Something that every person is forced to come to terms with is death. It can be delayed but inevitably you will experience death in some aspect. Whether that’s as a child, when your goldfish you won at the fair dies suddenly. Or when you inevitably hit that opossum that waddles across the street at midnight. Death is always looming over us; which is why we are forced to come up with an idea to make death more fathomable.
There are many theories on what happens to us when we die, you could believe a fatalist point of view such as that we are nothing but carbon that breeds new life when we are inevitably put six feet under. (I think that’s kinda beautiful) Or a theory build on the foundation of religion, such as a Christian heaven/hell, a Hindus reincarnation, or a Buddhist rebirth. Each theory has its own merits, and flaws, but along with that they come with their own discourse.
For the sake of this only needing to be 500 words lets look specifically at the theory of a Christian heaven/hell, and the atheist view of when you’re dead, you’re dead. What happens if you identify yourself as one of these categories? How does that create discourse? Discourse is created by the ideals associated with each theory respectively. Such as the Atheist view being associated specifically to atheist, which the name itself has a negative connotation in society. Which then is tacked onto the theory, meaning that in the eyes of a silent majority people who side with this theory of life after death are Liberal, god haters. On the other hand if you side with the mainstream (American Mainstream) view of heaven/hell you are less likely to be challenged due to the positive view that the majority of society associates with this theory. Unless you are in a college level Philosophy course, in that case I wish you luck. This attributed societal pressure that comes with siding is why theories of life, and death is a healthy scratch from the list of acceptable table talk subjects. Which is incredibly dull, it can also lead to an interesting exchanging of ideals. Each troupe carries a set of ideals unique to the theory, and religion associated with it. Christians have a set of commandments given by God to follow. While an theist may strictly go by his own moral compass. These ideals are applied in all aspects of that persons life. Many even begin to preach their beliefs to others in hopes of “saving” them.
Another means of discourse when looking at the two is the implication of political biases. If you are a republican you no doubt are about many things but mainly god, guns, and America. We saw it in the previous election when Trump appealed directly to Evangelical Christians when establishing himself as one of them. Which no doubt helped garner a heap of votes. Republicans aren’t the only ones that pander, Democrats pander to the exact same audience just in a different manner. Why pander to the same audience? Both parties are aware of what happens if you identify outside of the majority. (Most Americans are Christian, or Catholic) If you were to come out as a atheist candidate there would immediately be a public distrust because you are operating outside of the societal norms. It’s the same as why we never see any third party candidates enjoy much success. Or why having a black president was such a cultural phenomena, or why Muslim senators are told to this day to go back to their country, even though they were born here. There is so much negative discourse surrounding certain ideals, and principles that we determine that those who believe or follow the operations outside of the norm to be mad.
So who’s right in the end? Are we going to enjoy our fate at the gates of heaven/hell, or are we going to die and cease to exists. No one knows for sure, but we cannot function without purpose, and part of life is establishing purpose. Which is why we latch onto these ideas with such unforgiving ferocity. In the end if we knew, life would be meaningless, like watching a game after finding out the final score. That’s why instead of creating a negative atmosphere around others thoughts, and beliefs we should encourage and learn from them to help better understand what life means to that person. Like High School Musical once said, “We’re all in this together.”
ENG-4610 Joseph Villella 