Are you afraid of death?

[Daffodil the Destroyer]

But that was my entire point with my post, and with the quotes that I posted. Atheism does not necessarily say "certainly not." It says quite simply, "I lack belief in gods." I'm just tired of feeling like I have to justify my position to people who refuse to really listen to my explanations. It's a common misconception that atheism and agnosticism are mutually exclusive; people oversimplify the meanings of the words and they also put stereotypical connotations onto them because of personal experience dealing with yet other people who share the same misconception. This is why I went to the trouble of typing out two large excerpts from a well-written source that explains the meaning of the word "atheism." One can extrapolate from these excerpts why it is that atheism and agnosticism are not mutually exclusive, but if necessary, I can dig back through the book and find an additional excerpt that is specific to agnosticism to support what I am saying.

I really don't prefer not to believe in a god; in fact, when I realized that I didn't, I was incredibly troubled and searched for any possible way to justify a belief. I couldn't, therefore I had to admit to being an atheist. At the same time, however, though I don't believe in god anymore, I've learned my lesson about having a die-hard, set-in-stone position on an unfalsifiable supernatural being. In order to ensure that my conscious beliefs are in line with my experiences and learning, I must periodically re-evaluate and make sure that I'm not just clinging to an old belief out of simplicity. I highly doubt in the possibility of gods as people recognize them in religious culture. I don't think they are real, and I don't believe in them. However, I don't completely discount the possibility seeing as it's not even possible for me to know 1% of everything in the universe. I base my belief upon my personal learning and experiences, however I am not egotistical enough to assume that I could not potentially be incorrect (I certainly think I was incorrect in my previous Christian beliefs, after all).

I hope I didn't come across as terribly bitchy in this post - I have no problem with you personally, I've just been cranky lately and I have trouble judging the tone of some of my posts seeing as there's no tone of voice to accompany it.

 

[Zach mit Kase]

Daffodil the Destroyer

But that was my entire point with my post, and with the quotes that I posted. Atheism does not necessarily say "certainly not." It says quite simply, "I lack belief in gods." I'm just tired of feeling like I have to justify my position to people who refuse to really listen to my explanations. It's a common misconception that atheism and agnosticism are mutually exclusive; people oversimplify the meanings of the words and they also put stereotypical connotations onto them because of personal experience dealing with yet other people who share the same misconception. This is why I went to the trouble of typing out two large excerpts from a well-written source that explains the meaning of the word "atheism." One can extrapolate from these excerpts why it is that atheism and agnosticism are not mutually exclusive, but if necessary, I can dig back through the book and find an additional excerpt that is specific to agnosticism to support what I am saying.

I really don't prefer not to believe in a god; in fact, when I realized that I didn't, I was incredibly troubled and searched for any possible way to justify a belief. I couldn't, therefore I had to admit to being an atheist. At the same time, however, though I don't believe in god anymore, I've learned my lesson about having a die-hard, set-in-stone position on an unfalsifiable supernatural being. In order to ensure that my conscious beliefs are in line with my experiences and learning, I must periodically re-evaluate and make sure that I'm not just clinging to an old belief out of simplicity. I highly doubt in the possibility of gods as people recognize them in religious culture. I don't think they are real, and I don't believe in them. However, I don't completely discount the possibility seeing as it's not even possible for me to know 1% of everything in the universe. I base my belief upon my personal learning and experiences, however I am not egotistical enough to assume that I could not potentially be incorrect (I certainly think I was incorrect in my previous Christian beliefs, after all).

I hope I didn't come across as terribly bitchy in this post - I have no problem with you personally, I've just been cranky lately and I have trouble judging the tone of some of my posts seeing as there's no tone of voice to accompany it.

It's hard to sound civil when arguing about things on message boards, no worries. You don't have to justify your tone, I think you're being pretty objective. I did read what you had attached, but I still fail to see your point. You say that I oversimplify things, but I think you overcomplicate them. =P I suppose that this argument will get us nowhere, but I prefer just sticking to the dictionary definitions, which conflict:

Atheism: http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/atheism
Agnosticism: http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/agnosticism  

[Daffodil the Destroyer]

This argument probably won't get us anywhere; you're right about that. XD

I hold that a dictionary definition is almost never sufficient to explain philosophical positions. This case is no exception.

 

[Paraldehyde Kool-Aid]

Dad often refers to himself as an agnostic, but recently said to me that his philosophies lie rather in line with the atheistic. Whenever he's held forth on the matter, his words reveal a balance between them both. He also said that he wishes to avoid the perceived negative connotations in the word "atheist." Considering how much contact he has with his Fundie sister-in-law, I can see where this is a valid concern. People don't seem to feel as threatened by the term "agnostic" as they do "atheist," and he's not big on confrontation.

But, in truth, there's often a danger inherent in quite a number of forms of binary thinking, which is why defining the shades of grey is always useful. As to whether or not God exists, well, there's no helping the binary nature of that. How a person responds to that question, however, gets less binary. I don't believe that God exists because everything that is given in support of his existence doesn't stand up to scrutiny and often winds up smelling remarkably like week-old fish.

There's a lot of other things we don't know about yet, and there's a lot to be said for admitting "I don't know" instead of adhering to an "answer" that's only one of a bunch of possible "maybes." After all, the more educated a person gets, the more they often realize how little they actually know after all. The central electron orbit in the American Atheists symbol is incomplete for a very good reason.  

[Zach mit Kase]

Paraldehyde Kool-Aid

There's a lot of other things we don't know about yet, and there's a lot to be said for admitting "I don't know" instead of adhering to an "answer" that's only one of a bunch of possible "maybes." After all, the more educated a person gets, the more they often realize how little they actually know after all. The central electron orbit in the American Atheists symbol is incomplete for a very good reason.

This is true; it's unreasonable to be absolutely positive about something. I won't concede and say that "there may be a god," but there are most definitely things that we don't know and neither side can really stand up to the other and they always butt heads. When it comes down to it, atheists have "faith" that what they believe is true just as the religious do. The difference is that atheism uses reason and science to justify it's beliefs (or lack thereof) while all religion has is fanaticism.  

[Daffodil the Destroyer]

Leftover Zach

Paraldehyde Kool-Aid

There's a lot of other things we don't know about yet, and there's a lot to be said for admitting "I don't know" instead of adhering to an "answer" that's only one of a bunch of possible "maybes." After all, the more educated a person gets, the more they often realize how little they actually know after all. The central electron orbit in the American Atheists symbol is incomplete for a very good reason.

This is true; it's unreasonable to be absolutely positive about something. I won't concede and say that "there may be a god," but there are most definitely things that we don't know and neither side can really stand up to the other and they always butt heads. When it comes down to it, atheists have "faith" that what they believe is true just as the religious do. The difference is that atheism uses reason and science to justify it's beliefs (or lack thereof) while all religion has is fanaticism.

Some atheists have faith in the certainty of their nonbelief. Not all do. Oh, here we go in circles again!

 

[KCXerro013]

i have no fear of death itself because iv have died a couple of times before , im afraid of how im going to die

drowing sucks - died that way once
being choked to death doesnt suck that bad - died that way too

burning to death would probably suck alot
impaled would suck
beheaded would probably be alright
electrocution SUCK
lethal injection ... dunno

you get the picture its the pain of the way you die that the problem

not the actual dieing part .... and coming back sucks too

after a while when you have no air you turn very pale , every time i turned pale from drowning and being choked some one pushed on my stomache/ chest and i had a seizure then started breathing
i was out for about 10 minutes after i drowned and i was about 10 years old
i was 18 when i was choked to death and was out for half an hour before any one did anything  

[xJujuKittyx]

Do I fear death?

To be perfectly honest, though at one point I was highly suicidal, I do hate just the thought of dying. See, I don't believe in any sort of afterlife. I believe that the whole perception of the world is simply messages sent to the brain, so when you die, there's no perceiving the world and, well, technically to you, there IS no world anymore. There's nothing. However, you can't even think of such. To be honest, I don't know how to describe what it'd be like, because to be unable to do or think ANYTHING... I think is impossible to imagine.

~Juju Adams  

[dawnofthelight]

I'm not so much afraid of death as I am sad that I must die.

My fear of death is not really the fear of death, but more-so about the fact that death is an inconceivable state, since it is characterized as the opposite of life.

There is no perception, no experience, of anything, so it is impossible to describe what happens in death or how the experience of being dead will be - death is a state of inexperience.

Besides that, I mostly am just sad that death even exists as consciousness is the most valuable thing for the very reason that consciousness is the only thing that can give value. Death is the ceasing of this, so death is an undesirable consequence of life. It is in this way that I understand and admire fountain-of-youth scientists in their search.  

[MessyLucia]

Im not affraid of death, in fact i want to try it, i want to feel how it is, but not now. I would like to live a lot, i waould like to see how the world will be after 100 years or more, i would like to see even how it is going to be destroyed, but i want to die someday.  

[Athena_Ritashe]

I'm doing an internship at a state park and some of it involves weeding, and gardening. Today I was stooped over pulling weeds, and the kink in my back was starting to feel unbearable. I stood up to relieve the pain and I felt light headed from standing up so fast after squatting for so long. When lightheaded all conscious though rushes out of my head and my senses become very dimmed, my vision even fades out until normal oxygen levels return to my brain. I wonder if death is like that, only it fades out even more. If that's the case then death is just a sleepless sleep forever. Nothing to be scared of, just completely unremarkable non existence.  

[Celestial Fireflies]

I'm not afraid of being dead, but I am afraid of dying. By that, I mean I'm afraid of knowing that I'm going to die and watching my life slip out of my hands like sand. I know that I am going to die some day, of course, but to be on the edge of that cliff would be something truly terrifying to me.  

[banryuu]

I wouldn't say I'm afraid of death but I'm not particularly looking forward to the final event.
I know its been a long time since I've been on so many people wouldn't remember me... so to you who do not know I am not Atheist, nor do I have any particular religious belief. The nothingness after death or what ever takes place is nothing to be afraid of. *Shrugs* there are so many more pressing things to worry about.
By the time I do die I won't care what happens... its the pain/sickness/weakness leading up to my demise that scares me.
My grandfather died from Leukemia right in front of me. I'd rather blow my brains out then die that way. To be in constant pain... growing weaker and weaker until you can't eat, drink, or perform any bodily functions on your own. Not getting enough oxygen to your brain till you can't think, talk, or understand. I'm terrified of people seeing me that way. I don't want to become old or sick.... to be a burden to those around me.
It not death that scares me it is the dying part that I’m afraid of.  

[Sweet x Far x Thing]

This Revelation Is The Death Of Ignorance. . .
Tangled In A State Of Suffocation . . .

This is probably going to sound rather odd, but I have no fear of dying or of what I'll leave behind, but I have a little bit of an apprehensive feeling when I think about it because I feel like I'm going to get bored. - that's the odd part- I know it's a really weird way to look at it but I really do imagine myself being extremely bored in death despite how I view it now.

Slave To Self Righteousness. . .
Damnation Is On Your Lips. . .

 

[Im A Little Pea]

I've always been afraid of death.
It doesn't matter to me that things will still continue to exist after I die, I don't care what's going to happen because I won't be there to see it. The idea of just not being any more is terrifying to me. Of course once it happens and I'm dead it doesn't matter to me any more, but that's exactly what I'm scared of. I just don't want to stop living. I like it too much. 0_0