left biblioblography: “I DON’T WANT TO DIE!”

Friday, February 17, 2006

“I DON’T WANT TO DIE!”


Relax, friends and neighbors. Those words are not mine.

I was reading some semi-coherent garbage on an atheist blog at the Uncredible Hallq (not Chris, BTW, someone posting) , on his entry for the GOD OR NOT here, where this theist started this stream-of-consciousness crapola (standard stuff: they think they’ve hit some sort of ‘epiphany’, and of course the little dears feel obliged to share. Ain’t that nice?). So I’m reading this, and this fellow comes forth with:

“Yet we are part creature. Overwhelming evidence shows us that we all will die and not come back to life. The question is, does our consciousness die with our bodies? Here is where faith is key. You say yes and I say no. Your opinion is based on empirical evidence, and so is mine.”

Which in and of itself is a contradictory statement.

Somehow, this all put me in mind of an incident, some 11- 12-odd years ago.

We were all at a family function, at my brother-law’s stepfather’s house. My older sister, niece and I were sitting on a couch, watching a Clint Eastwood spaghetti western (and I believe it was The Good, The Bad, & The Ugly, I could be off), when this scene is shown:

Clint is riding off, while leaving the Mexican/Hispanic/guy of Spanish descent standing on a thinly railed fence, hands tied behind his back, noose around his neck, struggling to keep his balance while spitting vitriol at Clint’s fading back.

My poor niece, who was of tender years (and yes, it was stupid to be watching that particular movie with a child of her age) began to freak out. My older sister (who’s lacking in the empathy department BIG TIME), who had her arm around our niece, makes that face, you know the one, I’m out of my depth here, oh shit kinda face, pulls away, thoroughly nonplussed.

Time for fun uncle to take the helm on this one. So I hugged her, consoled her with what little I knew, etc, etc, et al. I’m pretty positive I didn’t use the ‘God’ or “Jesus’ crap (come to think of it, even pre-atheist, it wasn’t my M.O, not at all).

But her exact words were: “I don’t want to die!”

Poor little thing. Of course not. Who does?

Which, in my own haphazard way, leads right back to the whole religion topic.

They all want to be immortal.

We are all of us as unique as a snowflake, each of us. Panoplies of all shapes, sizes, and personalities. Of course it’s a hard bullet to bite. That we blink out of existence when the candle gutters and goes out.

One facet of religion is that it’s more or less the survival instinct gone haywire. It’s an intaglio on our nervous systems, a triggering of the fight-or-flight instinct, the adrenaline squirt of fear.

I recall as I was considering becoming an xtian, re-reading Revelation(s), and seriously weeping from the emotional impact and the implications of it. Boy, was I frightened! Those who know me know that I don’t scare easily.

This aspect is proof that evolution shaped this world. One proof, of many.

Fear. Survival. These things shaped us.

And we shaped religion.

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7 comments:

Anonymous said...

My beliefs on death are so simple.
We are all made of energy and energy doesnt die in changes forms and moves on. The natural world is constantly recycling itself. When we die our energy focuses on breaking down the dead material and replenishing the earth from which we came from. New life is formed with our energy, like grass plants, trees and so on. How would we know our energy became plant life? We wont. If our energy moves on to become plant life, our energy would only know how to think like a plant not a human. The human brain really makes us think that we are way more important in the world then we really are.

I also believe that because we have denied the earth of our selves once we die by being buried in toms and coffins that we are killing the natural world and speeding it up with our careless polutions.

I think a lot of atheists have forgotten the natural recycling of the natural world and can no longer see themselves as a natural energy that has been recycled.

HairlessMonkeyDK said...

The thing is... We humans ARE immortal... but our Personalities AREN'T.
And, no, I'm not refering to mystical mumbo-jumbo hippo-droppings like re-incarnation.
I'm talking about simple, physical reproduction.
The sperm and the egg.
THAT is what continues, THAT is what evolves.
Our transient personalities with our petty selfabsorbtions are the stuff that withers.
It's the gene that endures.
We are merely the conduits.

It ain't romantic, or even pretty,
but it IS what goes on.
My take?
Grab as much fun as can be had in the meantime without impeding the same venue for others, and spread those genes as far as you can
as long as they're healthy and welcome.

Krystalline Apostate said...

SNTC:
I also believe that because we have denied the earth of our selves once we die by being buried in toms and coffins that we are killing the natural world and speeding it up with our careless polutions.
Wow, nicely said.
The Parsees in India bury their dead on the shelves of canyons, so that their remains can be returned to the earth.

Krystalline Apostate said...

HMDK:
THAT is what continues, THAT is what evolves.
Aye, that I agree w/, 100%.
We'd best go forth & multiply soon, ey? ;)

HairlessMonkeyDK said...

"RA said...
HMDK:
THAT is what continues, THAT is what evolves.
Aye, that I agree w/, 100%.
We'd best go forth & multiply soon, ey? ;) ".

We?

Me... just maybe.

You? NO!
You balding verbose veggie!
DO NOT FROM YOUR WELL-TRAINED LOINS SQUIRT FORTH YOUR LUMINOUS LIQUIDS!
Please... continue to give us words and wisdom instead.

The horror! The horror!

*LMAO*

Krystalline Apostate said...

HMDK:
You balding verbose veggie!
Hey, balding skips a generation. & there's no proof vegetarianism is inherited.
Please... continue to give us words and wisdom instead.
How's that song go. "There'll be child born, to carry on, to carry on.."
I dunno if that has religious connotations or not.
Besides, I'm that rare animal - the human straight male who can multitask (hehehehe).
But thank you for your semi-kind words.

Krystalline Apostate said...

freethoughtmom:
Yes, that was amusing.
I actually dropped off at JJ's blog, & left a little message. I was polite about it, though.