about a lot. Assuming that you don't believe in a God, you probably don't believe in an afterlife, right? I can't see the point in waking up every morning if I believed that I would just cease to exist. I feel that someday the human race will cease to exist, asteroid, or the sun dies (all stars die), or whatever (not trying to be wierd of doomsday-ish here). What's the point of anything then? Even if the human race continues, with 4 billion of us right now, in another 10 generations, nothing any of us did will make any different, no one will remember our names.... I don't get it. If we will all just die and just cease to exist, then why bother? I just can't wrap my head around this. I know the standard answers: live for today, make a difference, leave this place better than we found it... but those differences will dissapear too...
Here's a proverb I recall from the distant past that may provide some insight:
"You cannot avoid reality. You can only avoid looking at it."
What we do and how we treat eachother makes a difference while we're alive. To those around us, it means everything. The legacy we leave our friends or loved ones is all we leave; memories, things we said or did or taught them.
I get up and try to do te best I can and though I'm not perfect I've learned a lot along the way and I take comfort in good things and happy moments.
I'll tell ya ever since I stopped trying to convince myself (gradeschool)that there is a god and a need for religion, I've been at peace with that. I too have tough days and problems but I get through them one day at a time.
My son died 12 years ago and I know I'll never see him again, in no way shape or form. The time we had is it, no more. I had a tough time living without him but now I find happiness and other reasons to go on. I did the best I could as a mother while I had him here. That's all anyone can do. We live and learn and hope someone remembers us in a positive way after we go.
If the human race ceases to exist, so be it. Just like dinosaurs and so many animals that are extinct...there's nothing you can change about it, it's out of our hands just like so much everyday is. The planet may blow up into smithereens tomorrow and all we can do is live the best we know how till it happens.
I trust me and depend on me and I know what to expect from me. Death doesn't scare me one bit, that ends life and we don't know when that is and it's best that way. Otherwise we'd go mad worrying about all we need to do. Death is part of life, all living things have to die sometime.
Why worry about what happens after humans are no longer there? We are here now and do what we can for eachother and for ourselves to make life better and bearable while we're here. To me, that's enough. You don't have a brain or any thoughts or feelings after you die so how can anything bother you then? Nothingness is fine, after all this living. It's peace really.
I have a question for atheists, this is something I've been thinking about a lot. Assuming that you don't believe in a God, you probably don't believe in an afterlife, right? I can't see the point in waking up every morning if I believed that I would just cease to exist. I feel that someday the human race will cease to exist, asteroid, or the sun dies (all stars die), or whatever (not trying to be wierd of doomsday-ish here). What's the point of anything then? Even if the human race continues, with 4 billion of us right now, in another 10 generations, nothing any of us did will make any different, no one will remember our names.... I don't get it. If we will all just die and just cease to exist, then why bother? I just can't wrap my head around this. I know the standard answers: live for today, make a difference, leave this place better than we found it... but those differences will dissapear too...
dmarie,
I'm sorry that you feel that way.
If you are living for an afterlife, how do you live in the present? The present is all that we have.
You do not know that there is anything after this life. Why not make the most of this life?
How can you be the best that you can be today if your eyes are always on whatever happens after you die?
If you're looking so forward to the afterlife, are you either wasting your current life or just waiting to die?
Kinda creepy when I look at it from that perspective.
right, if all your effort is in order to have a great afterlife, then anything you do is not completely done for your fellow humans. It's halfheartedly done at best.
And I've heard people say that...do this or that so you get into heaven.
My ex sister in law had a bad thing happen, made a bad decision and is now doing all she can to redeem herself.. before she couldn't care less how she treated people, she was mean and just didn't care how she hurt others but now she's helping those in need to pay for what she did...seems sad and silly all at once and wrong too
Look at terrorists who give up their lives for 70 virgins...surprise!!! there are no virgins waiting..I know that's extreme but to them it's just as real as the heaven catholics dream of.
I have a question for atheists, this is something I've been thinking about a lot. Assuming that you don't believe in a God, you probably don't believe in an afterlife, right? I can't see the point in waking up every morning if I believed that I would just cease to exist. I feel that someday the human race will cease to exist, asteroid, or the sun dies (all stars die), or whatever (not trying to be wierd of doomsday-ish here). What's the point of anything then? Even if the human race continues, with 4 billion of us right now, in another 10 generations, nothing any of us did will make any different, no one will remember our names.... I don't get it. If we will all just die and just cease to exist, then why bother? I just can't wrap my head around this. I know the standard answers: live for today, make a difference, leave this place better than we found it... but those differences will dissapear too...
Moderator cut: insulting remarks not allowed
Things our ancestors have done have been remembered because they furthered our society....Thomas Edison, Henry Ford, Ben Franklin.....when they die, our memory of their accomplishments doesn't die with them....just as if we lose a loved one.
Last edited by Hoosier; 03-06-2008 at 03:20 PM..
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mabe you mean a sleep?
