Dying Without God
October 10, 2010 | Categories: Death and Dying, The Literary Doctor | Tags: atheist, death, death and dying, disbelief, dying, faith, God, human illness, humanism, narrative medicine, religion, religious coping, Richard Dawkins, Sam Harris, secular, secular humanist
Comments: 7 Comments
In downtown Los Angeles this morning, two very different celebrations went on within walking distance of each other. On West Temple Street, at the beautiful and contemporary Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels—a structure with no right angles in its adobe-colored walls—Catholic Mass was offered throughout the morning, in both English and Spanish. Five blocks south, at the stunningly refurbished Millenium Biltmore Hotel on Grand Avenue, the Council for Secular Humanism, whose stated mission is, in part, “to advocate and defend a nonreligious life stance,” was celebrating its 30th Anniversary, with a lineup of speakers that included prominent atheist author Richard Dawkins. The Secular Humanism gathering was sold out; admission to the Cathedral was free.
It would be hard to find two more contradictory congregations anywhere in the country (okay, maybe a UCLA/USC game, but that’s religion of a different stripe). Yet every single attendee at either location had, whether they like it or not, one thing in common: they will all die. The only difference is that some of them will die believing in God, and some will die in disbelief. But die they all will.
A huge chunk of narrative medicine literature deals with death and dying; a future literary prescription of this very web site will consider Leo Tolstoy’s The Death of Ivan Ilyitch, a novella describing in excruciating detail the fatal illness of a Russian parvenu whose religious indifference gives way to belief and rapture in his final hours.
But do contemporary atheists have the kind of deathbed conversions so rife in traditional literature? Will new age atheists like Richard Dawkins and Sam Harris cry out to Jesus as their blood pressure falls and their lungs fill with fluid? I think not.
During a quarter-century of providing medical care to patients with kidney failure, I have attended numerous dying patients and witnessed dozens of deaths. I recall no eleventh-hour conversions. Nowadays, there are atheists in foxholes. For the most part, it appears to me that the spiritual beliefs or disbeliefs patients hold throughout their lives are the beliefs they leave this world with. The atheists among us do not flinch, nor do the religious renounce God in anger over their disease.
So, are the deaths of those who die believing in God different in any way from those who die in disbelief? The answer is a qualitative yes.
One large study found that positive religious coping improved patients’ psychological adjustment to major illness by affording them a sense of meaning, control, and personal growth. (Ano GG, Vasconcelles EB. Religious coping and psychological adjustment to stress: a meta-analysis. J Clin Psychol. 2005;61 (4): 461-480.)
But another later study concluded that while all the above is true, positive religious coping in patients with advanced cancer resulted in higher utilization of intensive life support at the end of life, with no gain in survival. (Prigerson, Holly G, et al. Religious coping and use of intensive life-prolonging care near death in patients with advanced cancer. JAMA 2009; 301(11): 1140-1147.)
The faithful appear to die happier and better adjusted than atheists, but harder.
My personal observations agree with these findings. I have been impressed at how well some of my more deeply spiritual patients are able to endure the horrific diseases they are afflicted with, while detecting in some of my secular humanists a slight whiff of stunned fatalism. Sometimes, though, the religious don’t know when to quit.
Now it’s your turn. What are your thoughts on dying without God?
I was raised Catholic and I truly believe that a Catholic upbringing actually alters your DNA. I must admit I have noticed that some of the patients who profess the strongest belief in God seem to be the most afraid to go and actually meet Him.Perhaps faith gives you strength in adversity but it also gives you false hope that a miracle will happen and you will be healed? I’m not sure, I guess I haven’t experienced enough adversity yet.
My wife gets concerned that I question the after-life “HEAVEN”, She want’s to hang out, when I catch up with her? I would say I’m a believer of many paths with the base being Christian. I view life as I’m living in heaven or hell each 24 hours, it is my choice, how I treat life. If you ask, I’d say I’m ready to go anytime, but I would like to finish, experience, see, smell, taste, touch, learn “THAT”; LIFE! I’v worked in chronic illness most of my Social Work career (30 years); from HIV-AIDS, Alzheimer’s Disease and related disorders, now CKD/ESRD. I would say most patients believe in “GOD”, some have that absolute faith. The believer’s do fear/struggle with letting go of this life. The faithful let go and open to the promises of their religious/spiritual beliefs. The secular humanists or with out GOD in leaving life seem to rationalize that they met their purpose here and they return to the matter that they came from? I have to say that the few non-believers that I have worked with have had some attachment to something and it was hard to say good-bye. The knowledge of knowing that one’s life is being shorten by illness is a burden in itself. Stretches the mind and heart beyond physical pain.
I found it very interesting that in this instance, the atheist seemed to have an easier time letting go of life. My Christian faith tells me there is a heaven and therefore something to look forward to in death. Let’s be honest – there is the fear of the unknown for all of us believers. But Christian faith gives us hope – at least that is how I have viewed it until now. I assumed that an atheist would be more afraid to die, not wanting to turn loose of life since that represents the ultimate end. Perhaps our Christian faith is an even better coping tool for those loved ones left behind? Who knows! What a thought provoking short story. Thank you!
Thank you for visiting the site and commenting, Melissa.
It has appeared to me that religious faith gives believers hope not only for an afterlife, but also hope that their prayers in this life will make a difference and help them overcome their illness. A good thing, as it breeds a positive attitude, which is important in fighting illness. The downside is that a positive attitude carried to the extreme can become an unrealistic attitude, which can lead to the outcomes cited in the second article referenced–time on the respirator not well spent.
We can’t assume it was easier for the atheist to die; we can only know that the atheist gave the appearance it was easier to die. Clinging to atheism during life requires a certain amount of obstinance. We always hear the criticism of the Christian who must rely on “faith”, as if relying on faith were somehow silly or devoid of reason. But what about the atheist being really unable to ever set aside the question of an uncreated creator? It is atheism’s conundrum. So, if one has the resiliancy to turn away from that logic-problem during life, why do we think they would not be able to cling to their stubborness during death? What we will never be able to know with any certainty is what exactly is occuring inside their brain as they swallow one final time and draw a last breath.
Life, death, believer, non-believer – such personal matters that impact so many…as a nurse for more than 30 yrs I struggle with understanding the demands of death…why is it so hard for some and so easy and peaceful for others…why are families so selfish and determined to make Mom or Dad linger just to make the son or daughter feel better…why does letting someone die with dignity equate to killing them – as a Christian I know there is something better waiting for me – I don’t fear death but I do fear the kind of death I might have – so if I die and there is no God what have I lost but if I die and my God does exist then what have you lost…I think it takes more courage to believe in God than not to believe….
I like Katrina am in healthcare for many years. As and ICU nurse I often struggle with the decsions that some families make for whatever reason to prolong a life that appears to be struggling to die..who am I tho to pass judgement on what they believe and how they are thinking…so I must remind myself when I am in these situtations to just support their decisions in the most compassionate and empathetic way I can. I have also found that their fear of how their loved one will die is the most frightening thing to them. I often take a lot of time explaining the process of what we do as a healthcare team once they have made their decsions to withdraw care of their family member…I tell you, it is all in your approach both from a nurses standpoint and a physicians standpoint…I love my job as a nurse and would not change my profession for the world.