Why do we fear death?
We often have fears or reservations about the unknown. I think fear of the unknown is natural and I don’t think anyone can say that they are not afraid of anything. Everyone has fears. It’s interesting to me to think about how our fears affect us. For example if we allow the fear to control our lives and keep us from experiencing new things or if we face that fear and have increased confidence in our self and open ourselves up to new opportunities and experiences. Both ways have a huge impact on our life.
In the story of Gilgamesh there are quite a few sections where they talk about death. Death is one of those things people fear. People fear it for many reasons. We fear death because of our belief of what death will be like. Some people believe that once you die, that’s it. You no longer exist. Others believe death will put us in a place of darkness and misery. Such is the case in the story of Gilgamesh. There’s a long passage where Enkidu talks about what he thinks death will be like. He describes it as “the house where those who enter do not come out, along the road of no return, to the house where those who dwell do without light, where dirt is their drink, their food is of clay, where like a bird, they wear garments of feathers, and light cannot be seen, they dwell in the dark, and upon the door and bolt lies dust.” (Pg. 81) It’s no wonder he’s doesn’t want to die. He makes death sound like a horrible thing, a dark, aweful, miserable place for someone to be for all eternity. Going back to what people believe about death, some people believe in heaven and hell. Having an idea of heaven makes the thought of death a little less scary. For those who have a hope of peace and rest in heaven after they die, they fear death for other reasons. They fear that they won’t make it to heaven, or fear that they haven’t accomplished everything they were supposed to do in their life. So they fear being taken before it’s their time to go. Parents fear death for their children because they want them to have a long and happy life. It’s interesting to think about how greatly people’s beliefs and religious views affect the society that they are a part of and how those thoughts and beliefs are passed down from generation to generation.
People are generally good but when faced with something they fear people will often seek for their best interest and try to avoid the thing they fear instead helping others, including their family and friends.
It's interesting that those who believe in heaven still fight death, sometimes tooth and nail. They tend to use heaven as a consolation when death finally gets someone than as a natural part of our process through existence. Not all believers are like that, but there are enough that it makes me wonder how much they really believe life gets better after death and how much they just cling to that out of desperation. I'm guessing the answer to that would be complicated and interesting.
ReplyDeleteI think that people who believe in heaven, believe in heaven because it helps them keep their sanity and to hope for the future and that it will be better than their present time. What I mean is that many people have beliefs that when you die you either go to hell or heaven, but we don't know if that is true. I think that by creating or believing in a place like heaven after death it reliefs the person by not making them afraid of death because in their minds, they will go to a better place.
ReplyDelete