The current state of religious debates

[Neithan]

This is why I’ve always found the criticism that my faith is based on fear or a desire for comfort completely hollow. If there is nothing after death, there is literally nothing to fear. And there is a lot of comfort in thinking that we are not ultimately accountable for our lives.

 

[laylow]

This is why I’ve always found the criticism that my faith is based on fear or a desire for comfort completely hollow. If there is nothing after death, there is literally nothing to fear. And there is a lot of comfort in thinking that we are not ultimately accountable for our lives.

I see what you are saying, but I know many people who are terrified by the idea of nonexistence.

And also I think we are plenty responsible for the here and now. Most of our actions have near immediate consequences which we have to deal with now.

 

[Neithan]

There is a nobility in this, and a kind of tragic beauty. I can certainly see the appeal. C.S. Lewis, who for a significant part of his life and education also adhered to nihilism, wrote about it in an essay titled Is Theology Poetry? I’d recommend a look.

I just want to add that Catholics are not pantheists: we don’t believe “the universe” as the sum total of matter and energy in space and time cares about us, either. It is “cold” — the “Valley of Death.” Nature as such is as much a creature as we are, and does not love us nor is especially kind to us. As Jesus said, “The rain falls on the just and the unjust.” (Matt 5:45)

 

[Neithan]

I see what you are saying, but I know many people who are terrified by the idea of nonexistence

It seems wrong to me, too, somehow, but more like when something bothers you because it just doesn’t seem right — incorrect. This might be because I’ve believed in some sort of afterlife for as long as I can remember, so my brain is just “programmed” that way. Or it could be a quirk of consciousness and evolution (which can also be flipped and argued as design i.e. argument from desire).

I know some people who just have generalized anxiety about life, let alone death. I think the appeal of eastern esoteric traditions (Dharmic philosophies: Buddhism, Hinduism, Zen, Yoga) is the meditation and mind-body awareness training more than the actual metaphysics. Christianity has plenty of mystics with meditative practices but I guess it feels more difficult for people who don’t have faith to approach them, rather than a different culture (cue cultural appropriation critiques).