Well what
if you don’t believe in the afterlife?
We godless suffer the weight of knowing that there is no Heaven. Our existence is terrestrial not celestial.
So what do we do about consoling the species in our unique position of knowing
that we will die and fearing death and grieving the dead?
Here is a
conversation between a man named Harry (as Tom, Dick or Harry) and his made up
daughter Gracie. What do you think of
their godless views on consolation in the face of death?
HARRY: So Gracie, do you believe in the afterlife?
GRACE: Of course
not. I am after all your godless
daughter.
HARRY: So what
do you recommend that the godless do to find some solace from the fear of
death?
GRACE: I don’t know. I don’t think about this sort
stuff like you. I am not old nor am I a
death perv like you are.
HARRY: Can I just mention two perspectives on life
after death that don’t offend logic or science.
The only trouble is that these perspectives give only scant
consolation.
GRACE: In
other words, they’re crap.
HARRY:
Basically yes. The first is that we are
well practised in non existence. When we
cease to exist upon death we are merely returning to the state of non existence
that occurred before birth. We didn’t
exist from the beginning of time to the moment of birth. And then when we die after the miracle of
having lived we just return to our state of non existence which was not painful
but nothing.
DOROTHY (an
innocent but godly bystander): Oh huzzah! Such consolation indeed! Non existence is fine because we are so used
to it! That has the comfort of the rack.
GRACE: Dorothy has a point Dad – it is feeble.
HARRY: Oh it’s lame as a one legged dog. Of course it is not that soothing for since
birth, we have had the revelation of life.
Non existence seems awful by comparison.
DOROTHY: And what’s the second miraculous attitude to
death that doesn’t offend your logic or your science?
GRACE: Don’t get your hopes up Dorothy. I get the
sense that the second will be less exciting than the first.
HARRY: And you’d be right Gracie. I confess the second is ...what is the word I
am searching for?
GRACE:
Crap.
HARRY: That’s the one. It is this: death is necessary for life.
DOROTHY: Oh huzzah again. Oh bravo Harold! That elevates my spirit and
magnifies my soul.
HARRY: For
our species to evolve, we needed millions of years of death of millions of
species. So our death is making room in
the same way our predecessors’ deaths made room for us. Our afterlife is lived through the opportunities
afforded to others by our deaths.
GRACE: Dad
that is so feeble. Who cares about making room for others?
HARRY:
Allow me to give a trivial example. I
became entitled to be a member of prestigious sport club, the Melbourne Cricket
Club which I declined many moons ago.
DOROTHY: What is cricket?
GRACE: Cricket is a game more tedious than you can
ever imagine.
DOROTHY: And it tickles Harry’s fancy?
GRACE: He’s strangely obsessed.
HARRY: My membership of the club literally died when
I declined to be a member. My nephews
who are in a decade long queue for the MCC rejoiced when told of the death of
my membership for it progresses them along the queue which today stands at
217,000 people. And indeed, in a club
overpopulated by octogenarians, my hard hearted nephews exult every time they
observe the club’s flag at half mast.
Another competitor has been liquidated and they move closer to their MCC
life. Death causes life.
DOROTHY: Don’t ever become a parson Harry. Your parsonage would empty within days of you
assuming office.
GRACE: And
don’t ever be a writer Dad. You’d starve
but not in a talented Van Gogh, genius kind of way.
HARRY: Yes these perspectives are scant comfort and
a bit cheerless.
GRACE: Well what do you expect Dad? Without a belief in God and Heaven, even
though they are too absurd for words, humans are doomed to have unresolved
fears of death and dying.
What is your view?
If we cannot believe in the hereafter, what is left to
console us?
What do you think of Harry’s views?
Is there anything else to assuage our fears other than
denial?
Is denial bad?
Over to you guys…
