3 thoughts on “Are Religious Philosophies of Death More Comforting Than Secular Ones?”
Thanks for the post. One of the most interesting conversations I had about heaven was with a Jehova’s Witness, co-worker. His idea, in response to what he thought heaven would be like, was that he would learn all the things that could be learned and then, (this shocked me) he would re-learn all the things he had previously learned and since forgotten.. ad infinitum. I’m sure that’s not an official stance or policy of JWs, but somehow, someway, this excited and satisfied him.
Awesome read. It talks about a lot of the stuff I thought about as I was transitioning away from Christianity because Heaven AND Hell were part of the issue I had with Christianity. It never made sense that there was a hell yet I would be happy in heaven. On this earth, It gave me no peace because every time someone died, I felt absolute misery inside thinking they might not have made it to heaven. The wishful thinking part of everyone seems to make them think everyone goes to heaven. I see it all the time with Catholics. I also see a lot of people who believe the people they like are going to heaven, while the ones they don’t are going to hell. What if someone doesn’t like them?
Also this article goes into the whole robot argument that I’ve tried to convince certain people here about yet they still don’t get it. This article nicely describes that as to make a perfect place, we would all have to essentially lose something and become different beings.
I’m more comfortable now with death, which as a religious person before, I wouldn’t have figured would happen. Now I go to funerals realizing I’m saying goodbye and not hoping for the rest of my life that person made it to heaven. I totally agree that the atheists win on this point. I feel death can actually give us closure.
Left Christianity 
Thanks for the post. One of the most interesting conversations I had about heaven was with a Jehova’s Witness, co-worker. His idea, in response to what he thought heaven would be like, was that he would learn all the things that could be learned and then, (this shocked me) he would re-learn all the things he had previously learned and since forgotten.. ad infinitum. I’m sure that’s not an official stance or policy of JWs, but somehow, someway, this excited and satisfied him.
Awesome read. It talks about a lot of the stuff I thought about as I was transitioning away from Christianity because Heaven AND Hell were part of the issue I had with Christianity. It never made sense that there was a hell yet I would be happy in heaven. On this earth, It gave me no peace because every time someone died, I felt absolute misery inside thinking they might not have made it to heaven. The wishful thinking part of everyone seems to make them think everyone goes to heaven. I see it all the time with Catholics. I also see a lot of people who believe the people they like are going to heaven, while the ones they don’t are going to hell. What if someone doesn’t like them?
Also this article goes into the whole robot argument that I’ve tried to convince certain people here about yet they still don’t get it. This article nicely describes that as to make a perfect place, we would all have to essentially lose something and become different beings.
I’m more comfortable now with death, which as a religious person before, I wouldn’t have figured would happen. Now I go to funerals realizing I’m saying goodbye and not hoping for the rest of my life that person made it to heaven. I totally agree that the atheists win on this point. I feel death can actually give us closure.
Nice to hear from you again Speed! Thanks for your comments.