(January 29, 2016 at 6:59 pm)Catholic_Lady Wrote: I think fear of death is pretty instinctive. We may *know* we will be going on to the next life, but it still takes a tremendous amount of faith in order to not be afraid of something we are instinctively meant to be afraid of.
With that being said, there have been plenty of Saints who were not afraid of death and were martyrs.
I agree. Instinctive is the key word. We all want to avoid pain, and with death there will be pain no matter what. No one really knows exactly what will happen, no matter what anyone says or thinks. Some think nothing will happen and it will just be the end of thinking and consciousness. We are all humans, even Christians, Jews, Muslims, Atheists all have an idea or faith in what they think will happen, but who really knows, that's what makes it scary. The closer you are to death, the more real it becomes. Why would an atheist who believes nothing will happen be afraid to die? Even they would fear the unknown, or not being able to be in this existence.
How many people here have been close to being killed for example? I have. I worked at a fast food restaurant, and after closing one night, two guys broke in to rob the place, with one holding a gun to my head threatening to kill me repeatedly, while the other broke into the safe. I knew of near death experiences, but at that moment it all became real where I really thought this could be it, I actually might die, and I wasn't prepared for it.
