What's So Bad About Death?

[Bonzi]

Matthew 16: 24 - 26
24. Then Jesus said to His disciples, "If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me. 25. "For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it; but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it. 26. "For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?…

Philippians 1:21
21 For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain

 

[CremeBrulee]

I tend to follow Epicurus' lead on death:

“Why should I fear death?
If I am, then death is not.
If Death is, then I am not.
Why should I fear that which can only exist when I do not?

 

[waltky]

Uncle Ferd says, "Well...

... it kinda do put a cramp...

... in yer social life."

 

[Bonzi]

Everyone talks like death is the ultimate horror.
Is it?

Guess we all get to find out eventually....

Unless you are raptured....

 

[JakeStarkey]

Nope. The horror is if we have refused to live fully in the our time.

 

[saveliberty]

You only worry about death BEFORE it happens.

 

[Bonzi]

People act like being killed is the worst thing ever.. which it IS if you are not SAVED!
People speak as if this life, our years on Earth is all there is. It's NOT! Time to wake up and live reality!

 

[chikenwing]

Not afraid of death,just damn not ready yet.life is good.

 

[IsaacNewton]

I think people are mostly afraid of the process by which death occurs rather than the 'dead' part. No one knows they are dead.

 

[Delta4Embassy]

Matthew 16: 24 - 26
24. Then Jesus said to His disciples, "If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me. 25. "For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it; but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it. 26. "For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?…

Philippians 1:21
21 For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain

As with most things, we naturally fear detah because we've never done it before. I liken it though to the state of being I 'didn't exist in prior to my birth. Universe got on for billions of years before any of us was born, and all that time passed by instantly relative to us. When we die, time will again pass by without our perception of it and the universe will actually end instantly from our perspective.

Death shouldn't be anything anyone fears so much as the actual act of dying if painful or otherwise really unpleasant (personal dread is being eaten by something else like a shark.) But once we're dead, I imagine it's much ado abut nohting. If perception and experience continues that'd only ever be a good thing. Rather be in hell than not exist at all.

 

[jillian]

People act like being killed is the worst thing ever.. which it IS if you are not SAVED!
People speak as if this life, our years on Earth is all there is. It's NOT! Time to wake up and live reality!

oh puleeze....

religious zealots need to worry about themselves. i'm saved just fine thank you. it's our actions that matter.

 

[Delta4Embassy]

No one's saved, everyone dies. Have yet to meet a centuries old Christian, Jew, or Muslim.

 

[Iceweasel]

Was that yesterdays sermon or something? Religious folk think about it way more than everyone else. I try not to tease the Grim Reaper too often. Bastard got close too many times.

 

[Bonzi]

I think people are mostly afraid of the process by which death occurs rather than the 'dead' part. No one knows they are dead.

Some people that think "deeply" about death do fear it. It's a strange concept that we won't be here as we are now living life, and, that it will never happen again.

 

[Bonzi]

No one's saved, everyone dies. Have yet to meet a centuries old Christian, Jew, or Muslim.

You'll likely meet a few after you are dead

 

[Bonzi]

Was that yesterdays sermon or something? Religious folk think about it way more than everyone else. I try not to tease the Grim Reaper too often. Bastard got close too many times.

Yesterday's (well, now the day BEFORE yesterday's) sermon was actually about telling others about Jesus (Mark 5 - story of Jesus casting the demons into the swine/pigs) - the man he removed the demons from wanted to stay with Jesus but Jesus told him to stay and tell others about what happened)

anyway, if you don't believe there is any sort of life after this one, I can understand not wanting to die.

 

[defcon4]

I think fear of death originates from our survival instinct and "building" upon that basic instinct fear becomes conscientious... well for those who dwell on it. Some belief systems give "assurance of immortality" (life eternal in Christianity) in a certain way without relying on a deity's grace what is conditional upon the acceptance of that deity.

 

[Iceweasel]

Was that yesterdays sermon or something? Religious folk think about it way more than everyone else. I try not to tease the Grim Reaper too often. Bastard got close too many times.

Yesterday's (well, now the day BEFORE yesterday's) sermon was actually about telling others about Jesus (Mark 5 - story of Jesus casting the demons into the swine/pigs) - the man he removed the demons from wanted to stay with Jesus but Jesus told him to stay and tell others about what happened)

anyway, if you don't believe there is any sort of life after this one, I can understand not wanting to die.

I'm glad most Christians don't run around trying to cast out demons anymore. I do believe there's more to life than this existence but no longer appeal to man for made up shit for answers. I live my life, try not to push my luck too much and hope there's more to it. If there is, putting your hope in a belief based on faith isn't going to change anything.

 

[IsaacNewton]

I think people are mostly afraid of the process by which death occurs rather than the 'dead' part. No one knows they are dead.

Some people that think "deeply" about death do fear it. It's a strange concept that we won't be here as we are now living life, and, that it will never happen again.

Oh I agree every person is afraid of death, everyone. It does seem odd you are here one moment and then not for the rest of eternity. Of course it will be no different than the time before one was born. An eternity of not existing on both sides of the ledger. In calculus its called approaching the limit from both sides.

If we think a little more on it all of the atoms in our bodies were made in the center of stars, and all of the atoms larger than iron (26 protons, meaning 60% of naturally occurring atoms) can only have been made during the explosion known as a supernova. So the old adage that we are stardust is absolute. We are. We are also the atoms of previous lifeforms that lived, died, and decomposed, only to be reconstructed in new life forms like ourselves. There are carbon atoms in our bodies that were likely in a T-rex, a saber-tooth tiger, wooly mammoth, trilobites, or any of the other millions of species that have come and gone. And when we go the very atoms in my brain that allow me to think and type this will be incorporated into other living creatures in the future.

Pain in death is certainly feared though. The best possible death would be in your sleep I would think.

 

[Delta4Embassy]

My biggest objection to dying (for myself, not opposed to some people dying hehe) is all the neat futurist stuff will probably happen after I"m done and dusted. Discovery or arrival of aliens, world peace, become a space faring civilization, etc.