Is it wrong to be afraid of death?

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ribozyme

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Yes, I am afraid of dying… is it wrong for Catholics to be afraid of death? Should Catholics embrace death?

I want to fight death as long as possible, I plan to eat a healthy diet and exercise so I can live long enough to see the advent of more powerful technology that will reverse the aging process. Is it immoral to covet personal health?
 
Coveting personal health acknowledges the beauty of the life God has given us, and the ardent desire to prolong it to continue to commune with God’s people and serve Him on earth, so I think coveting personal health is not a sin at all.

But I don’t think Catholics should fear death at all, and if fear of death is driving and motivating your actions for health, then I’d call that a sin.

The question that needs to be asked is, “What do you fear about death?”

Isolation from loved ones?

End of influence on earth and experience of earthly things?

These are not sinful stances. But fearing Heaven is. Death the only time when we can come into the actual presence of the LORD is beautiful, but it needs to happen in God’s time alone.

And if you fear death becuase you think you won’t reach heaven, how about doing everything you can to change that outcome?
God bless
 
If you are afraid of death, you are normal. Religion is about finding a way to deal with the fear of death. We construct sets of stories and symbols (religions) that help us live with the idea that we are mortal. Faith in a God who promises continuation of life after physical death is a necessary psychological buttress against despair. This is a common feature of the great world religions.
Christianity has come up with the best set of stories and symbols… so far. And within Christianity, Catholicism has the best stories because we have saints and souls in purgatory, and limbo, etc. And we have the best celebrations of our stories.

Matthew
 
Grace & Peace!

I don’t think its wrong to be afraid of death, though I think it’s better to interrogate that fear, figure out why exactly you fear death, and then decide whether your fear has any intrinsic merit.

To fear death because it represents the unknown is natural, but the witness of the saints (as someone mentioned above) has described for us the topography of the “Undiscovered Country”, so we need not be afraid of the unknown as its contours have been disclosed to us (though of course the mystery has been kept intact).

Fear of Judgment after death is not fear of death but fear of judgment. Fear of Judgment can be a healthy fear, relating to the fear of God and an acknowledgment of our own utter dependence on grace. But if the fear relates to a consciousness of sin, then we should (as Paul writes) judge ourselves first–confess and repent and trust in the mercy of God.

Fear of the loss of the body and of our possessions and family can be symptomatic of an attachment to the world which can be unhealthy. That’s not fear of death, but fear of deprivation. We should treasure the gifts we’ve been given, but always with the knowledge that we will be required to give them up.

For every fear we attach to death, the Spirit has graciously endowed the Church with means and disciplines to overcome that fear. You ask your question at an opportune time! Advent was once considered a penitential season–it’s theme was the Four Last Things: Death, Judgment, Heaven, Hell. Each Sunday was apparently devoted to meditation on one of the Last Things in preparation for the coming of the Christ. Perhaps we should all take up this discipline this Advent and learn not to fear death but to see it as a journey to the Lord of Life for which we have graciously been given time to prepare!

Under the Mercy,
Mark

Deo Gratias!
 
drafdog said:
If you are afraid of death, you are normal. Religion is about finding a way to deal with the fear of death. We construct sets of stories and symbols (religions) that help us live with the idea that we are mortal. Faith in a God who promises continuation of life after physical death is a necessary psychological buttress against despair. This is a common feature of the great world religions.
Christianity has come up with the best set of stories and symbols… so far. And within Christianity, Catholicism has the best stories because we have saints and souls in purgatory, and limbo, etc. And we have the best celebrations of our stories.

Matthew
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You do not seem to believe in Catholicism; it seems you are saying it has the best stories about what allegedly happens after death.

You seem to say religion is a way to combat the notion that we are about to die by providing us solace.
 
The OP has more than one question:
  1. Is it wrong to be afraid of death? No. But we don’t have to be.
  2. Is it wrong to want to live a long life and to do things to help achieve a long life? Again, no. The only problem would be go to extreme measures and not accept the fact that we’re dying when in fact that time comes. Can’t think of any good example, but kinda like a living will that specifies that the relatives should not give up and discontinue life support…ever, under any circumstances. Something that would indicate that the person wants to live forever (on this earth, anyway 😃 ).
 
Newbie2 said:
The OP has more than one question:
  1. Is it wrong to be afraid of death? No. But we don’t have to be.
  2. Is it wrong to want to live a long life and to do things to help achieve a long life? Again, no. The only problem would be go to extreme measures and not accept the fact that we’re dying when in fact that time comes. Can’t think of any good example, but kinda like a living will that specifies that the relatives should not give up and discontinue life support…ever, under any circumstances. Something that would indicate that the person wants to live forever (on this earth, anyway 😃 ).
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Well, you said extreme measures. What about cryonics? Would the Church allow cryonics for people? Does the Catholic Church loathe Alcor Life Extension Foundation?
 
I think it is perfectly normal and natural to have a dread of death–and the pain or decline on the way there. After all, God shared this experience of dread of pain and death–Lord, let this cup pass from me–the Agony in the Garden. God is not some utterly Other that has no compassion for us. Compassion is from com passio, to suffer with. You cannot look at Christ’s suffering and death and his dread about it (to the point of sweating blood) and think this is a strange issue to God. Emmanuel, God With Us, went through it too.

When my mom suffered long months of excruciating pain dying of metastasized cancer, it was truly awful for those of us who loved her too, to feel pain ourselves in the love and pain of watching her go through this. A year after she died I went through a scare of metastasis and had to wait a long time for further testing and results, and everything else in my life was ending at the same time, literally…so I had to deal with the fear back then. I have had two more cancers since then. The second leaves a stable low cell count in my bloodstresam that can’t be treated any more but we just monitor to make sure it’s not setting up tumors anywhere. I could live a long, normal lifespan with this cell count. After getting over the creepy crawley feeling of having cancer cells in my bloodstream, I’m OK with it and rarely ever think of it. It’s actually a gift, like surviving the first metastasis scare–because it gives me an intensity and zest for life, and an enjoyment of life, that is so much greater than other people’s. I am not capable of experiencing boredom. My sky is bluer than yours. People and time are so much more precious to me. I am Emily in Our Town! --but still alive.

Then in the tracking of the ongoing cell count, boom, we found breast cancer–fast growing, aggressive, vascularized, already in lymph nodes. (My mom died of breast cancer four years after diagnosis.) So I have a rougher course of treatment going on right now, it sucks…but it will end and life will go back to normal. My intense normal!

So, yeah, it’s creepy having three primary cancers–something is definitely not right about my biology. I do what I can with the science available to fight disease and win. I fully expect this to be a merely chronic condition, and I will wear three (or more) ribbons as I lead the Survivor Lap at the American Cancer Society Relay for Life as an octogenarian. 😃 I get to lead, being a high achiever and all! I mean, it’s rare to find people with three primary cancers and no metastasis causing any of it, and no genetic explanation (at least what they can test for right now).

continued…
 
…continued:

To love your life conditionally on loving a perfect and beautiful body is an attitude that must be transcended as one ages. The research shows that as people age, even though they might not be as “pretty and perfect” as their young self–more weight, scars, stretch marks, sagging, wrinkles, grey hair–people actually ACCEPT themselves much more as they age. I can say that’s true. My self-esteem about my body and my appearance is much higher than when I was a young hottie. 😉 And that’s apart from having serious disease. Throw in serious disease, or chronic disease, the body not working perfectly as it should, and one learns that one’s person, identity, dignity, is bigger than one’s body. (I like that song of defiant triumph by John Mayer, Bigger Than My Body.)

So, I am still very strong and capable and expect to be again after treatment is done. I clocked my personal best, fastest speed sculling (rowing) EVAH just days before my surgery. I can’t wait to get past treatment so I can start training again and getting ready for next season.

But even when there’s not that hope of becoming strong and able again, when one is in decline, there is still dignity and joy and life. My dad is in the nursing home and is in that decline, but he’s a great role model for us, because he adjusts to new circumstances and accepts gracefully the help that he needs, and he is still very trusting and joyful and makes the most out of his situation. He’s just such a happy and charming guy. Love him to pieces.

Now, we are people of faith, we are an Easter people, so we know we’re going to get perfected, glorified bodies back at the Last Day. It makes aging and scars and disease easier to accept knowing that’s not the end of the story. 😃 It might be harder to accept if you believe that this life is all there is. Then aging would be very sad indeed because you’ll never be as buff and cute as you were when you were 20.

But even people without faith have discovered that the idea of death can really give life meaning–forces a person to choose the meaning of their life, to define themselves, not to bumble along bored and blah. The existentialists. And they’re not all depressed and down. The therapist Irwin Yalom wrote an excellent book about Existential Psychotherapy which really lays this out, and it is positive, really.

I would have to say that for me, I am not afraid of death–but I have normal dread of the process of dying, having seen my mother in that extreme pain, and suffering the same disease that might someday lead me to carry that same cross. But even that process can be seen as a gift, because it makes a person strip away their attachments to this life and get ready for the next step, when death is a relief and what comes next is going to be so good.

I’ve never not had faith, so I don’t know how people deal with the question if they don’t believe in eternal life. I’ve always believed in it even before I had a personal reason to “need” to.

Excellent question! 👍
 
ribozyme said:
Well, you said extreme measures. What about cryonics? Would the Church allow cryonics for people? Does the Catholic Church loathe Alcor Life Extension Foundation?
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I dunno what the Church would say, but I’d say cryonics is extreme in that it’s an effort to outlive one’s natural lifetime. But then again, it begs the question as to what’s a natural lifetime?

We keep living longer and longer in part due to the positive effects of medications and earlier diagnostics.
 
ribozyme said:
Well, you said extreme measures. What about cryonics? Would the Church allow cryonics for people? Does the Catholic Church loathe Alcor Life Extension Foundation?
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Ribozyme,

You must understand that, from a Catholic perspective, cryonics would unnecessarily and unnaturally bind people/souls to this fallen, earthly life. As a Catholic, I can only say, "Why on earth would I want to remain in some sort of stasis and later continue on this earth instead of crossing over into the “promised land?”

It can also be argued that such extreme measures is a feeble attempt to take the reigns and play God.

It would, indeed, be abnormal to look forward to the potential pain and suffering that might be associated with dying (depending on the situation). I would presume that the vast majority of the most devout Catholics would honestly admit a healthy aversion to pain.

Death is very much like birth. An expectant mother knows for 9 long months two things with near certainty:
  1. She knows that she will be blessed immensely at the end. She will behold a product of love and joy–in this case, her child.
  2. She knows that to behold her blessing, she must, “in the fullness of time” endure incredible pain for a previously unknown amount of time immediately after which she will hold her little love and the pain will be forgotten.
Catholics, likewise know two things with certainty.
  1. (given that this is a faithful Catholic with no mortal sin on soul) We know that we will be blessed immensely at the end of our lives. God promises us that “No eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor heart conceived of what He has ready for those who love Him.”
  2. We know that to reach the goal of Heaven, we must die. We don’t know the duration of our dying or the amount of pain we will endure. We just know it is the only way to Heaven.
We’ll choose death + heaven over an earthly life of cryonics any day. But that doesn’t mean we have to gleefully look forward to the dying process.
 
ribozyme said:
Yes, I am afraid of dying… is it wrong for Catholics to be afraid of death?
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It natural to be afraid of dying. It would help not to take this particular fear personally. Everyone will reach the point of death.

Don’t wrangle with it, don’t try to manipulate it or try to ignore it by masking it with anger or avoidance. Just let your fear simply be in your heart and know that God hears your faintest groans.
 
Very interesting question…

Death itself is not something to fear at all (I guess unless you have mortal sin on your soul). I could never know 100% that I am going to heaven, but as someone who strives to be a faithful Catholic (never perfect) I have hope in having all my imperfections purged in purgatory and eventually being united with our Lord! 🙂

On a practical level, if you had mortal sin on your soul and really felt like you weren’t ready to acknowledge that sin and ask for forgiveness, then ideally, yes, you’d want to do whatever it takes to extend your earthly life so that you can eventually work that out!

Coveting personal health isn’t wrong, per-se. We’re supposed to respect our bodies and take care of them as gifts from God. However, this can lead to almost a level of self-worship (idolizing physical self-perfection) which is wrong. There needs to be a balance of moderation.

As for cryonics… (I’m not sure if the Church has made any statement specifically about Alcor Life Extension Foundation)… I don’t think it really matters.

If we, as Catholics, truly believe that Christ is going to eventually come again and raise us all from the dead then it just doesn’t matter! Those who are going to be “alive on Earth” when Christ returns are going to be judged the same way that those who had already passed on. Those who will remain with Christ will live forever! Not thanks to technology, but to our Creator Himself!
 
I thought you were an atheist, Ribozyme. So ya, in your case you better fear death :rotfl: Actually, as a practicing Catholic, it is normal to fear death as well.
 
ribozyme said:
Yes, I am afraid of dying… is it wrong for Catholics to be afraid of death? Should Catholics embrace death?

I want to fight death as long as possible, I plan to eat a healthy diet and exercise so I can live long enough to see the advent of more powerful technology that will reverse the aging process. Is it immoral to covet personal health?
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1.) No, it is natural for humans to fear death; what would be unnatural would be an excessive and unnecessary fear of it.

2.) Trying to be healthy is good and commendable; trying to escape death is not. Besides, escaping death is impossible (All things die but at least, you should ‘always look on the bright side of death’ :p); chances of escaping death is like surviving a fall from a high-storey building without any injuries.
 
ribozyme said:
Yes, I am afraid of dying… is it wrong for Catholics to be afraid of death? Should Catholics embrace death?

I want to fight death as long as possible, I plan to eat a healthy diet and exercise so I can live long enough to see the advent of more powerful technology that will reverse the aging process. Is it immoral to covet personal health?
Click to expand...
Our lives are not our own. We did not receive them from ourselves, they were given to us. Those who fear God know that all life comes from Him. “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked I will depart. The LORD gave and the LORD has taken away; may the name of the LORD be praised.” (Job 1:21).

“But you his son, O Belshazzar, have not humbled yourself, though you knew all this. Instead, you have set yourself up against the Lord of heaven…But you did not honor the God who holds in his hand your life and all your ways”(Daniel 5:22-23 edited for brevity). Since God has given us our lives, He expects us to respect the temple of our bodies. However, a disordered love of this life, or of God’s gift of your body, might result in punishment for covetousness. Love of the gift (life) rather than of the Giver (God), is sinful. There is no way to live forever on this earth, and you must suspect that there is something better ahead.

God has sent His Son to teach eternal life. Thus, those of faith, and those well disposed toward it, have hope for the perfection of life. But it remains God, Who is love, that accomplishes the perfecting, not man. To that end, the teachings of Christ, if taken to heart, remove doubt, anxiety and fear. “There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love” (1 John 4:18). Thus, the source of your fear, which appears unknown, is actually a lack of love for God.

You are here on the world’s best site for extending your life into eternity. However, you must prefer life eternal to life temporal. So, take heart, admit your fear to God, humble yourself and His love will preserve you forever.

Peace be with you.
 
Ribozyme: I mean absolutely NO offense in this at all, but with your discretion, I would like an answer.

Ribozyme: Are you a closet Catholic? Because I can’t see why any non-believer would ever ask Catholics if someting was morally wrong.

If you don’t feel comfortable answering, Private Message me. Thanks.
 
Laurence_of_PA said:
Ribozyme: I mean absolutely NO offense in this at all, but with your discretion, I would like an answer.

Ribozyme: Are you a closet Catholic? Because I can’t see why any non-believer would ever ask Catholics if someting was morally wrong.

If you don’t feel comfortable answering, Private Message me. Thanks.
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No, no I am not…

I count myself as a transhumanist.

Personally, I thought about converting to Catholicism about two years ago, but I could never reconcile the existence of God with profound suffering. Although I can articulate my reasons, I think it is elegantly expressed in the Epicurean paradox.

The reason I ask is how do Catholics deal with the issues I am concerned with. I really do not want to die as I hope to see the world reach a state where problems such as poverty are permentantly eradicated.
  • ヘルカイザー亮 (HKR)
 
ribozyme said:
No, no I am not…

I count myself as a transhumanist.

Personally, I thought about converting to Catholicism about two years ago, but I could never reconcile the existence of God with profound suffering. Although I can articulate my reasons, I think it is elegantly expressed in the Epicurean paradox.

The reason I ask is how do Catholics deal with the issues I am concerned with. I really do not want to die as I hope to see the world reach a state where problems such as poverty are permentantly eradicated.
  • ヘルカイザー亮 (HKR)
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I don’t think that there is anything wrong in asking people of different faiths how they deal with certain issues.Personally, I can’t imagine how I would deal with say a child’s death if I didn’t have faith that I would one day be able to see that child. None of my children have ever died,by the way, this is an example that resonantes with me.
 
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