Religion=Fear Of Dying- Why Atheism Terrifies People

[stromboli]

http://www.vice.com/read/atheism-terrifies-people-because-it-makes-us-think-about-death-511

When my friend and fellow nonbeliever Greta Christina wrote her recent book Coming Out Atheist: How to Do It, How to Help Each Other, and Why, she noticed a common theme among the more than 400 stories she collected: The subject of death came up a lot.

"When atheists come out (to Christians, anyway), the first reaction is often about hell," Christina told me. "Sometimes it's manipulative or hostile, an attempt to scare atheists back into belief. More often, though, it's genuine concern or fearâ€"they sincerely believe atheists will burn in hell, and they don't want that to happen to the people they love."

A new study by Corey Cook, titled "What if They're Right About the Afterlife? Evidence of the Role of Existential Threat on Anti-Atheist Prejudice," sheds some light on the phenomenon Christina noticed. Cook, a social psychologist at the University of Washington, told me that while the well-documented mistrust of atheists shows up in the polls over the years, there's not much literature on why atheists are perceived the way they are by religious believers in America.

When participants thought about atheism, it actually activated concern about death to the same extent as actually thinking about death.

As always, read the article. Many people on the forum, myself included, have noted this in the past. We have had threads on death and how we feel about it. It is the single biggest reason we have religion in the first place. The cornerstones of religion:

fear (of death)
guilt
condemnation
judgment

and you have religion.

Every evangelical preacher ever threatened his congregation and world at large with just that, and in every case I can think of targeted some aspect of modern society- currently gay rights- as the thing that will drag us all to hell.

Used to be the rights of minorities.
Used to be rock and roll.
Used to be miniskirts.

And every time a tornado touches down in the bible belt the blame falls on whichever is the current culprit.

Sad.

[Solitary]

There is a difference between fear of dying which is part of life, but fear of death itself is an imaginary fear, like fearing hell. I have faced death many times in my life, and it was the fear of dying and the finality of it, not death itself that I was fearful of, because my body has an inborn reaction to any threat to it with the fight or flight response that we feel to different degrees of anxiety, fear, terror, and dread of the unknown, and when the dread of the unknown is an imaginary hell of eternal punishment installed in children it can be used to control them. Religion is all about the fear of losing control of themselves, others, and the natural world we live in by appeasing an all powerful God to avoid pain, suffering (unless you are taught it brings you closer to God), death and hell.

Death is a fear of nothing but our own imagination and knowledge of painful memories. What ever we imagine our bodies react to it as if it is real, good thoughts=good feelings, bad thoughts=bad feelings, and conflicting thoughts=the emotion of horror. They are all very uncomfortable, but when they are repressed in order to function for survival in a deadly situation they express themselves as a full blown panic attack that is worse then all of them put together. However, no matter how uncomfortable they are, they do not kill you, you just wish they would. Fear is what keeps us alive from millions of years of evolution. "Drink and be Merry for tomorrow we die!"  Or you can be Mary if you want.    Solitary

[stromboli]

Over the years I have seen changes in the messages delivered from the pulpit Back when religion didn't feel threatened and was everywhere and growing, it was about the good news of Jesus. In the 90's it was Promise Keepers and sending your kids to Bible Camp. Now it is all about hatin' the gays, fear of death, repent or die etc. The message changes according to current circumstances.

In the end it is all about mind control.

[Givemeareason]

http://www.vice.com/read/atheism-terrifies-people-because-it-makes-us-think-about-death-511

As always, read the article. Many people on the forum, myself included, have noted this in the past. We have had threads on death and how we feel about it. It is the single biggest reason we have religion in the first place. The cornerstones of religion:

fear (of death)
guilt
condemnation
judgment

and you have religion.

Every evangelical preacher ever threatened his congregation and world at large with just that, and in every case I can think of targeted some aspect of modern society- currently gay rights- as the thing that will drag us all to hell.

Used to be the rights of minorities.
Used to be rock and roll.
Used to be miniskirts.

And every time a tornado touches down in the bible belt the blame falls on whichever is the current culprit.

Sad.

I don't really agree that those are the cornerstones of religion and let's narrow it down to just Christianity.   The cornerstone of Christianity is hope.  I encounter many Christians and when I engage them in religious discussion I do not tell them I am athiest.  I am not interested in a debate over whether their god exists.  I am interested in how they experience life.  Some are living a bliss full life entirely within their beliefs.  So why would we want to interrupt that for them just because they are not experiencing reality in the same way we are.  Other than where they interject themselves into politics and such they are not harming us.  So why not embrace them in friendship such that we can all enjoy and experience life together?

[Givemeareason]

http://www.vice.com/read/atheism-terrifies-people-because-it-makes-us-think-about-death-511

As always, read the article. Many people on the forum, myself included, have noted this in the past. We have had threads on death and how we feel about it. It is the single biggest reason we have religion in the first place. The cornerstones of religion:

fear (of death)
guilt
condemnation
judgment

and you have religion.

Every evangelical preacher ever threatened his congregation and world at large with just that, and in every case I can think of targeted some aspect of modern society- currently gay rights- as the thing that will drag us all to hell.

Used to be the rights of minorities.
Used to be rock and roll.
Used to be miniskirts.

And every time a tornado touches down in the bible belt the blame falls on whichever is the current culprit.

Sad.

Perhaps we are the ones most afraid of death.

[Solitary]

I don't really agree that those are the cornerstones of religion and let's narrow it down to just Christianity.   The cornerstone of Christianity is hope.  I encounter many Christians and when I engage them in religious discussion I do not tell them I am athiest.  I am not interested in a debate over whether their god exists.  I am interested in how they experience life.  Some are living a bliss full life entirely within their beliefs.  So why would we want to interrupt that for them just because they are not experiencing reality in the same way we are.  Other than where they interject themselves into politics and such they are not harming us.  So why not embrace them in friendship such that we can all enjoy and experience life together?

That is the first post you have made that makes any sense! But you seem to forget that the very fact that they are controlled and slaves to religious authority that gets involves in politics and in our lives that is a major problem that does hurt minorities being bigots they are supported by religious dogma. Christian religion does far more harm for everyone than the good it does. I don't care how nice a Christian is to me and others, if they are bigoted haters from Scripture. I am not afraid of death at all dumb ass! Been there, done that mutable times, and fact have Deep vein thrombosis three times that went to my lungs twice that is 20% fatal, went to my heart and brain causing an ischemic attack, and now I have multiple lesions on my brain that could be MS. You are really pushing a religious belief for a so-called atheist. Most of the people have caught on to your disingenuous bull shit. Carry on! Solitary

[Givemeareason]

That is the first post you have made that makes any sense! But you seem to forget that the very fact that they are controlled and slaves to religious authority that gets involves in politics and in our lives that is a major problem that does hurt minorities being bigots they are supported by religious dogma. Christian religion does far more harm for everyone than the good it does. I don't care how nice a Christian is to me and others, if they are bigoted haters from Scripture. I am not afraid of death at all dumb ass! Been there, done that mutable times, and fact have Deep vein thrombosis three times that went to my lungs twice that is 20% fatal, went to my heart and brain causing an ischemic attack, and now I have multiple lesions on my brain that could be MS. You are really pushing a religious belief for a so-called atheist. Most of the people have caught on to your disingenuous bull shit. Carry on! Solitary

It has became clear to me that my profile was so terribly inadequate that nobody could understand where I have I have coming from.  And so I have changed it.  To clarify further, I am so athiest and god so disproven in my mind that I consider it beneath my dignity to even engage in an argument that there is no god.  But that does not mean I have to hate it.  My quest is one of understanding.  To me it seems that the more I can understand the more I understand myself.  And if I could ever understand myself perhaps I could understand EVERYTHING.  I think that's a bit inflated but I hope you can see my point.  Therefore from a point of understanding religion I cannot hate it.

[Solitary]

So you don't hate Christian-Judeo-Islamic religion, then you never question authority and have no faith in yourself, and are willing to accept anything that agrees with you. So?  Solitary

[Givemeareason]

So you don't hate Christian-Judeo-Islamic religion, then you never question authority and have no faith in yourself, and are willing to accept anything that agrees with you. So?  Solitary

I do not understand what you are saying.  I question ALL authority.  I follow the law but I don't always agree with it.  I have a moral structure within myself that I must follow and which I attempted to offer for examination such that I might obtain feedback or to determine any error or improvement that was needed.  I accept nothing if it is new to me.  It is then a requirement that I understand it if it is interesting to me.  But there aren't enough things that are new to me.  Which is why I am here.  With that in mind I think you can now better understand me.  But my criteria by which I examine can be pretty selective as to what I want to incorporate into myself.

[Givemeareason]

So you don't hate Christian-Judeo-Islamic religion, then you never question authority and have no faith in yourself, and are willing to accept anything that agrees with you. So?  Solitary

As for understanding you, I have seen that you can become very cruel.  I hope that you do not employ that much.

[Unbeliever]

I don't fear death at all since I found I needn't worry about eternal torture in hellfire. I still don't like the fact that I'll never know the ends of so many of the current stories.

[1liesalot]

http://www.vice.com/read/atheism-terrifies-people-because-it-makes-us-think-about-death-511

As always, read the article. Many people on the forum, myself included, have noted this in the past. We have had threads on death and how we feel about it. It is the single biggest reason we have religion in the first place. The cornerstones of religion:

fear (of death)
guilt
condemnation
judgment

and you have religion.

Every evangelical preacher ever threatened his congregation and world at large with just that, and in every case I can think of targeted some aspect of modern society- currently gay rights- as the thing that will drag us all to hell.

Used to be the rights of minorities.
Used to be rock and roll.
Used to be miniskirts.

And every time a tornado touches down in the bible belt the blame falls on whichever is the current culprit.

Which is why they are trying to convince themselves that the Rapture will save them having to die at all. And as for scaring us back by going on about hell, what they fail to understand is that the concept of eternal hellfire just for failing to believe in a blood-thirsty, narcissistic Sky God is precisely the sort of  pure evil bullshit that made atheists of us in the first place.

[Unbeliever]

I wonder if Christians in general have larger amygdalae, or maybe they just work better?

[1liesalot]

Maybe there's a parasite living in the brains of the God Bothering Brigade.

[Johan]

I don't fear death. I fear heaven.