What are your feelings on death/oblivion? (Not the game)

[Gingerpotato 889]

So, I read John Green's The Fault In Our Stars the other day and it got me thinking about death and if the idea of dying was something that I couldn't accept. So, I suppose to get things started here are a few questions on death and the eventual oblivion. I will also include my answers.

 

1.Do you believe in an afterlife?

I used to kid myself into thinking that if I believed in an afterlife then there would be one. It was the idea of me just decaying in a coffin for hundreds of years that made me believe that there must be an afterlife. I've grown up a bit now and whilst I would like to believe in an afterlife I just can't see why we as human beings would have this? We live our life, long and happy most of us and I believe that is our journey. I am not a religious person so I don't mean to offend but the afterlife for me now is just seen as a way to kid ourselves that we aren't going to rot in a casket for hundreds of years

 

2.Are you a religious person and if so what does your specified religion state about death?

Now of course I cant answer this as I am not a religious person so I shall leave this up to you.

 

3. Are you scared of death/oblivion

I thought long and hard about this question and the honest answer is that I am not scared of death. I always used to say that dying would be inconvenient to me as there was always something I want to do with my life. Now however I just see it as the natural course of things. If I were to die within the next 5 minutes I would not know about it and therefore I would not be scared. If I was warned of my death then I would not fear. I would live life as best I can with the little time I had left. I believe that we only have this life to live and that we should use it as best we can. If death is to claim me then I will accept that, we have no more right to this planet than a lamb sent to slaughter. Why should we constantly fear death when we raise animals just to die for us? Death does not scare me, nor the fear of oblivion. I worry that once I am dead and buried I will be forgotten too quickly and my life will be meaningless.

 

So, what do you, noble bronies, make of this topic and these questions?

[Shankveld 4,945]

1.Do you believe in an afterlife?

Yes.

 

2.Are you a religious person and if so what does your specified religion state about death?

I was raised Catholic, but I follow my own sort of deviation of catholicism. When you die, you get to be with who you love most. If you are a selfish person and love only yourself, you spend your afterlife with yourself. If you're a selfless person, (you get the idea).

 

3. Are you scared of death/oblivion

No, I've come to accept death as a part of life. i wouldn't want to die right now, as I am still young and have things I sitll want to do with my life, but once I'm older I will have no problem accepting my own death. ~

[KPM 288]

1.Do you believe in an afterlife?

Slightly. I mean it doesn't make sense that a dead body remains somewhere, somehow, when it's broken. Still, slight belief remains.

 

2.Are you a religious person and if so what does your specified religion state about death?

Somewhat christian. I go to heaven if it really is true.

 

3. Are you scared of death/oblivion

Bahaha..... Scared? I LOOK FORWARD TO IT.

[Demi 545]

1.Do you believe in an afterlife?

I used to, but the thought of living forever and ever and ever (even in Heaven) makes me sick to my stomach. Even if it is paradise, I wouldn't want to go on living forever, thus I believe when we die that's that. Nothing. No eternal blackness or anything, just nothing. Or maybe reincarnated as a new person.

 

2.Are you a religious person and if so what does your specified religion state about death?

I don't follow a certain religion myself, but I do believe in God so I can't really say anything here. But I believe the basic rule, good = heaven, bad = Home for Infinite Losers

 

3. Are you scared of death/oblivion

Honestly, I'm not scared of death but I am scared of how I'm going to die. If it's something like a quick bullet to the head then so be it, I'd be another burden lifted off the earth. But helplessly dying slowly is absolutely terrifying.

Edited February 13, 2012 by Demi

[Luurilka 325]

Here's what I think:

1. I see no evidence of an afterlife, so I one probably doesn't exist. Also, considering that I think science has confirmed that consciousnesses is caused by the brain, and death will eventually destroy the brain, one's probably not conscious when they're dead.

 

2. I'm not at all religious. The supposed evidence for religion can be easily refuted and religion is just a means to control the masses and get people to give you money (church donations).

 

3. I've been dead for trillions of years before I was born and didn't feel any discomfort, so I don't see what's so bad about death. Through evolution, I naturally will be at least somewhat scared of death.

Edited February 13, 2012 by 3p1cd3m0n

[CUINJALE 120]

1.Do you believe in an afterlife?

Nopers!

 

2.Are you a religious person and if so what does your specified religion state about death?

Nopers again, but I was raised Catholic and that's more interesting. Heaven and what not.

 

3. Are you scared of death/oblivion?

Sure, I'm scared of the death process, but after I'm dead I won't be all mad. Because I'll be dead.

[Sigu 10]

1. Reincarnation. This is not something you can explain, it's what you feel is right. I'm a deeply spiritual person, although I'm no fan of Christian church, I take a huge interest in the Eastern Religions. I often meditate and communicate with spirits(my higher self included). I also belive in the whole concept of getting to Nirvana when your spirit has gone through all the different experiences. I still think everybody should belive what they think is right and what they belive is right is so for them atleast, like M. Bulgakov said in "Master and Margaret" that everybody gets what they belive in.

2. Already answered.

3. No, reaching to Nirvana IS the ultimate goal for me, it's when my soul can finally rest. I must carry through this life, no matter what, if death is to come, it will come. Doesn't matter if I want it to come or I don't, if i'm afraid of it or not.

[Prince Lightning Da Cute 616]

1.Do you believe in an afterlife?

Yes, i do, because it doesn't seem logical to me that we're going to rot in the ground.

2.Are you a religious person and if so what does your specified religion state about death?

Kinda of, i will go to heaven if my Religion is correct

3. Are you scared of death/oblivion

I am scared of Death, very Scared but i have cheated him muitiple times so you cant blame me for avoiding him

[The Milkman 186]

1.Do you believe in an afterlife?

Yes.

 

2.Are you a religious person and if so what does your specified religion state about death?

 

Im an atheist.

 

3. Are you scared of death/oblivion?

 

Yes, nobody knows what's gonna come up when you die, maybe flashbacks, maybe your soul soaring in an unknown space, or even live again, and what's unknown for me, it creeps me out.

[83awsm 234]

1.Do you believe in an afterlife?

Somewhat. If I didn't, I’d probably drive myself mad with pondering the possibilities after death, so I just accept the existence of an afterlife.

2.Are you a religious person and if so what does your specified religion state about death?

Parents raised me as catholic, although like shankveld, I don't always stick to the traditional religious style for say. I do believe that you get to be with the loved ones in your life who have passed on previously though.

 

3. Are you scared of death/oblivion

Ehhh I don't think about it too often, I just don't mind. I figure it will come eventually no matter what, so why spend time worrying.

[Pinkie Diane Pie 217]

I worry. I worry alot according to death/oblivion

[Envy 5,998]

1.Do you believe in an afterlife?

No.

 

2.Are you a religious person and if so what does your specified religion state about death?

I'm an Atheist.

 

3. Are you scared of death/oblivion?

It's more sad than it is scary. We only have so much time on this Earth, and I've learned quite abruptly that not all of us do/will live to be old.

 

I couldn't imagine an afterlife, though. The idea is comforting, sure, but at the same time it's a bit too much. 'Living' forever and ever in an afterlife would become too much.

 

The only afterlife I would want is reincarnation as another human. But even I know that's not true. So I've got to live this one life I have got to the fullest.

 

1. I see no evidence of an afterlife, so I one probably doesn't exist. Also, considering that I think science has confirmed that consciousnesses is caused by the brain, and death will eventually destroy the brain, one's probably not conscious when they're dead.

 

Yup. Consciousness has nothing to do with anything called a 'soul'. It is chemicals interacting in the brain. Nothing more. (somebody scientific could word that better than me, I'm sure.)

 

That is depressing and everything, but hey, once you're dead it's not like it makes any different to you. xD

Edited February 13, 2012 by Envy

[SrFrog 926]

1. No, I don't believe in an afterlife as it seems as nothing more than away for people to better accept death. Nothing wrong with that really

2. religion seems to be more of a crutch in instances, fear of hell should not be a main point in many of the teachings.

3.I came to accept death as another stage in life, as we came to this world one day, one day we shall return to nothing.

Edited February 13, 2012 by SrFrog

[Akemi Homura 7,680]

I'm a Muslim, and there are 2 types of afterlife... heaven or hell. You do good deeds in life, represent the virtues well, and pray each day, you will be rewarded with heaven. If you shamelessly commit sins, hell awaits you. And honestly, I think I am too young to understand or grasp the the concept of death. I know death comes to everyone but, to say whether or not I'm scared of it would be impossible to discuss without a common frame of reference.

[Twi Rubix 726]

1.Do you believe in an afterlife?

Yup.

 

 

2.Are you a religious person and if so what does your specified religion state about death?

Nothing to say.

 

 

3. Are you scared of death/oblivion

No, but really HOW I die..... I just hope its quick...

[Anachronous 682]

1. Do you believe in an afterlife?

 

I want to believe in one, if that answers the question at all... however, it's painfully obvious that truly believing in such is deluding myself to the truth. Once you're dead, you're dead; there's no changing that. However, at the risk of sounding like I'm spouting idealistic drivel, perhaps the true afterlife is found in the hearts and minds of the people whose lives you've touched over the years. Even after you're gone, if you were a good enough person to those in what was your life, you'll live on through the tales they might tell of the person that you were or the lessons that they took for their own lives from your own behavior and actions. This, in all honesty, is what I perceive to be the afterlife; the domain that is the memories of other people is where one truly lives on posthumously.

 

And if you were a bad person? An incontinent person? Well, there's reason to believe that you will not be remembered - at least not fondly! - and this lack of recognition or remembrance of any sort is the true mark of hell, the mark of a life unfulfilled or even used in a way incongruous with morality.

 

2. Are you a religious person and if so what does your specified religion state about death?

 

I am not religious. I'm a confirmed Catholic but I don't go to Church often. I really just read the Bible every now and then to appreciate it for the influential work that it is but I digress; Catholicism seems to establish that there is indeed a heaven and a hell and that one might influence going to either by the way one lives their life. It's pretty straightforward and attempting to explain it is simply preaching to the proverbial choir.

 

3. Are you scared of death / oblivion?

 

I'm more scared of not being ready for it. I'm scared that I will die someday, unfulfilled and mediocre, and that will be the end. No romantic turn of events, no story to conclude...

 

I just fear that my death will be a fizzle rather than a flash, if you will.

 

*rare emotionally involved post is posted*

[I_wesley125 393]

No.

No.

Yes.

[Stoner Spike 185]

1.Do you believe in an afterlife?

I don't exactly believe in an afterlife, but I don't NOT believe either. The way I see it, spirits roam freely in the universe, and a spirit will eventually find a home; it "borrows" energy, which will one day, the day that the life it has taken comes to an end, be returned, and the spirit will once more roam through the universe. Spirits that were deeply connected during a life find each other in the next; for example, when you and your parents will literally die for each other, then you will perhaps be alive together in another set of bodies, like instead, you're your parent's uncle.

 

2.Are you a religious person and if so what does your specified religion state about death?

Religious isn't really the word. I answered this anyways.

 

3. Are you scared of death/oblivion?

No. Fear is something that I don't feel anymore. Can't explain. Text wall.

[Yellow Diamond 7,561]

1. Do you believe in an afterlife?

 

Yes, I do. I place my faith in what has been proclaimed by those who have come before me. If they are wrong, to paraphrase St. Paul, then my faith---and the faith of many---has been in vain.

 

2. Are you a religious person and if so what does your specified religion state about death?

 

I'm religious in the sense that I actively practice my faith, which is Roman Catholicism. I believe there is always room for improvement, however. The Catholic Church has taught since the very beginning about the concepts of Heaven, Hell, and Purgatory. There is an individual judgment and a universal (or final) judgment: the former indicates what occurs when one dies while the latter describes the final coming of Christ at the end of time. Salvation is not predetermined, nor is it wholly contingent on being baptized and/or identifying oneself with the Church. As St. Augustine states, there are wolves within and sheep without. But valid baptism brings one closer to God's grace which is paramount in the economy of salvation. All of the sacraments are instrumental.

 

Death is not the end but the process toward, as we Christians believe it, a full bodily and spiritual resurrection and eternal life in Jesus Christ.

 

3. Are you scared of death/oblivion?

 

I would be lying if I said I didn't find myself concerned or worried about death and what may follow. There always moments of doubt and distress. It is then that I try to remember the martyrs, the saints, and all those who walked before me in the example of Christ. And though it cannot erase every shadow of doubt, I do my best to recall the words of St. Paul: "Death has been swallowed up in victory" (cf. 1 Cor 15:54).

 

If death meant oblivion, I would undoubtedly be saddened; but I would do all that I could to present an example which endures beyond death.

[DashingRainbow36 263]

1.Do you believe in an afterlife?

 

No, I find there to be no need for it.

 

2.Are you a religious person and if so what does your specified religion state about death?

 

I am an atheist. When I die, I will be dead and cease to exist. The billions of years that I never existed will be my reality once I pass away.

 

3. Are you scared of death/oblivion?

 

I don't want to die. I am only 20 years old and still have much to experience. So in a way, yes I am afriad to die, but when I am 65 and have done all the things I wanted to do, I will welcome death in whatever form it comes in. I guess I'm afraid of a slow death. Like being stabbed to death, which can take a long time haha.

[Envoy-in-exile 101]

1.Do you believe in an afterlife?

Can't conclusively disprove or prove it.

 

2.Are you a religious person and if so what does your specified religion state about death?

I'm spiritual, but not religious.

 

3. Are you scared of death/oblivion

Death is yet another stage/experience, ironically, of life. I'm nervous about it, as with all major experiences that have not yet come to pass. But I have had the luck to do a lot the stuff I've wanted to do, and am doing something major out of my own choice now. I've discarded a lot of impractical wishes too, as I realized some things aren't really what I want. Apart from what I'm doing now, there's only 2 more things I want to do in life, and they aren't asking for the moon (I think). So yeah, if death comes when I'm done with those, I have few regrets.

[Kyreth 193]

1. Nope. I see no reason to and no offence to anyone but I can't see how anyone can believe in it. I'll admit I'm kinda jealous of those who do believe.

 

2. Again, nope.

 

3. The thought that someday I'm going to die doesn't scare me at all. I am scared of knowing that I'm going to die at a specific time. That probably didn't make much sense. I would be scared if I was trapped in a burning building and about to die, but I wouldn't really be scared if I had a terminal disease and I was going to die at some point over the next few years.

[Tom 890]

1. No, can't see any proof of it, and don't see any sense in one either.

2. No, again.

3. Under certain circumstances yes, others, no. It depends on when death comes.

[Queen Cassie 3,057]

1.Do you believe in an afterlife?

I do not. I wish I could. It would be nice to believe that there was something out there, after death. I've imagined what it might be like a couple of times...usually said imaginings lead to me visualizing something akin to a realm of thought, where the power of thought controlled everything around you, essentially letting you do whatever your heart desired. But I don't actually believe that exists.

 

2.Are you a religious person and if so what does your specified religion state about death?

I am an atheist, so by default I am not religious.

 

3. Are you scared of death/oblivion

I would have to say yes, I am. Granted, I'm frightened by a lot of things. I'm easily scared and intimidated, and the thought of ceasing to exist entirely bothers me on a deep level. Because I suffer from Borderline Personality Disorder and have suicidal tendencies, I am especially scared of eventually falling prey to my own suicidal urges and ending my life before I really want it to be over. I don't really want to die. I want to live a good, high quality life.

[Perfect_Harmony 58]

1. Do you believe in an aferlife?

The answer is no, no I do not. I have tried to convince myself a couple of times, but I usually put my "faith" in science rather than religion. That doesn't mean I wouldn't want an afterife, I don't think anyone here wants to die and then be done. It is rather hard for me to just accept that when I'm dead there is nothing else, but that just makes me want to live my life to the fullest before such a thing happens.

 

 

2. Are you a religious person and if so what does your specified religion state about death?

I used to be catholic, like go to church every Sunday catholic. As I grew up I was exposed to many different beliefs and facts. As I stated before, I lean more towards science than religion. Honestly, part of me wants to believe there is something after death, but the other part of me does not.

 

 

3. Are you scared of death/oblivion?

No. To simply put it, my time will come when it comes. I just hope that I do everything that I need to do before my existence on this earth is gone. My fear is not being able to say that I did everything I wanted to do, or say everything I wanted to say. I don't want to be left with a sense of leaving something incomplete.