curiosity question to athiests/agnostics - what do you/would you tell your children about death

[vi edit]

This sort of came to me the other day in drunken stupor....but as an athiest, you pretty much reject any form of an afterlife, so, how do you describe death to your children?

Do you pretty much say that they are dead and that worms are going to eat them? Do you say that they are going to a "happy place"

As a non-christian, but definately a believer in "something higher power", I'm not quite sure how I will handle that situation.

As a non christian, who doesn't believe in heaven in the christian sense, I really don't know what I would tell a future child about the death of of thier grandmother/aunt/ect.

Does anybody have any advice on what they do?

BTW - this is not meant as a troll post in any way.

 

[JellyBaby]

Well I'm not an athiest but I value truth. No I wouldn't tell a child worms will be eating the dead. Geez who would? I would, depending on the youngin's age, either say they're going into a long, long sleep or simply give them the truth: nobody really knows. Then when they're older, I'll share my views and how I came about them. But I don't believe in scare tactics...and I don't believe in lying to them (unless I'm really in a pinch ).

 

[Pretender]

There's no need to bring up how your body decomposes, regardless of whether or not you're an athiest. In my family the subject of death never came up, so I'm guessing it's not a popular subject of discussion in parenting. I'm not a parent (far from it, actually), so I don't know what I'd say, but I guess I'd be honest, and probably emphasize the rest of their life and try not to have them concerned about death, unlike christianity where the goal is to devote your life to where you'll go in the afterlife.

 

[GammaRayX]

I say how you plan to tell a child about death is more based on the temperment of the child, and how he/she hands this kind of information/news. And more importantly, if you think the chind can handle it, or get depressed and/or have nightmares.

Personally, I think "overprotecting" a child does more harm than good. They will eventually enter the real world, and having experience some of the real world means they will know how to handle it, such as death, when they encounter it, and not go wacko.

I probably won't goeo into the worms and decomposing body. But I will tell how precous life is, and not to waste it, for thats the end of the line (no afterlife). And if a realtive dies, I might want to point out the postiives in their lives also. In short, I tell it as it is (based om my atheist beliefs) w/o getting gorry and bring about nightmares for the poor kid.

 

[Raspewtin]

Atheism doesn't equal no beliefs in afterlife.

Atheist deny the existence of any god only. Agnostics say that any ultimate reality is unknowable.

 

[Tripleshot]

Its a painless sleep you never wake from, until the angels take you away to heaven.
(those old enough to question that response get a completely different reply)

 

[Czar]

I´m an Athiest also but I would just say that the body dies but no one knows what happenes to the soul, we dont know do we?

Its still higly unlikely that something else then it just goes with the body, its only just what the brain tells us.

 

[Pretender]

The only thing I remember thinking about death when I was a child is that dying was going to hurt a lot and I was scared of that. What happens after you die never really entered my mind.

 

[chipbgt]

I rmemeber seeing my first "death" on tv and not being able to sleep at all that night....next day I was fine. wierd.

 

[clintT]

their on vacation

that's all have to say about that

 

[JellyBaby]

I have never worried much about death. I've come close to it at least twice that I know of and both times I was ready (though the first time was when I was very, very young). As long as your contemplations of the afterlife cause you to be positive in this life, I say you're valid.