As a non-theist, believers frequently ask me, “But what will you do if you find yourself facing God after you die?” Of course, that begs the question, “Which God?” but for the sake of simplicity and hypothetically speaking, I’ll stick with the Gods I know of, and because I’ve had one God in particular pushed at me for 47 years, I’ll start with Him.

So . . .  when I die and if I find myself face to face with the Christian God, I will ask him, “Is that shit in the Bibles mostly true?” If God says, “No, it’s nothing like that all.” Or he says, “No, it’s mostly not true.” Then I will sit and ask him how it really is. However, if God says, “Yes, the Bibles were mostly true.” Then I will say, “You can go blow yourself, you deranged, demonic, cruel, murdering jerk! Show me the stairs down to Hell because I won’t speak with you a second longer.”

To which you may be thinking, well He’s going to send you there anyway, and true enough. Just making the point that I will go willingly and feel I’ll be better off for it. You see, I am going on what he said about the Bibles being true, and the behavior of this God and his counter part Mr. Lucifer  in those very Bibles.

To my readings of the ol’ black tomes, by page 4 God has lied, he’s denied his new creations sight, knowledge, and being like God, then he punishes not only Adam, Eve, and the Serpent, but he punishes everyone who comes after Adam and Eve. He goes on to ask obnoxious things of people to show their faith, including killing a son. He strikes people with plagues and boils, and he kills cities and the planet full of people. Oh except for Noah and his family, plus a boat load of animals. He murders more people than Hitler many times over. Lucifer, on the other hand, tells the truth, tempts Job under God’s conniving request, and offers Jesus a Kingdom. Throughout history Lucifer tempts people repeatedly with things like drugs, sex, and rock and roll. Jesus said Hell is fire and brimstone, but good ol’ Lucifer never says anything of the kind. Who can we believe? Not God, on page 4 he lied!

I’ll take my chances with ol’ Satan down in Hell, and he can tempt me for all eternity. I may likely even take him up on those temptations. What the Hell. I’m dead anyway!

On the other hand, if the God I find myself face to face with after death is no God at all, but instead the Goddess Athena, then I will say, “Goddess Athena, had I known of your existence I would have built an alter in your honor. Every day I would have adorned it with flowers in gratitude for the wisdom you have bestowed upon me, for the lovely loom you invented so that we all have clothes, and for protecting Athens.” I don’t actually live in Athens, but hey why not give credit where credit is due. And then I would ask Athena if she’d take me to the great Cosmic Library. I figure as the Goddess of Wisdom, she’s probably got some killer Galactic Internet connection I’ll be able to tap into for all eternity. I figure I have a decent chance of going to Heaven with Athena.

Or, maybe I’ll find myself face to face with the Great Tree a group of tribal Africans prayed to daily on a show I saw on Discovery. If that is the case, I will say, “Oh Great Tree God, I have spent much time in the forests, and I’ve always appreciated the oxygen and water they put into our atmosphere, and the way you take the carbon dioxide out of it. I have tried to be frugal with tree products. I even bought a Kindle!” With my much practiced reverence for trees while I was alive, I think I have a good chance of going to tree Heaven.

But all this hypothetical bullshit aside, all this nonsense about Gods and Goddesses, what is more likely to happen is this:

When I die, my consciousness will blink out like a light bulb that’s blown it’s filament. Do you wonder where the light goes when you flip the switch off? No! The bulb no longer generates light if it’s not getting electricity or if the filament is blown. In the same way, the function of my brain called consciousness will operate no more when I’m dead. Dana thoughts, emotions, responses, etc. will cease. Dana will be but a memory, either pleasant or annoying, in those who knew her, until they too are dead. My body will rot if I’m buried, but preferably my Will has been followed, and my body will be turned to ash. In either process, all the molecules that were this body will be released and the universe will recycle them back into clouds, dew, rivers, trees, rocks, bugs, new stars, or who knows what. In fact, who cares? Not I!

Death is the end of life. It’s the flip side of the coin. There is no reason to think anything happens to a person after they die except that the cells cease their activity, and the thing we called a person exists no more. It will be exactly like it was for me 14 billion years before I’d even come along. I wasn’t aware of anything then, and I won’t be aware of anything after my death. Because awareness is a brain function after all, and after death that marvelous brain is nothing but a mass of inert goo.

Death is the end of human suffering. It’s the end of all suffering. It’s simply the end. But understanding that, I am able to appreciate the dog warming my feet, the smell of the forest after a rain, the beauty of the play of light we call a rainbow, the interaction with my children, the help and support of my friends, and so much more. I know I have this one and only one life to live, so I participate fully in each day, savor each moment, even the shitty ones. I am free of silly beliefs and fears.

The religious or spiritual quest is one that just takes you farther from yourself, who you are, and what life has to offer, right here, right now, exactly as it is. This is it, and this is plenty! Live your life mindfully, as though it were going to end any second.

Tags: Death

This entry was posted on Saturday, November 21st, 2009 at 6:26 pm and is filed under God. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.