Ishmael
JF-Expert Member
- Oct 18, 2011
- 15,039
- 6,018
I am afraid of dying. I am so afraid of dying that if I think about what it would mean, even for a second, I become fixated on the thought and have a panic attack where I reach the point of almost passing out. It only happens every once in a while, and I am a fully functioning person, but if I do think about it I cant function.
Religion, I understand, is a fix for people with a similar fear. They do not have to fear death because death for them is not the end all be all. I try and calm myself by telling myself that if I make a difference in the world my contribution will outlast me, but then I think of the nothingness and my heart starts to beat a mile a minute. It is at those times that I wish I was not a realistic person, that I had grown up with a love for a god and a belief that I would live on in eternal happiness. Deep down I wish I could believe in a god, just to make the fear go away.
Read more: Ask Richard: Atheist Haunted by the Fear of Death
1. Non theists, why are you scared of death?
2. Why are you scared of hell?
Religion, I understand, is a fix for people with a similar fear. They do not have to fear death because death for them is not the end all be all. I try and calm myself by telling myself that if I make a difference in the world my contribution will outlast me, but then I think of the nothingness and my heart starts to beat a mile a minute. It is at those times that I wish I was not a realistic person, that I had grown up with a love for a god and a belief that I would live on in eternal happiness. Deep down I wish I could believe in a god, just to make the fear go away.
Read more: Ask Richard: Atheist Haunted by the Fear of Death
1. Non theists, why are you scared of death?
2. Why are you scared of hell?