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Letter to the Editor published in American
Atheist, Nov. 2001,
Bruce T. Flamm, MD, California .
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THE TYPE OF ADVICE GIVEN BY A PHYSICAN TO AN
ATHEIST PATIENT WHO IS DYING |
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Comfort for the dying Atheist
As a physician I have
seen my fair share of death and dying. Unlike the death scenes we see in movies death is often a prolonged and agonizing process.
Could there be any stronger evidence for the lack of a loving or merciful God? Every hospital I've worked in, even the most
secular of institutions, has a chaplain or other clergyman standing by to comfort the dying person and his or her family.
These clergymen are almost invariably Christians who come to the deathbed armed with the purportedly priceless gifts of salvation
and eternal life. Is it any wonder that the Church grows richer every year? But what does the Atheist
have to offer a colleague who is about to die? Perhaps more than one might think.
1). A hand to hold. Not just
any hand but a hand connected to a brain that thinks rationally.
2). A reality check. Cognition and memory tend to
fade in our final hours and the resulting confusion can be frightening. Remind your friend that ghosts, goblins, ghouls, devils,
purgatory, hell, and other bizarre figments of religious mythology do not exist. Reassure your friend that Christian threats
of eternal punishment are both primitive and absurd.
3). Immortality. The Atheistic belief that we cease to exist
at the moment of death is almost certainly true. But in the greater scheme of things we do, in a manner of speaking, have
the opportunity to live on after death. If our ideas and actions have advanced humanity, even in a small way, then a part
of us does live on. Remind your dying friend of this fact.
4) Peace and tranquility Clergymen and evangelicals know
that there is no better place to proselytize than the deathbed. But for the Atheist the same unwanted appeals to savage thinking
that have always been annoying may be unbearable in the final hours. Screen visitors and politely but firmly insist, No, my
friend does not want to hear about Jesus.
5) Gratitude. The Atheist who gives to Atheistic, free thought, and other
rational organizations has changed the world for the better. Unlike the individual who leaves money to a Christian church
in a misguided attempt to buy salvation, the Atheist expects nothing in return. Thank the dying Atheist for this unselfish
act and for helping to make the world a better place for future generations |
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What follows is by JK.
6). That future non-existence
is no worse than the non-existence before birth. [This fact was argued by the Epicurean philosophers and is found in De
Rerum Natura by Lucretius.
7). That the atheist is unto himself true. He doesn't have to suppress the
obvious conclusions that as happened unto Fido and Polly, so to will happen to him. Nor does he have to believe
that a beneficent Jehovah created has created a world full of illness, poverty, and cruelty and allows
it continue--or the absurd excuses such as he must test us to find out who is worthy of salvation. Nor does he have to
fret that he will not be among the 144,000 blessed (as stated in Revelations) and thus eternally to endure hell fires.
8). That if perchance there is a god, we have a soul, and the god chooses among the soul which shall be blessed
in the hereafter, it is far more likely that he will choose a rational, thinking person who comes to a reasoned conclusion
about god and worship then some religious fool—the turning around of Pascal's Wager.
* David Hume,
one of the 2 greatest English philosophers, recalled what transpired with the death of Voltaire: a member of the
clergy being present who said that Voltaire had underwent last rites. (However, the Church must have known this
to be a lie, for they would not allow Voltaire to be buried in church grounds). David Hume arranged before his death
to have Boswell, the famed English chronicler and Hume's friend present, to prevent the same being said of him as was
of Voltaire. A reading of Adam Smith's short account of his last day and his short autobiographical sketch reveals that he was far from frightened at the prospect of eternal non-existence. He writes of an inner calmness and relief
as the end of his life approached.
IMMORTALITY
A couple of considerations
on death which are strong evidence against the immortality of the soul.
1.
Do you believe in existence before life? {If yes, then what did you do for the last 12 billion years?}
2.
I believe that not living after death is no worse than not living
before birth--Epicurus.
3.
Do you believe that there is a dog heaven? Then why do you believe that what happens to me after death is any different than what happens to Fido?
However, like special creation, the position on immortality of the soul
is essentially a religious belief and thus their assertions in support of the immortality of a soul turn upon those sophistries
offered in support of their god. Their descriptions of existence after death
are just an elaboration of what their god likes and how their god has given them special knowledge. For those wishing to be entertained on the topic of Christian faith, there are the illustrated brotherhood of religions and where is god's son? On point is the list of the
basic reasons to be without religion. On the issue of post-death existence
are works by John Stuart Mills and Lucretius the Roman Epicurean. In a passage
that merits reading for its conciseness and clarity, John Stuart Mills explains his father’s opposition to religion
for being the greatest of evils and the results of this evil are describe in James Haught’s Holy Horror.
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