Reading Time: 2 minutes There’s a question a lot of religious people have for atheists: “Are you afraid of death?” Since we don’t believe in an afterlife, are we ok with the notion that this life is it? Physicist Stephen Hawking was asked about death in an interview with The Guardian and answered the question beautifully: You had a […]
Death & Dying
Grappling with the difficult questions of death and dying from a secular, nonreligious point of view.
Posted inDeath & Dying, General
Ask Richard: Atheist Asked to Give Religious Reading at a Funeral
Reading Time: 5 minutes Note: Letter writers’ names are changed to protect their privacy. Hi Richard, By the time this is answered, it will be a moot point because the funeral is tomorrow but I thought I would ask. My young cousin died very unexpectedly and our family is having a Catholic ceremony for her. I am an atheist […]
Posted inDeath & Dying, General
There Is Support for All of Us
Reading Time: 15 minutes Bill Zeller, a blogger and computer programmer, killed himself a couple days ago. He was sexually abused as a child and it clearly affected him the rest of his life. After living with the depression for so long, he just didn’t want to keep going. He left a heartbreaking suicide note before he died. Joel […]
Posted inDeath & Dying, General
Ask Richard: Relating to Religious People At Times of Grief
Reading Time: 3 minutes Good morning Richard. In the past week both an employee of the company I work for and the father-in-law of a co-worker died. Non-related. Inevitably situations came up where I was in a conversation with co-workers who were all saying “At least they are in a better place now.” When I didn’t join in with […]