An atheist afraid to die, will religion help?

I don't want to die. The thought of death scares me. I want to live, how I want, what I want, forever. I probably won't die for a long time, but the more I thought about death, the more afraid I become. Will surrender myself to a religion help eliminate this feeling?

Why don't you try and find out? Why ask us?

Assume that it will be alot like before you were born, so really not that bad.

I don't want to die. The thought of death scares me. I want to live, how I want, what I want, forever. I probably won't die for a long time, but the more I thought about death, the more afraid I become. Will surrender myself to a religion help eliminate this feeling?

nchan

If you're truly an atheist then you would probably find religion illogical, so I doubt it. Believing in religion simply out of fear though is never a good idea.

if you want to live with a lie thinking you will go to magical land when you die go ahead. either way when you die to will spend a eternity in nothingness land

Religion made me even more terrified to die because I thought (knew) I was going to hell.cd_rom

it may help you

Why are you afraid to die? Unless you are very old (which I doubt because you're on Gamespot/Gamefaqs) you shouldn't really be thinking about it all that much. Besides, there is nothing to fear in death if you are an atheist, you just will stop existing. It will be like before you were born, so you won't care.

Anyways, if you are an atheist, then it will be difficult to become a religious believer just because you are scared. Being afraid won't make religion seem anymore logical to you, just more appealing.

Sadly enough i've actually been dealing with more thoughts of death lately. Every night i have not been able to get to sleep because of my thoughts of death lately and the idea of...well no longer existing both physically and mentally. No idea how to fix it...i expect that at some point in the future the fear will get to me enough on a deep enough level that i will actually begin to believe in a god...but until then gah i have no idea what to do.

Did you care about the 13 billion or so years before you were born?

After death it'll be the same thing. I have almost zero worries and that's only because there's always the illogical part of my brain creeping up on me.

religion did help me when i was still a beleiver but thechance of going to hell is what ruins it. if i can remember correctly before i was agnostic religion actualy made me more scared to die.

what if i make it to heaven but my freinds and family dont

what if i go to hell

will i ever see my loved ones when i get there,

when i became agnostic and pretty much gave up on the whole heaven hell thing i felt more comfored. so no i guess it wont help

no, just convince yourself that it does not really matter, and have fun with the rest of your life.

I can tell you this. I was raised in a TOTAL christian environment. There came a time in my life that I realized that no god exists imo. Whenever I fully dedicated myself to this ideal it was as if a weight was lifted off my shoulders. It seems as if there is some underlying fear that exceeds death for you. Think about what you believe in and go with that.

I'm not afraid of dying I just don't want to be there when it happens. Actually I'm more concerned in how will I live the rest of my life, whether or nor I'll be able to accomplish at least one of my goals. Death happens all the time; probably over 100 people if not more died while you read this post, and mine will go as uneventful as anyone else's (don't get clever and say something "how about if a president dies?"). Believing in any God or being part of any religion will NOT make my death any more "important".

One last thing; death happens only to the living, If I'm dead what do I care?

No, following a religion will not make you immortal.

Unless that religion is Highlander.

Even still there can be only one, and that one is me friend.

No immortality for you.

Death is a gift. Embrace it, or be it's beyotch.

I don't want to die. The thought of death scares me. I want to live, how I want, what I want, forever. I probably won't die for a long time, but the more I thought about death, the more afraid I become. Will surrender myself to a religion help eliminate this feeling?

nchan

If you are truly atheist, you cannot just give yourself false hope by looking to religion. Everyone lives and dies. You must accept this and move on with your life and try not to think about dying. You believe in what you believe in, only you can change that. If you want to find a religion and become theist, or something, only you can look for the one that suits you. Personally, as an atheist myself, I have found interest in LaVeyan Satanism, which focuses on individualism and human nature instead of invisible gods. Maybe it's not for you, but you can look into it. Besides that, it is up to you, not us forum posters.Immortalica

[QUOTE="Immortalica"]If you are truly atheist, you cannot just give yourself false hope by looking to religion. Everyone lives and dies. You must accept this and move on with your life and try not to think about dying. You believe in what you believe in, only you can change that. If you want to find a religion and become theist, or something, only you can look for the one that suits you. Personally, as an atheist myself, I have found interest in LaVeyan Satanism, which focuses on individualism and human nature instead of invisible gods. Maybe it's not for you, but you can look into it. Besides that, it is up to you, not us forum posters.soldine

[QUOTE="Immortalica"]If you are truly atheist, you cannot just give yourself false hope by looking to religion. Everyone lives and dies. You must accept this and move on with your life and try not to think about dying. You believe in what you believe in, only you can change that. If you want to find a religion and become theist, or something, only you can look for the one that suits you. Personally, as an atheist myself, I have found interest in LaVeyan Satanism, which focuses on individualism and human nature instead of invisible gods. Maybe it's not for you, but you can look into it. Besides that, it is up to you, not us forum posters.soldine

This fear is a dangerous one, as it can spiral into obsessive terror. Grappling with the infinite darkness of oblivion, that dread knowledge that one day relatively soon you will cease to be and think nothing more for eternity...that's frightening, especially when you can't stop thinking about it. It's easy to say, "Stop thinking about death," but when it becomes an obsession, you might as well say, "Stop breathing."

The only advice I have (and I'm sure it's not the preferred way of dealing with the problem, but it worked for me) is to find something new and fascinating to obsess over and keep following it until you forget about your worries. For the first several months of 2005, virtually all of my idle time was spent thinking about death, and no matter what I tried, I couldn't stop. Then came rumors of the Nintendo Revolution, and all the crazy speculation and seeming inside knowledge about the wonder machine allegedly under development captivated me. I started seeking out any bit of information I could find, following all the gossip emanating from dubious sources (anyone remember Aries?). By the time we got accurate information about the newly-christened Wii, I forgot about my fear and got on with my life. I worry from time to time that the fear will come back, but it hasn't happened for five years so far, and I hope it remains that way.

Also, consider this. The universe itself will die someday, if current theories are correct. There will come a point where not only stars will burn out, but even matter itself will disintegrate and the universe will become a total void. You are not alone; take comfort in knowing that, eventually, everyone and everything shares the same fate.

Whatever you do, don't kill yourself, just forget about death and one day you will die and find out.

For me, freeing myself from religion actually allowed me to be comfortable with my eventual death. Unless I change drastically as a person, Christianity would definitely send me to hell.

Finding a form of religion or spirituality obviously won't change the facts regarding what happens after death, but it may change your perception towards it and its inevitability, and may help you find peace in what would otherwise be a very bleak prospect. That said, you also obviously can't just will yourself into believing something that you feel in your heart to be false. I don't think this is something that we can really hope to help you with; this is one of the most personal things a person can go through, and is a case where answers must come from within, not from without.

Atheists shouldn't be afraid of dying. They should be afraid of what's waiting for them AFTER they die. 'Cause I don't think the Bible is very forgiving for unbelievers is it?MaxPred2010

thats actually one of many reasons I am atheist...even if that were true, I would not want to be welcomed into the house of someone so cruel and unforgiving anyway.

Atheists shouldn't be afraid of dying. They should be afraid of what's waiting for them AFTER they die. 'Cause I don't think the Bible is very forgiving for unbelievers is it?MaxPred2010

Who said anything about a Bible? And why would atheists care about what a religion describes will happen to them (the aethists) when they die?

[QUOTE="MaxPred2010"]Atheists shouldn't be afraid of dying. They should be afraid of what's waiting for them AFTER they die. 'Cause I don't think the Bible is very forgiving for unbelievers is it?mrbojangles25

thats actually one of many reasons I am atheist...even if that were true, I would not want to be welcomed into the house of someone so cruel and unforgiving anyway.

High 5. One of the main reason I'm agnostic. What type of being would allow someone to suffer an eternity just for one life time's worth of transgressions?

Death; An inescapable reality.

I though being part of Atheism was accepting that there was this:

on the other side?

Who wants... to live... FOREVAAAHH???

All one has to do is apologize for their sins and accept the Lord Jesus Christ as their lord and savior. So if they don't do that, well...MaxPred2010

[QUOTE="MaxPred2010"]All one has to do is apologize for their sins and accept the Lord Jesus Christ as their lord and savior. So if they don't do that, well...Danm_999

No thatd be silly. They could be a SOB their whole lives and then say woops sorry on their deathbed and everything will be cool. But if you are a good person but dont really buy into any of this then you burn in flames for eternity. Its a very good system

Death; An inescapable reality.

I though being part of Atheism was accepting that there was this:

on the other side?

SpinoRaptor24

no, there is nothing. What you are showing a black square, which I suppose you mean to represent nothing. This is what scares people imo; the fact that they imagine nothing as eternal boredom or darkness.

But you cannot represent nothing, because it is nothing lol.

You might as well try to grasp the size of the universe (oh wait, you cant).

So again I repeat. It simply does not matter; there is nothing after this life, so you might as well just focus all your energies into enjoying this one.

[QUOTE="Danm_999"][QUOTE="MaxPred2010"]All one has to do is apologize for their sins and accept the Lord Jesus Christ as their lord and savior. So if they don't do that, well...VendettaRed07

No thatd be silly. They could be a SOB their whole lives and then say woops sorry on their deathbed and everything will be cool. But if you are a good person but dont really buy into any of this then you burn in flames for eternity. Its a very good system