THE DEATH WATCH-THIRTY-THREE
(I have had several letters and comments about my attitude towards dying and some, including my cousin, have questioned my beliefs. The focus of this discussion is religious and requires the definition of some terms that are loosely used such as “soul”, “conscious”, “God”, “heaven”, “hell”, “atheism”, “afterlife” etc. I have tried to respond to these questions by explaining what it is I believe but I have not tried to explain why I believe what I believe or don’t believe. In an attempt to do just that I started by defining “Atheism”, as I think of it, and went to the internet to locate definitions that have been written by others. The result is an extensive collection of definitions from which I have chosen those that best fit my own belief. In addition I have tried to layout where I am coming from with my belief and how I came to believe what I believe. I am trying not to sound defensive since I don’t think I have any reason to defend my beliefs nor am I interested in anyone else believing what I believe. The net result has become rather lengthy, so I will try to find a suitable dividing point and get this all done in just two parts.)
In 1948 I was Bar Mitzvah’ed and when my father’s father died the next year I went to the Synagogue, with my father, every morning and every evening for an entire week. That was the last time I set foot in any building for the purpose of praying. There has always been a question in my mind why it is necessary for a true believer to need a building, a religious leader and fellow believers in order to communicate with a God.
It was soon after the death of the brother of a good friend of mine that I started to question the existence of God. He was young, happily married and a father of small children who succumbed to a disease, probably cancer, that killed him and I felt that if there was a God then he should not have died. Over the years there have been many instances of tragedies that are left unexplained if one believes that there is a God. When a believer is asked about the Holocaust the answer is usually along the lines of, “every once in a while God has to let the Devil have his due so that He can show the power that He has over the Devil”. I don’t buy into that story.
In all the years that I have not believed in God I have never tried to persuade anybody towards my belief or the lack there of. I have asked rather leading questions when I was attacked for my beliefs and this may have been interpreted as preaching my beliefs but that is not nor has it ever been the case. People usually try to put me on the defensive when they hear I am an Atheist because it makes them uncomfortable and I think that they are afraid to ask these questions of themselves.
When my children were growing up we didn’t go to church but I never denied the kids the right to attend a church if they were invited by a friend. We had Mormon friends who invited my kids to services and prayer meetings and other church activities, and I never stood in their way of attending these activities. I also recall some Seventh Day Adventist friends and Jehovah’s Witnesses that invited my kids to attend activities at their churches. Again, I never stood in their way. I also never spoke about Atheism to my kids. I strongly believe that a person has to make that kind of choice when they are old enough to make their own decisions and not be “brain washed” as a child to attend Sunday school and learn the tales of the Bible without a better reference than the words of some pastor or minister.
The following is a quote that reflects what many people define as “religious freedom”. My definition includes the freedom to not believe in any God.
George H.W. Bush, as presidential nominee for the Republican party; 1987-AUG-27: "No, I don't know that Atheists should be considered as citizens, nor should they be considered as patriots. This is one nation under God."
Now that I have been told that I am dying it would be very easy to blame God or ask “Why me?” Is there something that I did in my lifetime that was so bad that I am being punished by God? When I die will I be sent to hell for eternity? And there are many more questions like this that one could think of IF one believed in a God but at this point I consider it a privilege that I don’t believe in either heaven or hell or a hereafter. It’s one less thing I have to worry about.
Isaac Asimov, "On Religiosity", Free Inquiry magazine: "Although the time of death is approaching me, I am not afraid of dying and going to Hell or (what would be considerably worse) going to the popularized version of Heaven. I expect death to be nothingness and, for removing me from all possible fears of death, I am thankful to atheism."
When we lived in Connecticut we knew a couple, of our parent’s vintage, who threw a party every year just before Christmas. The wife was an alcoholic and got very upset if there was anyone at her house that wasn’t drinking. In fact she had glasses that had pointed bottoms so that you could not set down a glass with anything in it. Knowing that I did not drink made her uncomfortable so as soon as we arrived at her house she ran over to me with a glass of tomato juice without booze, what is known as a “Virgin Mary”. She had to make sure I at least was holding a drink. I feel that people that hear that I am an atheist react the same way, they can’t just accept that without trying to preach to me or question the concept, even going so far as to suggest that I’m really an agnostic.
In 1948 I was Bar Mitzvah’ed and when my father’s father died the next year I went to the Synagogue, with my father, every morning and every evening for an entire week. That was the last time I set foot in any building for the purpose of praying. There has always been a question in my mind why it is necessary for a true believer to need a building, a religious leader and fellow believers in order to communicate with a God.
It was soon after the death of the brother of a good friend of mine that I started to question the existence of God. He was young, happily married and a father of small children who succumbed to a disease, probably cancer, that killed him and I felt that if there was a God then he should not have died. Over the years there have been many instances of tragedies that are left unexplained if one believes that there is a God. When a believer is asked about the Holocaust the answer is usually along the lines of, “every once in a while God has to let the Devil have his due so that He can show the power that He has over the Devil”. I don’t buy into that story.
In all the years that I have not believed in God I have never tried to persuade anybody towards my belief or the lack there of. I have asked rather leading questions when I was attacked for my beliefs and this may have been interpreted as preaching my beliefs but that is not nor has it ever been the case. People usually try to put me on the defensive when they hear I am an Atheist because it makes them uncomfortable and I think that they are afraid to ask these questions of themselves.
When my children were growing up we didn’t go to church but I never denied the kids the right to attend a church if they were invited by a friend. We had Mormon friends who invited my kids to services and prayer meetings and other church activities, and I never stood in their way of attending these activities. I also recall some Seventh Day Adventist friends and Jehovah’s Witnesses that invited my kids to attend activities at their churches. Again, I never stood in their way. I also never spoke about Atheism to my kids. I strongly believe that a person has to make that kind of choice when they are old enough to make their own decisions and not be “brain washed” as a child to attend Sunday school and learn the tales of the Bible without a better reference than the words of some pastor or minister.
The following is a quote that reflects what many people define as “religious freedom”. My definition includes the freedom to not believe in any God.
George H.W. Bush, as presidential nominee for the Republican party; 1987-AUG-27: "No, I don't know that Atheists should be considered as citizens, nor should they be considered as patriots. This is one nation under God."
Now that I have been told that I am dying it would be very easy to blame God or ask “Why me?” Is there something that I did in my lifetime that was so bad that I am being punished by God? When I die will I be sent to hell for eternity? And there are many more questions like this that one could think of IF one believed in a God but at this point I consider it a privilege that I don’t believe in either heaven or hell or a hereafter. It’s one less thing I have to worry about.
Isaac Asimov, "On Religiosity", Free Inquiry magazine: "Although the time of death is approaching me, I am not afraid of dying and going to Hell or (what would be considerably worse) going to the popularized version of Heaven. I expect death to be nothingness and, for removing me from all possible fears of death, I am thankful to atheism."
When we lived in Connecticut we knew a couple, of our parent’s vintage, who threw a party every year just before Christmas. The wife was an alcoholic and got very upset if there was anyone at her house that wasn’t drinking. In fact she had glasses that had pointed bottoms so that you could not set down a glass with anything in it. Knowing that I did not drink made her uncomfortable so as soon as we arrived at her house she ran over to me with a glass of tomato juice without booze, what is known as a “Virgin Mary”. She had to make sure I at least was holding a drink. I feel that people that hear that I am an atheist react the same way, they can’t just accept that without trying to preach to me or question the concept, even going so far as to suggest that I’m really an agnostic.
posted by Michael at
11:08:00 PM
1 Comments:
This is an interesting narrative. As to your perception that born again Christians (and some from other religions/denominations) are unwilling to let the issue "slide;" I think you can't really expect them to do otherwise. Afterall, if they really believe you're going to hell, of course they have the responsibility to try and "save" you.
Having said that, I am a confirmed theist and am not particularly bothered by the questions you pose, although I realize that to try to answer them would take more time and effort than would be justified considering that you are definately "out of my league" intellectually. of course I still think that I am right, but given your acumen and level of knowledge and lifetime experience, I doubt I could sway you at all to say the least.
But actually, the reason I wrote this comment was to ask you a question: you mentioned given your kids freedom to decide religion on their own. Out of curiousity, where did they ultimately end up, theologically? Perhaps you've already addressed that in some of your other posts, but I confess I haven't read all of them.
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Schildan, at 2:45 AM
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