I have a dog, an 11-year-old boxer, who has been my one guaranteed piece of happiness for the last few years. I’ve had some days at work where I was so miserable coming home, the only thing that helped lift my spirits was seeing that dog in the doorway, jumping up and down, wagging her stub of a tail and the butt to which it was attached (a very endearing quality of boxers), ready to jump up and lick me like she hadn’t seen me in weeks.
Assuming no accidents, there sadly comes a time when a dog’s health deteriorates to the point that you need to make the hard decision of having them put to sleep. The past two weeks had been looking like it was time for that hard decision with my dog. Needless to say, it has been a stressful period (she’s doing better at the moment, but she’s not totally in the clear, in case you’re wondering). I don’t know how long she’s going to make it, but I certainly do not look forward to that last day of her life.
The reality is, of course, that the day of her passing will come. I can’t avoid it, and no prayers or miracles are going to change that fact. Though I will deeply miss her when that day comes, I have no illusions about her continuing on in some doggie afterlife.
My father is now 80 years old, and I often think about the fact that one day likely while I am still alive he will pass as well. We have many disagreements (he is staunchly Roman Catholic) and he has his faults like all of us do, but it will be a very sad day for me when he dies. Being the oldest of his five sons, I know I will have to speak at his funeral. I can imagine that many people there will want to share all kinds of well-meaning platitudes about how he will certainly be in heaven because he was such a good man. He is an amazingly decent, honorable person whom I admire greatly, but I do not wish to cheapen my memory of him by thinking that he will ascend to some eternal “paradise” forever in the clouds, wearing flowing white roves and strumming a harp (my version of paradise involves Penelope Cruz… but I digress).
There is no evidence of any afterlife. You’re born, you live, you die. It sounds a bit cold, but it’s reality. There is part of me that wishes this was not the case, but now that I have turned a skeptical eye to the idea of an afterlife, it becomes easier every day to accept this fact. The more I have learned to accept this, the more I value the relationships I do have, their fragility and transience making them that more precious to me. I will mourn the loss of a loved one, but I know that I have to get past it to continue with my own life.
Some day I will die. Once I do, there’s nothing – no heaven, no hell, no purgatory, no reincarnation. I won’t be looking down on someone crying over my death, I won’t fuss over how my funeral is conducted, I won’t come back to reveal where I hid the key to that secret stash of money (don’t get any ideas). I no longer fear death, but I do hope that the process is quick and not too painful once that day comes.
The personal happiness that has come to me in this naturalistic perspective on life is something I wish everyone could have. Being free from this irrational fear of what happens after death helps me live every day more meaningfully than ever before.
Jeff Randall
Sarah Hippolitus
Brian Gregory
Luis Reinoso
Matthieu Guibert
While there is no proof of an afterlife or heaven or hell, at the same time there is no proof that there is not either. There are no meterics on this earth that can prove either.
There is no proof that there is not an invisible dragon in my back yard either. The burden of proof is on the one making the claim (in this case the claim being that of an afterlife).
It is sometimes to subtle for certain people to grasp, but the default position is that the world is as it seems from our (meaning humanity, not you and me) current best understanding of it. For that position to be challenged there must be evidence to show something unexplained by the current theories or in contradiction to the current theories. In the case of an “afterlife”, our current understanding of the universe does not have a “need” for an afterlife to explain what we observe.
Now this is not a “proof” that an afterlife does not exist, in fact proving a negative is typically understood as being impossible, but it shows clearly that the burden of proof is on those making the claim of an afterlife to show evidence supporting those claims.
Actually, there’s quite a lot of evidence that there’s no such thing as an afterlife — or heavens, hells, gods, ghosts, demons, garden fairies, etc.
The best evidence is the conflicting stories that people tell. Eventually, after hearing the thousandth unique version of “Here’s what I think happens after you die,” you start to understand that nobody knows anything, that EVERYONE is making stuff up.
But you also have to wonder about the actual physics and biochemistry of these things. I have yet to hear any plausible way in which memory and personality can survive the death of the brain.
Luis, good for you for reaching this milestone in understanding. We unbelievers all too often have to be either silent or defensive about the things we understand. Believers think there’s something wrong with us, but the truth is there’s something RIGHT with us. We can’t just give in and accept just-so stories, we always have to push for something better, something truer, something more fair and understandable.
And … all the best in the dog quandary. I’ve lost two, and oh man, does it ever suck. Be there with her when it’s time, and if at all possible, get the vet to come to your house. The good things I can say about it all is that you’ll find you’ve been changed for the better for knowing her, and that the great memories of her will someday outweigh the bad memory of her passing.
Plus, to them, we’re loving immortals. What more could you wish for a friend than that she would be enfolded in love for all her life — and that YOU could be the one who could do that for her?
Also, eventually, don’t feel bad about getting another good four-legged friend. It’s only fair that we immortals spread the love around.