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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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38 comments (26 - 38)

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8

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

Love it. My sentiments entirely.

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!

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

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

"Wanna cookie?"

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

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 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

Yes. Dirt naps are the most restful things ever.

1

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

Honest response.

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.

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?

0

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

1

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

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