Do you fear death?

[Daisy]

Look around you. Does everyone deserve that everlasting life? I'm not one to judge, but if we are to be judged, we are sorely lacking as a people. Not just us, in this country, but world wide. We suck. We don't even try hard. Bring on the meteor. Maybe we can do better next time.

Yes, I do believe there are ones deserving...of course they're the quiet ones you don't hear about, who live their lives patiently waiting on God...

 

[trblmkr]

Yes, I do believe there are ones deserving...of course they're the quiet ones you don't hear about, who live their lives patiently waiting on God...

Some of them you do hear about. MLK (with his failings), Jimmy Carter (not a great president, but a great human being), but you are right. Most, you never hear about, serving in food pantries, or in shelters, working for free for the betterment of others.

 

[craig]

Death, the eternal sleep. How could you fear that?

I'd much prefer it be a good 20-ish year off. Mainly for my family's sake.
Apparently they still prefer to keep me around for a while longer.

“To die, to sleep – to sleep, perchance to dream – ay, there's the rub, for in this sleep of death what dreams may come…”

 

[craig]

I'm not afraid of death as it's going to happen whether I want it to or not.
I'd rather not die in the next year though as there's a new series of Star Trek and The Expanse along with a new Bond and Dune film I'm desperate to see.
There's also the PS5 and Series X in the next few months so I'd be really angry if I died before all of that.

I may even resort to haunting my local MP even though I'm an atheist who'd be mightily surprised at being a ghost.

I think many people want to avoid death because they still enjoy life and its entertainments. I have been a fan of Sci-Fi for over fifty years. There are many stories about what is death. Recently the tv series "Upload", also "The Undying Mercenaries" and "Bobiverse" book series. Or the 50 year old classic "UBIK" by P. K. Dick.

 

[JacksinPA]

I think many people want to avoid death because they still enjoy life and its entertainments. I have been a fan of Sci-Fi for over fifty years. There are many stories about what is death. Recently the tv series "Upload", also "The Undying Mercenaries" and "Bobiverse" book series. Or the 50 year old classic "UBIK" by P. K. Dick.

I have UBIK which I've never read. Have to drag it out.

I'm up for a night or two in the hospital in the next 4-6 weeks so I'll bring it along.

 

[rickc]

Well I have lived a very full life. My age is starting to effect my ability to do the things I enjoy. I look at those 20 years older than me and know I don't want to be there. I am ready! Next spring, summer and fall I will spend in the rockies camping, hiking and fishing. Don't know how much longer i will be able to.. When I find that I can't do that any more I am out of here.

 

[craig]

Well I have lived a very full life. My age is starting to effect my ability to do the things I enjoy. I look at those 20 years older than me and know I don't want to be there. I am ready! Next spring, summer and fall I will spend in the rockies camping, hiking and fishing. Don't know how much longer i will be able to.. When I find that I can't do that any more I am out of here.

The world of the mind is the only playground for the old.

 

[Daisy]

The world of the mind is the only playground for the old.

Lonesome Friends of Science
John Prine
The lonesome friends of science say
"The world will end most any day"
Well, if it does, then that's okay
'Cause I don't live here anyway
I live down deep inside my head
Well, long ago I made my bed
I get my mail in Tennessee
My wife, my dog, my kids, and me
Poor ol' planet Pluto now
He never stood a chance no how
When he got uninvited to
The interplanetary dance
Once a mighty planet there
Now just an ordinary star
Hangin' out in Hollywood
In some ol' funky sushi bar
The lonesome friends of science say
"The world will end most any day"
Well, if it does, then that's okay
'Cause I don't live here anyway
I live down deep inside my head
Well, long ago I made my bed
I get my mail in Tennessee
My wife, my dog and my family
The Vulcan lives in Birmingham
Sometimes he just don't give a damn
His head is full of bumblebees
His pride hangs down below his knees
Venus left him long ago
For a guy named Mars from Idaho
The Vulcan sent a wedding gift
Three-legged stool and a wheelchair lift
The lonesome friends of science say
"This world will end most any day"
Well, if it does, then that's okay
'Cause I don't live here anyway
I live down deep inside my head
Well, long ago I made my bed
I get my mail in Tennessee
My wife, my dog and my family
Those bastards in their white lab coats
Who experiment with mountain goats
Should leave the universe alone
It's not their business, not their home
I go to sleep and it never rains
My dog predicts hurricanes
She can smell a storm a mile away
That's all the news we have today
The lonesome friends of science say
"The world will end most any day"
Well, if it does, then that's okay
'Cause I don't live here anyway
I live down deep inside my head
Well, long ago I made my bed
I get my mail in Tennessee
My wife, my dog and my family

 

[tosca1]

This isn't given as an option above:

I fear the process of dying (I suppose because we don't know what happens as we die, and imaginations can play havoc on us).......
....but I don't fear death itself....... because, death doesn't exist to followers of Christ.

Leaving our physical shell - it's just like stepping over. It's while we're in the act of stepping over, that's what I'm thinking about. I pray that God come and hold my hand as I step over.

 

[tosca1]

You are projecting. I used to be afraid but the older I get the less I am. Might be a nature's way overall, but clearly it's also very personal and differs a lot for different people.

I agree - hence we see some people who opt to be euthanized.

 

[Deuce]

Nonexistence is an unsettling thought at best, and existentially terrifying at worst. Is it any wonder we started telling children it was all going to be ok?

 

[dex4974]

Nonexistence is an unsettling thought at best, and existentially terrifying at worst. Is it any wonder we started telling children it was all going to be ok?

It used to bother me. Not so much these days. I think religion and a belief in an order to these things gives people a sense of security and even control over their universe. It's comforting.

 

[grip]

If Jesus was scared to die, then I doubt anyone else isn't. Survival is hardwired into all living things, though I'm more frightened of the suffering beforehand.

 

[devildavid]

If Jesus was scared to die, then I doubt anyone else isn't. Survival is hardwired into all living things, though I'm more frightened of the suffering beforehand.

That is exactly was jesus was afraid of in the story; the suffering he knew he would face beforehand.

 

[grip]

That is exactly was jesus was afraid of in the story; the suffering he knew he would face beforehand.

Since death was an unknown even to Jesus, I suspect he feared it somewhat also.