I think death is beautiful.

[Fruity]

It's easy to create an image of death when you haven't seen it coming. Recently I experienced the feeling of death around the corner when I got a call from my doc asking me to go to the clinic to talk about the tumors that had been found in different parts of my body. I went through hell. As I waited for certain results to come back, the ONLY thing I could think about was "what about my kids". I was surprised to discover my curiosity with death. It was an actual thing. The love of my kids was holding me from being ok with it. My kids need me, dammit. How would my oldest cope? How would he recover from the death of his momma? My doc was so cold and kept telling me, " If you came sooner when you first felt such and such" this and that. Well yes, but I didn't. After tests after tests and lots of "information", something is not looking right. Here I go through step one again and it seems someone either made a mistake or the thingamajiggers took a hike. I said I went through hell, right? I need to ask for my job back. Lol It's all good. My kids get to keep their momma longer, I get to watch them grow, and now I know something I didn't know before... when I think I'm going to die, what people think of me seems as unimportant as a pebble on top of a mountain. All that matters are my children. They say that the most common regret before death is caring of people's opinion so much that happiness was interrupted. I get to live! And fuck... I feel great.

---

Oh and before any theists claim this could have been the god's doing: No. Many possible explanations have been offered to me, and in summary I have to say: shit happens. I am an atheist woman who would not give any fairy credit. I have no faith. There are babies with cancer who could be saved instead. No miracle here, just shit that happens. Either people messed up, or they messed up in another way. That's what happens when you are human.

Unless I am the god and don't know it yet.

[Faith No More]

the bravado attitude concerning death is admirable in the context of 'taking-it-like-a-man', but is misplaced if upon the moment of death the 'unpardonable sin' (only committed once and is only at that moment) has been committed by the individual.

Once again a perfectly nice discussion is soiled by Christianity.

[Marvin]

When I embrace my inner Klingon the demise of an adversary is always a beautiful thing.
If you've got Alzheimer's or some painful terminal thing I suppose death would hold some attraction.
I'm going to die, it's not healthy to fear death too much but he is an ugly bastard, skeletal, always wears drab black.
I'd like to live into the 23rd century, to see if Kirk and Spock were more accurately portrayed in the original series or the reboot.

---

Yes, death can be beautiful, but how much more so is life?

Death is zero, life returns positive and negative values.

[Rahul]

the bravado attitude concerning death is admirable in the context of 'taking-it-like-a-man', but is misplaced if upon the moment of death the 'unpardonable sin' (only committed once and is only at that moment) has been committed by the individual.

Can you let me know what denomination you are so I will know which version of the unpardonable sin you are talking about?

Christians don't agree on what it is.

[snowtracks]

this a topic where the atheists should be skeptical of their own beliefs (skepticism is the mantra that's stressed) since they have drawn conclusions about it without much data.

[Minimalist]

Wrong. We have drawn conclusions on your beliefs and found them ludicrous.

[Captain Colostomy]

this a topic where the atheists should be skeptical of their own beliefs (skepticism is the mantra that's stressed) since they have drawn conclusions about it without much data.

How presumptive, peter tracks.

[paulpablo]

The peace, no pain and what ever we are constantly thinking about just gone it won't bother us anymore. Isn't this beautiful? So why do people fear death,why are we trying to live longer,it really does not matter if you are going to live 10 more years or 1 more year the end is same for all,If you will have an great life or an pathetic miserable life you will return to the ground as every living organism does.

Share your thoughts on this subject

If you're asking why people want to live longer it's a stupid question really, you can't just explain away the fear of death logically by saying it doesn't matter, a healthy human when faced with the danger of dying or death will fear it and avoid it at all costs.
Even animals who don't know what death is like a slug will avoid at it all costs, it's been programmed into all living things since evolution began.

1st reason.
Animal instincts, people fear death for the same reason we enjoy eating food, or feel frightened when falling or on a roller coaster, the human body is programmed to not like dying or death whichever way you want to put it.

2nd reason.
Natural fear of the unknown, no one knows what happens when we die, even most of the very certain religious people aren't usually sure what god has got in store for them.

3rd reason.
Dying is usually quite painful. Maybe not for pets, but for humans dying of cancer, being shot to death, dying in traffic accidents it is. Or for wild animals being eaten by larger animals.

4th reason.
People are social animals, we usually enjoy having fun and doing stuff it's a bit difficult to socialize with your family and friends and have fun when you're dead.

[Optimistic Mysanthrope]

this a topic where the atheists should be skeptical of their own beliefs (skepticism is the mantra that's stressed) since they have drawn conclusions about it without much data.

Close, but no cigar. I can't claim to speak for everyone, but I reached my conclusion on the matter based on the fact that all things in the known universe are finite and that there is no credible evidence to suggest that I should be any different.

To me, any belief to the contrary would take extreme wishful thinking and a level of arrogance that even I find hard to achieve

[Jackalope]

this a topic where the atheists should be skeptical of their own beliefs (skepticism is the mantra that's stressed) since they have drawn conclusions about it without much data.

TENTATIVE conclusions.

Awfully presumptuous of you to insist on what someone else *should* do based on thier beliefs - but that's nothing new from you.