Does belief in an afterlife affect your attitude about death?

[hyphenate]

Through the vast realm of religion, most/many religions believe in some sort of life after their death on earth. Yet others don't believe in an afterlife, preferring to think of their time on earth as the culmination of their path of existence.

Some people are afraid to die because of what they think is "on the other side." For that very same reason, others welcome death.

Some people are afraid to die because they don't believe in an afterlife. Some people welcome death as a release of all the pain and suffering they are a prisoner to.

Where do you stand?

[Mythsaje]

1. Not afraid of death

and don't know what comes after, if anything. Don't really care. If it's over, it's over. If it's not over, COOL... a new adventure. Don't believe in heaven or hell, so that's all meaningless to me. Reincarnation seems like a possibility, but I hope I have some sort of choice if that's the case.

In short--we'll all find out eventually.

[nosmokes]

4. As a person living w/ cancer the studies I've seen say those most comfortable

with facing death are the ardent believers, whether atheist or theist. Seems that no matter which way you believe, in the end it's your faith in your belief that makes for a better ride.

[ZombieHorde]

6. That is really interesting. nt

[Mythsaje]

7. The fact of death doesn't bother me...

The method, now, that's of some concern. As I'm sure it is with most people, ardent believer or not.

I have no strong beliefs either way. I'm neither fish nor foul, atheist nor theist. I don't believe anyone truly knows--at least, no one who's currently alive, so what would I gain by fretting over it? Certainly not a better life.

Sorry to hear you're living with cancer, though. I can barely imagine how that changes one's perspective.

[rd_kent]

14. Interesting

atheist don't have a "belief". Only believers believe.

[wroberts189]

2. I would go out fine but I got bills to pay ..people to watch over. nt

[Ozymanithrax]

3. Don't believe in an afterlife.

I am not afraid of dying, but I'd rather delay it as long as possible, thank you very much. The natural attitude toward death is to be drug kicking and screaming off the face of the earth while trying to pass as many parts of my DNA as possible on any willing woman. If immortality exists at all, it is in the bits and pieces of DNA that I leave behind in my descendants.

Life is an emergent property of natural law.

[JDPriestly]

5. Believe in an afterlife and not afraid to die, but not anxious to die either.

[SidneyCarton]

12. +1

[_dynamicdems]

8. Depends on what your concept of afterlife is.

We do get to have our physical components reshuffled back into the mix, but does consciousness just end like turning out a light? Are souls or spirits actual entities? Thinking about this just brings up more questions than answers or beliefs.

Personally, I'd prefer immortality to death no matter what lies on the proverbial other side.

[Silent3]

9. I'd say fear of death is a very situational thing.

It's much easier to say you aren't afraid to die when death is an abstract thing (and your own personal death is abstract, no matter how much you've experienced the death of others) waiting for you somewhere in the future, years or decades away.

If you've just come home from having a doctor tell you that you've only got six months or six weeks to live, it's going to be a different story. How long you've had to digest that sort of news will make a difference. Even if you reach a point of fairly peaceful acceptance, your fear might rise again when death is imminent in hours or minutes.

If you're facing a man with a gun, or your car has just smashed through a guardrail and is teetering on a precipice, those kinds of situations are yet another story.

Mixed up with the fear of death is fear of the pain and suffering which may accompany your death.

There's concern for those you'd leave behind, particularly if you've got someone who is very dependent on you. There's the matter of if you're satisfied with what you've accomplished, if you feel you've left too much undone, or if there's too much you haven't experienced that you wanted to experience.

At the moment I'm not terribly afraid to die, but I certainly don't want to die. At 46 years old, there's a whole lot more I'd like to do before I go.

[sinkingfeeling]

10. As another person living with cancer, I'm in agreement that what is most feared is the pain and

suffering associated with death. I plan to really welcome death if my cancer returns. I do not believe in an afterlife in the sense that most do. I still think there is some type of force that goes back to the universe.

[moobu2]

11. I have a normal natural fear of death

but I still realize my physical death will be the end of my existence.

[SidneyCarton]

13. Death is natural and inevitable

That doesn't mean I look forward to it, as it can also be painful, awful and grotesque at the same time.

[Silent3]

15. This is purely anecdotal...

...but I've heard someone who works at a hospital say that she found it more typical that her most fervently religious patients were the ones who most wanted extraordinary measures to be taken to try to keep them alive, as opposed to the more peaceful acceptance you might think would come from believing death would bring them to a better place.

[Odin2005]

16. Answered "I don't believe in an afterlife, but I'm afraid to die."

I guess that would explain my transhumanist beliefs.

[Meshuga]

17. I did vote for that as well

I don't want to die because there are several plots in life that I don't want to miss but I am going to miss them because I am going to have to die someday. It's like watching a movie where you don't get to see the end. I am too curious and want to see what is going to happen but there is nothing I can do about it. We all have to go at one point. :-)

[redqueen]

18. Don't believe in afterlife... not afraid to die.

Whatever happens, happens. That's how I see it.

[Name removed]

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