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Are you looking forward to death?

N

NoneReligious

Member
First of all, i'm not religious. I've never been religious and i believe when you die, you die, and that's it. You seize to exist. You've been none existing billions of years before you got born.

Anyways! i'm not trying to force my views on to anyone. People can believe what they want.

My question is though. If you believe you'll be in heaven with god, do you actually look forward to the day you die? With those beliefs, death must be the most exciting part of your life right? or?
 
W

wordmagnifiedabovenames

Active Member
Personally I believe that we are eternal beings having an earthly experience. Eternity is the goal, life on earth is a step along the way. I look forward to eternity more than death. (Whether my death or the 2nd coming happens first remains to be seen, but either way, I view both my death and/or the 2nd coming as steps along the way to living in eternity.)

However, I believe that how I spend my life on earth will determine how I spend eternity. As such there are some things on earth that I need to do (which do excite me, but not as much as the prospect of spending eternity with God,) which is why I don't just commit suicide to hurry the process along. (This is also why I don't believe in holding people under when they get baptised, in addition to being saved to spend eternity with God, I believe that God also has some stuff He wants them to do on earth before they get there.)

A man called John Bevere has written a book called "Driven by Eternity" that puts forth some interesting views on the subject.
 
Riverwolf

Riverwolf

Amateur Rambler / Proud Ergi
Premium Member
I'm not looking forward to death, but I am trying to conquer my fear of it (though not to the point of trying to avoid it). I don't believe this identity will survive death, as I don't believe the soul is an identity.
 
N

NoneReligious

Member
wordmagnifiedabovenames said:
Personally I believe that we are eternal beings having an earthly experience. Eternity is the goal, life on earth is a step along the way. I look forward to eternity more than death. (Whether my death or the 2nd coming happens first remains to be seen, but either way, I view both my death and/or the 2nd coming as steps along the way to living in eternity.)

However, I believe that how I spend my life on earth will determine how I spend eternity. As such there are some things on earth that I need to do (which do excite me, but not as much as the prospect of spending eternity with God,) which is why I don't just commit suicide to hurry the process along. (This is also why I don't believe in holding people under when they get baptised, in addition to being saved to spend eternity with God, I believe that God also has some stuff He wants them to do on earth before they get there.)

A man called John Bevere has written a book called "Driven by Eternity" that puts forth some interesting views on the subject.
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But death will be the start of an eternity with god right? I know you can't commit suicide. The bible is against that as well

Let's say you were actually captured by some bad people and they told you they would kill you. Would that be an exciting and happy scenario? Or would you still fear them killing you?
 
W

wordmagnifiedabovenames

Active Member
NoneReligious said:
But death will be the start of an eternity with god right?
Click to expand...
For most people it seems it could be. However, for Enoch and Elijah, their eternity with God did not involve their own deaths. There is also the concept of an "Enoch generation" and the rapture(s) to consider, so death being the start of eternity with God is not always 100% true. Edit: for people not going to Heaven, death would be the start of eternity without God.

NoneReligious said:
Let's say you were actually captured by some bad people and they told you they would kill you. Would that be an exciting and happy scenario? Or would you still fear them killing you?
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I'll start by saying that my response is hypothetical, as I've not been in that situation before, but I'd imagine it would be quite frightening. I would (most probably, hypothetically,) fear the pain that would most likely be accociated with dying, be upset if I'd argued with a friend and not put it right and be annoyed if I was in the middle of something that I thought was important and didn't get to finish etc, but I would not fear what comes afterward.
 
N

NoneReligious

Member
wordmagnifiedabovenames said:
For most people it seems it could be. However, for Enoch and Elijah, their eternity with God did not involve their own deaths. There is also the concept of an "Enoch generation" and the rapture(s) to consider, so death being the start of eternity with God is not always 100% true. Edit: for people not going to Heaven, death would be the start of eternity without God.


I'll start by saying that my response is hypothetical, as I've not been in that situation before, but I'd imagine it would be quite frightening. I would (most probably, hypothetically,) fear the pain that would most likely be accociated with dying, be upset if I'd argued with a friend and not put it right and be annoyed if I was in the middle of something that I thought was important and didn't get to finish etc, but I would not fear what comes afterward.
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WHAT? You haven't been kidnapped? In my mind you haven't truely lived till you've gone through an good ol' kidnapping ;)
 
Shadow Wolf

Shadow Wolf

Certified People sTabber & Business Owner
I hope for a pleasant afterlife, but I'm not getting my hopes up.
However death can wait.
 
F

Frank Merton

Active Member
Riverwolf said:
I'm not looking forward to death, but I am trying to conquer my fear of it (though not to the point of trying to avoid it). I don't believe this identity will survive death, as I don't believe the soul is an identity.
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Yea-- exactly. Unpleasant fact -- death. Why do you say you are not to the point of trying to avoid it? I do all that is reasonable to at least put it off.
 
N

NoneReligious

Member
Frank Merton said:
Yea-- exactly. Unpleasant fact -- death. Why do you say you are not to the point of trying to avoid it? I do all that is reasonable to at least put it off.
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It's in our instincts to avoid death. If he was on a safari and a wild animal, like a lion or a tiger ran towards him, i'm sure he'd jump in his jeep lol ;). I'm sure pretty much everybody would do that, even if you were suicidal
 
Riverwolf

Riverwolf

Amateur Rambler / Proud Ergi
Premium Member
Frank Merton said:
Yea-- exactly. Unpleasant fact -- death.
Click to expand...

Unpleasant? From death comes life.

Why do you say you are not to the point of trying to avoid it? I do all that is reasonable to at least put it off.
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When I say get rid of my fear of death, I mean get rid of the fear of death from something that's 100% beyond my control, like the apocalypse or something. If I see a lion charging at me, I'll do exactly what my fear tells me to do. ^_^ Basically, I mean get rid of irrational fear.

The thing is, death is only scary because it's the ultimate unknown, and I think we all know that the scariest thing for most people is the unknown.

I do believe in a soul-concept, but as a pantheistic Hindu, I believe there's One Soul that's Brahman.
 
Riverwolf

Riverwolf

Amateur Rambler / Proud Ergi
Premium Member
NoneReligious said:
It's in our instincts to avoid death. If he was on a safari and a wild animal, like a lion or a tiger ran towards him, i'm sure he'd jump in his jeep lol ;). I'm sure pretty much everybody would do that, even if you were suicidal
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You know, I didn't even see this post when I made mine. ^_^ Of course I'd jump out of the jeep.
 
ellenjanuary

ellenjanuary

Well-Known Member
Ain't no death - it's conservation law...

But, no. Here, I get my Gwynnies; there I get perfect bliss. Knowing that, I'm here for my Gwynnies... screw you. :)

:eek: Sorry, that was kinda rude; lemme summate: you are here for love; or you're not here.
 
YmirGF

YmirGF

Bodhisattva in Recovery
NoneReligious said:
First of all, i'm not religious. I've never been religious and i believe when you die, you die, and that's it. You seize to exist. You've been none existing billions of years before you got born.

Anyways! i'm not trying to force my views on to anyone. People can believe what they want.

My question is though. If you believe you'll be in heaven with god, do you actually look forward to the day you die? With those beliefs, death must be the most exciting part of your life right? or?
Click to expand...
I don't believe in heaven and I don't believe in what others describe as god. I have existed in a more forms than I care to remember and so death no longer has a sting that it once did. I certainly do not look forward to the demise of this incarnation as it will always remain one of my favorites. The essence of what I am now will add richness to my larger identity and will colour it in ways that are difficult to describe. Though I live each day, as if it were my last, on this small water world, doing so helps to make every moment all the sweeter.

I don't expect you to understand an odd one like me, but one day you will recognize that you are a tiny bit more than you presently dare to let yourself believe. It's all good. There is no hurry. It's not like we are in a race. :D
 
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N

NoneReligious

Member
YmirGF said:
I don't believe in heaven and I don't believe in what others describe as god. I have existed in a more forms than I care to remember and so death no longer has a sting that it once did. I certainly do no look forward to the demise of this incarnation as it will always remain one of my favorites. The essence of what I am now will add richness to my larger identity and will colour it in ways that are difficult to describe. Though I live each day, as if it were my last, on this small water world, doing so helps to make every moment all the sweeter.

I don't expect you to understand an odd one like me, but one day you will recognize that you are a tiny bit more than you presently dare to let yourself believe. It's all good. There is no hurry. It's not like we are in a race. :D
Click to expand...

Yeah I don't understand what you mean. Do you mean you've had previous lives and then have been reincarnated each time or? Could you simplify it so it's easier to understand?
 
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