



Letter to the Editor published in American Atheist, Nov. 2001,

Bruce T. Flamm, MD, California . THE TYPE OF ADVICE GIVEN BY A PHYSICAN TO AN ATHEIST PATIENT WHO IS DYING Comfort for the dying Atheist

As a physician I have seen my fair share of death and dying. Unlike the death scenes we see in movies death is often a prolonged and agonizing process. Could there be any stronger evidence for the lack of a loving or merciful God? Every hospital I've worked in, even the most secular of institutions, has a chaplain or other clergyman standing by to comfort the dying person and his or her family. These clergymen are almost invariably Christians who come to the deathbed armed with the purportedly priceless gifts of salvation and eternal life. Is it any wonder that the Church grows richer every year? But what does the Atheist have to offer a colleague who is about to die? Perhaps more than one might think.



1). A hand to hold. Not just any hand but a hand connected to a brain that thinks rationally.



2). A reality check. Cognition and memory tend to fade in our final hours and the resulting confusion can be frightening. Remind your friend that ghosts, goblins, ghouls, devils, purgatory, hell, and other bizarre figments of religious mythology do not exist. Reassure your friend that Christian threats of eternal punishment are both primitive and absurd.



3). Immortality. The Atheistic belief that we cease to exist at the moment of death is almost certainly true. But in the greater scheme of things we do, in a manner of speaking, have the opportunity to live on after death. If our ideas and actions have advanced humanity, even in a small way, then a part of us does live on. Remind your dying friend of this fact.



4) Peace and tranquility Clergymen and evangelicals know that there is no better place to proselytize than the deathbed. But for the Atheist the same unwanted appeals to savage thinking that have always been annoying may be unbearable in the final hours. Screen visitors and politely but firmly insist, No, my friend does not want to hear about Jesus.



5) Gratitude. The Atheist who gives to Atheistic, free thought, and other rational organizations has changed the world for the better. Unlike the individual who leaves money to a Christian church in a misguided attempt to buy salvation, the Atheist expects nothing in return. Thank the dying Atheist for this unselfish act and for helping to make the world a better place for future generations What follows is by JK. 6). That future non-existence is no worse than the non-existence before birth. [This fact was argued by the Epicurean philosophers and is found in De Rerum Natura by Lucretius. 7). That the atheist is unto himself true. He doesn't have to suppress the obvious conclusions that as happened unto Fido and Polly, so to will happen to him. Nor does he have to believe that a beneficent Jehovah created has created a world full of illness, poverty, and cruelty and allows it continue--or the absurd excuses such as he must test us to find out who is worthy of salvation. Nor does he have to fret that he will not be among the 144,000 blessed (as stated in Revelations) and thus eternally to endure hell fires. 8). That if perchance there is a god, we have a soul, and the god chooses among the soul which shall be blessed in the hereafter, it is far more likely that he will choose a rational, thinking person who comes to a reasoned conclusion about god and worship then some religious fool—the turning around of Pascal's Wager . * David Hume, one of the 2 greatest English philosophers, recalled what transpired with the death of Voltaire: a member of the clergy being present who said that Voltaire had underwent last rites. (However, the Church must have known this to be a lie, for they would not allow Voltaire to be buried in church grounds). David Hume arranged before his death to have Boswell, the famed English chronicler and Hume's friend present, to prevent the same being said of him as was of Voltaire. A reading of Adam Smith's short account of his last day and his short autobiographical sketch reveals that he was far from frightened at the prospect of eternal non-existence. He writes of an inner calmness and relief as the end of his life approached. IMMORTALITY A couple of considerations on death which are strong evidence against the immortality of the soul. 1. Do you believe in existence before life? {If yes, then what did you do for the last 12 billion years?} 2. I believe that not living after death is no worse than not living before birth--Epicurus. 3. Do you believe that there is a dog heaven? Then why do you believe that what happens to me after death is any different than what happens to Fido? However, like special creation, the position on immortality of the soul is essentially a religious belief and thus their assertions in support of the immortality of a soul turn upon those sophistries offered in support of their god. Their descriptions of existence after death are just an elaboration of what their god likes and how their god has given them special knowledge. For those wishing to be entertained on the topic of Christian faith, there are the illustrated brotherhood of religions and where is god's son? On point is the list of the basic reasons to be without religion . On the issue of post-death existence are works by John Stuart Mills and Lucretius the Roman Epicurean. In a passage that merits reading for its conciseness and clarity, John Stuart Mills explains his father’s opposition to religion for being the greatest of evils and the results of this evil are describe in James Haught’s Holy Horror. SEARCH: Tripod The Web