Death Anxiety

Humans have a death anxiety that no other creatures on Earth have. This is because we can think in the future tense and plan for tomorrow instead of surviving right now, today. Some sociologists claim that religion is a coping mechanism for this anxiety. My second question this week was what a naturalist would  use to cope with this anxiety in loo of religion.

A naturalist who relies on their answers from scientifically observable facts would probably be better at coping with this death anxiety. Many people who base their beliefs off of science accept death more readily than those who believe in a higher power. Death is simply a fact of life. Our bodies simply decay and we must end our time on this Earth. To explain people who die young science could say it is the survival of the fittest. If that person had grown to maturity they would have undesirable traits or they would no be able to pass on any traits because of some medical or social issue. This explanation is not very satisfying but is more than nothing and could be a reason why some people turn to religion. Religion explains some things that science can not but science also explains some things that religion can not.

Overall a naturalist may be worried about death but could probably rationalize it more than a supernaturalist. A supernaturalist would ask questions such as "But I am a good person, why would God want me to die?" whereas a naturalist may think "I don't want to die but I know that it is inevitable and when my body has taken to much I will die."

Standing Alone

When we have people who share our opinions then it is easy to argue them. We know that no matter what we do there will be someone else in the world who will back us up. But what happens when we stand alone? There is a quote that many reference to that is easier said than done. "Stand up for what you believe even if you stand alone." Even with this wisdom, courage is more difficult to come by than finding a quote.

Someone can truly believe in what they are saying and fight every opposition. After a while though most people will give up and while they may still have their beliefs they are more likely to pretend they don't. When everyone says the sky is blue but you see the sky as green you are not going to go against what everyone and everything says. This is the problem when it comes to minorities. They are taught that their beliefs are wrong and no one wants to say otherwise so even if they are not they feel alone.

Look at the rate of suicide among homosexual teens. They live their lives in the closet because no one they know is open about their sexuality. They hear in the hall every day words like "that's so gay" and "faggot". These young men and women feel so isolated that they are unlikely to fight for their point of view. I am not saying that there are no people in this world who are willing to fight for something in which they stand alone but there is an outstanding number of people who are frightened to stand by themselves and because of this will not argue their opinion.