Dealing with Death as an Atheist

[robvalue]

Wallym: do you have any specific objections to my atheist/theist behaviour thread?

I'm not saying every theist is the same, I'm opening up for discussion trends I have observed. I'm sorry if that's not acceptable to you.

I agree that the war/foxhole example is on the extreme end, but it brings up interesting points. We have a set of beliefs that we use in everyday situations. But it seems that in certain situations those beliefs get challenged, often irrationally. For example, things are a bit dark and I suddenly get the feeling there is a maniac with a knife hiding around every corner. It's not rational, it's paranoid. So it seems to me that certain things can trigger a kind of primal fight/flight paranoid state, where danger is overstated and reactions are altered accordingly.

My new question is, what beliefs survive this transition? For example, no one (as far as I know) ever freaks out and worries that they might float away due to gravity not working. Or that using their muscles to run in one direction could cause them to run in the other direction. So there are clearly some fundamental beliefs that survive into this paranoid state. I suppose it's because these are things that appear to never be wrong, so we don't question them. It's to do with uncertainty, there could be someone with a knife round the corner. It's not a ridiculous proposition. I experience this irrational transition as much as anyone else, so I'm interested in the implications. Do any religious beliefs survive this transition, and what other normal rational beliefs can go out the window for theist and atheist alike?