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Should athiest really be saying 'rest in peace'

Considering we claim it's unlikely for there to be an afterlife in the majority of cases and most of us think death is just that, ceasing to exist. Should we still be saying RIP, isn't that pandering to the same false hope of those religious folks?

JoelLovell 6 Mar 17
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39 comments

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1

Nothingness I don't know how much more at peace you could be ...

0

It's a tradition nothing more, and it saves a lot of agro at funerals

0

Regardless of belief it's been a method of connecting to people who were loved. We all liked actors and musical artists that have passed and it has become a universal standard of remembrance. It's harmless so why put so much energy into dispelling it?

1

I would say sorry for your loss amd wouldnt overthink it people expect you to say something comforting & I don't mind doing that because its ritual time and the whole ending of life is ritualised.

1

My go to response to someone dying is "So sorry for your loss" and/or "My deepest Condolences"

Honest response.

0

Yes. Dirt naps are the most restful things ever.

0

I don't see it as pandering to false hope. I see it as acknowledging that life before death isn't 2nd essarily peaceful, so we want our loved ones to have whatever peace can be found in their afterlife.

0

You can say RIP instead of the full phrase. That way, in their mind it's "Rest in peace" and in your mind " it's rot in peace," I say this tongue in cheek, because I feel bad about any loss to others and wouldn't really feel that way.

Geoff Level 5 Mar 21, 2018
0

I think resting in peace is fine, especially if your life was full of suffering at the end. Cancer, Alzheimers, or other health problems, death is personal peace, an end to suffering. Does not have to have anything to do with what you believe comes after.

0

Just what we need, the PROPER PHRASE POLICE........They're dead, say something comforting to the family ferpetssake.

"Wanna cookie?"

4

Absolutely not. It's a prayer. And the alternative to resting in peace is burning in hell (like hawking is now according to the xtians). I'm not part of that.

It is words to me , just words words that are expected - like 'I am sorry for your loss!'
I don't connect them to anything religious as I haven't had much exposure to religiousness. For me its as innocuous as saying "hallo how are you?" I don't think words only have one meaning, it depends upon your inflection and your facial posture your whole body stance facial colour - we 'talk' with everything we have otherwise how would we know when someone was lying?

@jacpod But this phrase has religious connections which can't just be ignored as you seem to suggest. So according to your logic it's ok to call someone a bastard if you tilt your head & smile & have the appropriate "facial colour"?

@GoldenDoll You know a lot about religion that I don't because I have never been religious,
and I still don't think it makes me 'religious' or 'not an atheist' to say words to someone that can be interpreted one person as comforting ,and by yet another person as being somehow compromised - And no I don't think I would ever call anyone a bastard.

@jacpod I know a lot about religion because I am an atheist. I have never been religious either.

0

What if by some stretch of the imagination, the energy that leaves a person's body when they die was constricted somehow? Where does the energy come from that creates a deformed fetus? Aren't storms created from colliding energies? So couldn't a person say with uncertainty to the deceased...RIP? There is certainly...uncertainty in the world at every level!

8

You got no fucking choice but to rest in pease because your dead

Love it. My sentiments entirely.

1

I have no problem saying "Rest in Peace". I won't say that 'I'll send prayers', but I will say 'your in my thoughts'. I'll offer my condolences and respect.
I also say gesundheit or bless you (though I do feel silly) when someone sneezes. And I wish people a happy St. Patrick's Day and Merry Christmas, even though I don't recognize 'Saints' or 'Christ'.
I have no issues with the simple things that express some sort of concern or well-wishes to someone else.
It's a little difficult to navigate the word as an atheist when Christianity is so engrained into societal norms.

But we need to be aware of what we perpetuate by using such phrases as rip. Resting in peace as opposed to burning in hell is not something I'd say.

@GoldenDoll I tend to agree, and you (everyone) have to make that choice with that in mind.
As I mentioned, I still say 'bless you" when someone sneezes. I'm saying it out of courtesy & compassion, but would really like to find an alternative. Hopefully one that I don't have to explain every time I say it.
There's something to be said, also, for hijacking a term and de-god-a-fying it... There are lots of common terms, sayings, actions, that started with one meaning and evolved to mean something more. The handshake, for instance, was initially developed to show that neither of you had weapons. We're a little past that, I suspect.

@scurry I say "Your health" when someone sneezes. Pretty self explanatory.

@GoldenDoll that's not a bad alternative. I'll have to try it out. 🙂 Thanks.

@scurry I and my family have always said “gesundheit”, Pennsylvania Dutch sneeze protocol. Means health.

@Barnie2years I've said that as well, on occasion. I should really try to get in the habit of using it (or some variation) more.
Cheers - and Health.
>>> Mmm - Thought >>> I wonder if I could get away with saying "Sláinte" (Gaelic for Health)

UPDATE: My Boss just sneezed and I said "Sláinte"
Yay Me!! LOL

4

It's certainly better than that "In a better place" BS the religious like to trot out. Especially when I've just lost someone, even a cat! Not nearly as triggering, because the "better place" should be with me, and I'm sure my father, my 3 miscarriages, and my two most beloved cats would all rather still be here with me.

1

Actually it could be anti religious

RIP, I hope those god botherers are wrong.

7

I never thought of that as a religious statement or a reference to afterlife.

The opposite of rip is bih- burn in hell. So probably a little bit religious.

1

Yeah... why not? But I’m agnostic so it could never hurt.

1

It does bother me some, but it's better than any other religious platitude. Sometimes I think the expression may have originated due to the fear of ghosts or vampires.

JimG Level 8 Mar 17, 2018

Or the alternative - burn in hell.

4

Eh, I'm not a purist here. My late 2nd wife and my son suffered in life in various ways, and at least they are beyond the reach of their suffering. In that sense they are "resting in peace". It is unfortunate that the only peace many people ever get is found in oblivion.

0

An alternative view on "rest in peace" is actually like a prayer of the believer wanting the recently departed to "stay dead and not come back to haunt him" in any way. Don't be moving around any and just stay motionless in the ground. RIP was taken later to mean you are "resting in heaven" but ideas of heaven have little to do with rest. RIP as something you are doing in heaven just don't measure up. It is all superstition.

1

I don't think it's bad to say. I have been dead. It was blissful. Rest in peace to me means, your fight is over you may lay down now. It doesn't necessarily mean "have a good afterlife". I prefer it to "well poof you gone!" Or "you're in a better place".

0

I have no problem with RIP. There are physical remains, be they ashes or a body, and also the memory of the deceased held in the thoughts of those who remember him/her.

Here in Hawaii, ashes (or cremains) are often scattered in the ocean or on a lovely vista. Folks often say "Rest in Paradise" with Paradise referring to Hawaii, not a supernatural heaven.

I hope memories of me rest peacefully in the hearts of those who have come to care for me and wherever my kids choose to have any remains of me is a peaceful place.

0

Its personal. I have not said that to anyone.

5

Would "remember in peace" be to wierd...

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