On Death

Let me start off by disclaiming this is not a morbid post. I've just been thinking a lot about death and a possible afterlife lately, and wanted to share some thoughts. I'm definitely an atheist -- intellectually, it's simply too difficult for me to reconcile any sort of set religious dogma in my mind. But that begs the question of what happens to you when you die. Unfortunately, most of my prognostications are still grounded in the same religious ideas we've been beaten to death with for 2,000 years. I.E. if there is no heaven, then what? Does your body return to the earth and get recycled, in keeping with the laws of energy conservation? It seems more likely than a set "heaven", but this is one of the main tenets of Buddhism. My gut reaction is that simply nothing happens; there is no hereafter. Perhaps I lack the proper imagination to come up with a better answer.

Not having the answer is perhaps the main challenge of atheism. Believers choose to find fault in this, while non-believers embrace ambiguity as they rebel against a set need for understanding. No matter which school of thought you adhere to, the most overlooked piece of information, in my mind, is how people feel about death itself. Everyone seems to want to jump ahead, leaving the traumatic event of their own death to family and friends. But how do you feel about your own imminent demise? Surely, most are not indifferent towards such a calamitous event.

The obvious answer is that people don't want to die. This is clear, but it simplifies and evades my point. Here is an abstract thought almost no one bothers to consider. Beyond worrying about a time line for one's own life, again, how does it make you feel? Personally, I worry about more trivial matters as pertained to my demise. For instance, what if I die while following a favorite sports team during a promising season? Perhaps there's a film I've been long awaiting release in theaters. How awful would it be to expire before the end of the season of my favorite television show? These are the things I think about. Personal relationships don't really enter into the equation, at least at this point in my life. Does that make me cold or abnormal? I guess it's open to deliberation. I'm just saying we might as well have the balls to tackle the discussion head-on.