Question for atheists RE: 9/11

[Anonymous]

Yesterday, I heard the audio clips that were played at the only trial for a co-conspirator for 9/11. They were so haunting, and chilling.

I wonder...how do atheists process the tragedy? Those victims who screamed "Oh God" as they died...did they just cease to exist? All those innocent lives lost...were they just snuffed out, no justice, no peace?

[Anonymous]

Those victims who screamed "Oh God" as they died...did they just cease to exist?

Atheist here. The answer to your question for me is "yes." You cease to exist when you die.

You can scream anything you want and it doesn't change the outcome, in my belief paradigm.

Feel free to bait me with any further questions. I'll be similarly succinct.

[Anonymous]

To an atheist, the final fate of the victims of 9/11 is the same as anyone else. 9/11 was/is sad, tragic, and horrific. That doesn't change ones entire belief system, though. Not sure why you think it would.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Yesterday, I heard the audio clips that were played at the only trial for a co-conspirator for 9/11. They were so haunting, and chilling.

I wonder...how do atheists process the tragedy? Those victims who screamed "Oh God" as they died...did they just cease to exist? All those innocent lives lost...were they just snuffed out, no justice, no peace?

Yes, they were just snuffed out, just like those of any other innocent victims of horrific, needless, cynical warfare, or sectarian/ religious conflicts.

[Anonymous]

Yes, I agree. Their deaths were tragic and horrible, and I believe that this was the end of their existence.

[Anonymous]

OP here. I'm not trying to change anyone's minds or bait anyone. This is just heavy on my mind. I listened to the memorial services yesterday. I heard all the readings. I did not hear anyone say the terrorism was not evil, or that the victims just ceased to be. So I wondered, what do atheists think?

That's all.

[Anonymous]

Another atheists here, I agree with the others that the circumstance of a person's death does not not matter. When you die you simply cease to exist - just like any other living thing.

[Anonymous]

OP, it's usually difficult for a few to speak for a group. But, in this instance, I think that the previous posters summed it up. I'm not sure what else there is to add.

[Anonymous]

Well, thinking that someone's existence is over when they die doesn't equate to thinking terrorism isn't evil ... not sure why you are conflating those two things.

You don't have to believe in some transcendent evil or Satan to think that the terrorists' acts were evil.

Seems to be that you are implying that if someone is an athiest, they won't condemn the terrorists?

[Anonymous]

Ok, different poster than OP, but similar question to those who answered earlier. Have you lost anyone close to you? If so, do you never feel that the spirit of that person is with you? Having lost my mother, I find it difficult to wrap my mind around how one would deal with an intimate death experience with this belief structure. How would it affect the grief and recovery process? (I am specifically asking about a close death, not something like 9/11 or just the neighbor around the corner).

[Anonymous]

I don't like to get into these discussions but I do have to say that although I am an atheist, I do tend to believe in the soul and in some kind of afterlife. This changes for me. It is not a solid belief but rather, a sense of something else. I have many reasons for believing in an afterlife and that is very different from believing in gods or goddesses.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Ok, different poster than OP, but similar question to those who answered earlier. Have you lost anyone close to you? If so, do you never feel that the spirit of that person is with you? Having lost my mother, I find it difficult to wrap my mind around how one would deal with an intimate death experience with this belief structure. How would it affect the grief and recovery process? (I am specifically asking about a close death, not something like 9/11 or just the neighbor around the corner).

I am a non-believer. My grandmother was like a mother to me, and I feel her presence constantly. Why? She raised me, she shaped who I am, and therfore she will always be a part of me. Part of me is her. To me, it is as simple as that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I don't like to get into these discussions but I do have to say that although I am an atheist, I do tend to believe in the soul and in some kind of afterlife. This changes for me. It is not a solid belief but rather, a sense of something else. I have many reasons for believing in an afterlife and that is very different from believing in gods or goddesses.

OK, thanks for answering. I was curious as there were often moments of terrible grief where I had sudden moments of inexplicable peace. For me, I truly believe it was my mom's soul reaching out to me. I would have found it harder to deal with the darkest moments of grief and its emptyness without that peace of believing in a person's soul.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Ok, different poster than OP, but similar question to those who answered earlier. Have you lost anyone close to you? If so, do you never feel that the spirit of that person is with you? Having lost my mother, I find it difficult to wrap my mind around how one would deal with an intimate death experience with this belief structure. How would it affect the grief and recovery process? (I am specifically asking about a close death, not something like 9/11 or just the neighbor around the corner).

I have, and sure, I feel that way from time to time, and it is comforting. However, I know in my heart that that's my brain, not an actual presence.

Studies have shown that certain areas of your brain, when stimulated, can create a feeling of an otherworldly presence. I think that's what's going on -- like almost everything, our emotions are a result of brain chemistry. That doesn't make them less powerful and I don't feel my emotions are less important. They are a big part of making us who were are -- so I don't really care that they are biological in origin.

as far as grief and recovery, I suppose it's similar for all of us. You still miss the person and grieve their absence. Maybe you derive solace from memories of the person rather than thinking about them in heaven or whatever you believe, but it's still a process.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Ok, different poster than OP, but similar question to those who answered earlier. Have you lost anyone close to you? If so, do you never feel that the spirit of that person is with you? Having lost my mother, I find it difficult to wrap my mind around how one would deal with an intimate death experience with this belief structure. How would it affect the grief and recovery process? (I am specifically asking about a close death, not something like 9/11 or just the neighbor around the corner).

I can speak to this, a little bit, though I have to say that I don't speak for anyone other than myself. My grandmother, who I was very close to, died last fall. We are coming up on the one year anniversary of her death, and I think about it all the time. It is still really just so hard to believe that she is just gone. Never once since she died have I for a moment considered her to be "in heaven". She had cancer for 8 years. She was really sick. She was in a lot of pain. She was really tired. I believe that she is no longer sick, in pain, or tired. As for the idea of her soul going somewhere, I very much believe (and think that she would agree) that her soul lives on in her writing and the things that she passed down to her daughter (my mom), my siblings and me. We also set up a scholarship in her name at her alma mater, so her legacy of woman academic lives on in that way as well.

I guess I don't really understand how my grieving process would be different if I believed that my grandmother's soul was in heaven right now. She still wouldn't be HERE. I would still miss her every day.