Are you afraid to die?

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when the time is right.....

+1

I have been constantly struggling to make myself believe. Because I have been meditatating since I was very little I have had some experiences that are very strange to describe unless I believe in the supernatural. Also I was only meditating to get my head together. I have an agonostic view on this. Believing can help in a whole lot of ways. There’s no harm in drawing benefits out of it.

As a Christian, belief isn’t as important as being a good person.

Ironically it’s going to be many of the “devout” or fundamentalists who will have an issue in heaven since many use the bible to hate and attack people which certainly goes against God’s way.

Basically just look out after your fellow human and all’s good.

Heard a pastor say something along these lines (even the criticism on fundamentalists) recently when an atheist asked.

I'm not afraid of dying, I was when I was a little girl but now I don't give it much thought. I've known a lot of death in my life so far, I think about my family dying a lot which scares me but my own death I don't give a second thought.

I like to think Heaven's really out there, I want to see my best friend and my grandparents again

I trust that you will in the fullness of time. if you had any pets they will be there also, in a slightly different place [they have their own place].

Exactly. Pascal's wager. You can only win.

I thought that fundamental Christianity maintains that belief in Jesus is more important than actions good or bad. This is why, on your deathbed, a person can accept Jesus Christ as their savior and be saved and go to heaven regardless of what wrongs they had done in life.

But perhaps you were speaking for yourself and not for Christianity in general?

And you see that is the thing that really bothers me about a lot of Christians. They pretty much believe it's OK for them to break their own rules and hurt other people just as long as they themselves believe in Jesus and he will gladly welcome them into heaven while everybody else gets to burn in hell for not accepting him. I'm sorry but that is such a conceited view on the world in my opinion!

I know not all Christians view things that way but the ones who do really stand out more and they anger me so much.

Because of the love of God we are expected to do works. If someone is going around breaking a ton of rules just because God will forgive them, they are far from acting in God's love.

Humans are extremely prone to sin, if god didn't forgive us that would be one crowded hell.

" Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. 2\ For by it the people of old received their commendation. By faith we understand that the universe was created by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things that are visible.

By faith Abel offered to God a more acceptable sacrifice than Cain, through which he was commended as righteous, God commending him by accepting his gifts. And through his faith, though he died, he still speaks. By faith Enoch was taken up so that he should not see death, and he was not found, because God had taken him. Now before he was taken he was commended as having pleased God. And without faith it is impossible to please' him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.

Why would anyone expect to be adopted and let into God's house if they truly don't believe he exists, or if they hate him?

Remember, in our actions we all deserve hell, christian or otherwise. He isn't being mean by using hell, he is being just. Because when we measure sin up to perfection it falls short infinitely.

"You say you have faith, for you believe that there is one God. Good for you! Even the demons believe this, and they tremble in terror. How foolish! Can’t you see that faith without good deeds is useless?"

It is important to show your faith, because the faith that saves comes from love, and love causes action.

"For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God;"

Never feel entitled to a gift, especially if you refuse it.

Still I don't think it's fair for the people who do good deeds but aren't Christians to burn in hell just because they don't believe in Jesus.

Yes, but not until the final moments. What concerns me is the extended period -- sometimes months and years -- of suffering one might experience. I watched both my parents go through this, and I want no part of it.

I'm not afraid of dying, but I am afraid of dying young. When you've lived a long life, I think you wait for death but young people dying is just unnatural. I fear my body failing me before I want it to.

Edit: By long life I mean like... Living into your nineties, I'm sorry if that came across rude.

Last edited by huimaa on 01 Oct 2018, 12:28 pm, edited 1 time in total.

I'm 57 years old----and I'm definitely not ready to die.

I went to the woods because I wanted to live deliberately...
To front only the essential facts of life
To see if I could not learn what it had to teach
And not, when I came to die,
discover that I had not lived...

~ Thoreau


carpe diem, my friends

The main branches or most populous are Roman Catholic, Protestant, and Jesuit - these branches look down at Mormon, Evangelicals, and Born Agains as being extremists that give Christianity as a whole a bad name for obvious reasons (a local pastor likened them to satanists for inverting so much of the bible for their own gain and I'd align with that).

As said non-believers are often better people than those extremists who "use" the bible (or basically just see in it what they want to see in it) as an excuse to attack, hate, and scorn those who were born different. The Pope, or at least - was, even started speaking out against such extremists.

I admit Mormons do have some very strange beliefs but to be honest the Mormons I have met were very nice people and didn't seem as judgmental as the Baptists I was used to being around. There were two mormon ladies who used to walk around our neighborhood and they once saw me and my brother struggling to move a heavy carpet into the back of my Mom's truck and they offered to help me and him move it.

I've also heard people say bad things about Catholics but the ones I have met seemed pretty nice and I hear that Catholic charities do more to help people in need than any other charity organization.