Faith divides us, death unites us is the title of a song and an album by the band PARADISE LOST. They’re an English metal band that’s been around for over 20 years, and judging from interviews and other “projects” that they have put out, like BLOODBATH and VALLENFYRE, it’s a safe bet that they’re atheists.
I think this album title probably represents what it’s like when a family is divided because of religion and atheism. Death is the one thing we all have in common, whether we believe in a god or not. Has anyone else had to sit through a religious ceremony/funeral of a friend or family member?
When my dad died over 20 years ago, I had to sit through a Catholic mass/funeral and listen to family and friends talk about how he’ll be missed, he was too young(73), how he was a good man, BULLSHIT! He was an angry old bastard that did nothing but criticize(even his grandkids) and yell at everyone. He even cussed out my wife because he didn’t like something she had done years ago. My relationship with him ended in the late 70’s when he thought he could take a swing at me and I grabbed him by the arm and stopped him. At that point I was bigger than him, and it was basically over. I haven’t missed him once since he died.
It was different when our mom died in 2010, there was a short ceremony at the funeral home, then we went to the cemetery for another one. Our mom’s younger sister, aunt Mary, came to the funeral along with her husband Ron, and my 2 cousins, Judy and Jane from Wisconsin. They’re all hard-core Catholics and they weren’t happy because we chose to not do the whole funeral/mass that they were expecting. My aunt was upset because none of my 3 sisters were practicing Catholics anymore and I was an atheist. Worse than that, I was a tattooed atheist, that seemed to put her over the edge for some reason.
They went home after the funeral to Wisconsin, Minnesota, and Ohio where they live, and we haven’t seen or even heard a word from them since.
So like the title says, faith divides us, death unites us. Anyone else have anything similar happen to them since coming out as an atheist?
The only funeral I plan on attending is my own.
My much larger , heavier brother did the same thing with my father at age 16. At this point all I’ll say is that dad was a bully and that I have no photos of him.
Not sure I understand. As far as I can see, death is the exact opposite of everything. It’s not an experience.
I guess it unites us in the sense that you never read " Fred Murts died last week. He was an obnoxious bastard and we’re all glad he’s dead"
My family no longer has proper Irish wakes because that generation are gone. For me they were something to endure (especially after I stopped drinking
How ya gonna manage that? What with being dead and all.
Theists tend to believe they are going to live forever. It is something that is almost universal in the popular religions, imo. Just as it is almost universally held by them that humans are not animals.
I suggest that is why they spend so much time hating on the theory of evolution. I’d guess it’s hard to believe you aren’t an animal, if you believe you are descended from animals.
OBE --------- Twenty characters long.
BDE? (Beyond Death Experience)
You is spookin me out brother.
It’ll just be another funeral.
Out of Body Experiencee ?
Me and Houdini, we are coming back.
I actually made a pact with a friend in about 1971. That the first of us to die would contact the other if it was possible. He’s been dead for about ten years now. No contact so far.
After his mother died, Harry Houdini spent years trying to contact her and expose frauds. He exposed a lot
In the 20 years between the wars, 1919-1939, Western society was arse deep in mediums claiming they could contact those killed in WW1.
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle was one of their victims. He had lost a beloved son in the War. IMO his grief made him a bit unhinged. He was also conned by the “Cottingley Fairies” hoax. He even wrote a book “The Coming Of The Fairies” (and no, I will not risk a bon mot on that)
His second wife claimed to be psychic, she developed her “gift” after he started to believe in this rubbish. She was a thoroughly unscrupulous and mercenary individual by all accounts, not a very nice woman at all.
Don’t know much about Sir Arthur as a person. Only that he seems to have been a grieving father wanting desperately to contact his dead son. Such desperation makes people gullible I think. That’s why amoral conmen are able to take advantage of say people suffering from some disgusting, fatal disease. The worst I think is to take advantage of the desperate parents of a dying child.
Not always. When I was a Christian I remember one guy who buried the hatchet with his family after he adopted Christianity. They had written him off and he them due to past conflicts. I remember the day he read a letter from his dad at Church (he was in tears and so were we). It basically said that he (his dad) didn’t get his new religion but was glad they were a family again because of it and that he loved him and was sorry for the mistakes they had all made. He ended up giving the eulogy at his dad’s funeral, though still a strong Christian he had enough respect for his dad to not mention religion. More often than not religion does divide, but not always.