Faith in God and the fear of death

by Nickolas 22 Replies latest watchtower beliefs

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  Nickolas

  In his book Die Zukunft einer Illusion (The Future of an Illusion), Sigmund Freud described belief in God as a collective neurosis. He wrote that the religious impulse is essentially ineradicable until or unless the human species can conquer its fear of death and its tendency toward wish-thinking.

  Freud was a smart guy but he postulated a great deal on some things, fear of death in particular. He was a committed atheist but did see the benefit of belief in God for the Jewish people, of which he was a member.

  But did he get it right? Do people have faith essentially because they don't want to die? (in WT parlance, "second death"?)

  I'm not particularly looking forward to the process of dying. I watched both my parents die and it wasn't pretty. But I am not the least bit afraid of death itself, even if I do believe there is nothing beyond it - maybe especially since I believe there is nothing beyond.

  If you respond to this post, please bracket it with a statement of your position on the existence of God and whether or not you fear death - be as honest as you like. But you might be warned that stating you don't fear death because you believe you're never going to die might be construed as a kind of oxymoron.
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  tec

  (believer)

  Don't fear death, per say - even if there is nothing afterward for me. Do fear the pain of actually dying, and also leaving my children without their mother.

  Tammy
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  cult classic

  I'm concerned about the process of dying but do not fear the death state at all. I don't have faith in the god of the bible. And, of course, I have no idea what (if anything) happens at death. I just figure it'll work itself out with me the way it's worked out for the billions before me.

  edited: I do believe that fear of the hereafter and the herenow is a huge factor in people professing or searching for a belief system to follow.
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  bohm

  Its a very strong motive i think. But i believe that it is not required - for example, many totalitarian states (stalins soviet union, north korea, etc.) seem allmost identical to religions, but without the afterlife.

  I think death is quite scary, but i am more afraid of loosing loved ones than dying myself. After all, once your gone why give a damn?. (atheist).
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  Mad Sweeney

  I don't fear death but I DO fear dying before I'm ready. If we could just go on our own terms things would be a lot more peaceful within our psyches.
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  agonus

  IMHO, there are really only 2 valid reasons to fear death: 1) The sorrow it would cause your loved ones and 2) The remote possibility that whatever exists after death might be worse than the present.

  Other than that, what is death but a natural part of the life cycle?

  I've lost quite a bit of the fear of death as of late, due primarily to my growing conviction that a higher power/intelligence DOES in fact exist. For me it's more intuition than evidence, the "cosmic feeling" Einstein spoke of.
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  ele_lux

  I've never been consciously afraid to die, then again i've thought if suicide plenty and never had the guts... At this point, I'm pretty sure god is a fantasy, and since i'm only 22 and childless i guess it makes sense for me to be happy to live a life in a world where god does not exist. But i AM afraid that as i grow older and especially grow into old age, i might be so afraid to die that i might start believing in Jehovah again. All the more so if after leaving the organization I finally manage to have a decent or even enjoyable life! So contradictory....
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  cyberjesus

  i think that the belief in a god involves fear of death. I was afraid of dying because that was indoctrinated in me since childhood. loosing my faith also took away the fear of death, yay!

  so I m ready to die. the only concern is the one who i leave behind
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  leavingwt

  [I am without theism.]

  I can see that religion is quite useful, in particular, for these two issues:

  (1) Unwillingness/fear of dying

  (2) Coping with grief/loss
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  PSacramento

  I don't really think much about death.

  It is a part of life, I worry about my family if I was to die, not in a monetary sense, I have excellent life insurance, but in the sense of being without me to take care of them.

  I know I will miss my parents when they die, but they live on in my memories and in their children :)

  As for the afterlife, it will be what it will be.