With regard to the fear of death, a flippant but insightful response is:
"Dying is easy--it's nothing."
When I say it's insightful, I am referring to the implicit point that after we die, we do not exist any more. I tend to agree with what Mark Twain said on the subject:
This, of course, will be totally unacceptable to the mind of a religious person, but it might plant a seed--give them something to think about. At some point in the future when they are thinking about religion, they may actually give it some thought.
Of course, their first thought will be "I don't know how someone can believe that." This notion of non-existence, especially their own non-existence, is one that I find religious people simply can't comprehend. They have spent their whole lives thinking that it can never happen. It is, however, an important one regarding both issues of death and birth--or more specifically, birth control.
Because they can't accept the notion of death being final, they have convinced themselves that their identity is separate from their bodies. It is this notion that prevents them from seeing that life alone is not sufficient. Everyone should have a decent life, if not a good one. There really is no excuse for making people suffer needlessly. Yet, that is exactly what their delusions about the immortal soul and the value of life cause.
"Dying is easy--it's nothing."
When I say it's insightful, I am referring to the implicit point that after we die, we do not exist any more. I tend to agree with what Mark Twain said on the subject:
"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."
This, of course, will be totally unacceptable to the mind of a religious person, but it might plant a seed--give them something to think about. At some point in the future when they are thinking about religion, they may actually give it some thought.
Of course, their first thought will be "I don't know how someone can believe that." This notion of non-existence, especially their own non-existence, is one that I find religious people simply can't comprehend. They have spent their whole lives thinking that it can never happen. It is, however, an important one regarding both issues of death and birth--or more specifically, birth control.
Because they can't accept the notion of death being final, they have convinced themselves that their identity is separate from their bodies. It is this notion that prevents them from seeing that life alone is not sufficient. Everyone should have a decent life, if not a good one. There really is no excuse for making people suffer needlessly. Yet, that is exactly what their delusions about the immortal soul and the value of life cause.
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