Why do we fear death? Why wouldn’t we fear death? I don’t think you can really say if we fear death, because to be honest, we all fear death.
To humans, death is the ultimate unknown, and there is nothing more that humans fear than the unknown. We really have no clue what happens to us when we die, and despite our best efforts, nobody has ever answered the question.
To some, when we die we become spirits, and depending on how we die, we go on to either rest in peace, or we continue to haunt others who are still living where we may die. In other words, some believe we either cross over to the other side when we die, or we continue on as ghosts, looking for a way out.
What exactly is the other side though? When we “cross over” do we really go anywhere? Do we go to heaven, or to hell, as is suggested in most religious texts? If we do cross over, do we just cease to exist, would it actually be more fun to be a ghost, for at least we still exist?
Personally, I think that is the scariest thing, that we don’t really know what happens. The thought of just ceasing to be is kind of off-putting, and creepy. I realize that there were billions of years before I was born that I didn’t experience, and I didn’t seem to notice, and chances are I won’t notice when I am dead either. Still, knowing that things exist, and that I am here, I don’t want to stop being.
As much as I tend to think that a God exists, it would be nice if he came out and said he was here. Yes I’m aware of the ways he made himself known to Moses, and how he made himself known by causing Jesus to rise from the dead, but that was a long time ago, and the sources of these stories are really hard to track down these days.
Or, say God exists, and yet He decides I go to Hell? I’d much rather just cease to exist than go through that torture. Maybe thats what people are reporting as ghosts, that is, dead people trapped in a torturous state where you don’t know where you are, or how to get out.
I’m not really worried about dying, I’m sure its fairly easy, and most experts consider dying to be a fairly painless event. However, I would like to know what happens next, or maybe there is no next, just the end of the one and only stage of life.
Maybe like the agnostics believed, that our one life on Earth is our paradise, and that we shouldn’t really yearn for an afterlife. I agree, I say let’s enjoy what we have for now, and live as well as we can.
If God exists he will be there to greet us for sure, if we do the things we are supposed to in life. I won’t fear death yet, I will live for today, and when I die, I die, I can’t stop it.
