When you are at death's door.... No one say's " Please save me, stream of energy", or " It's a

I've frequently wondered why, when facing the prospect of imminent death, or horrible circumstances, such as tornado's, flood's, earthquakes or any life threatening situation, does the person involved not cry out to another life form, or any other form of spirituality, and the most frequently heard term, is something along the lines of, "Oh God" or "Help me Jesus".

Is this just an instinctive cry, a learned response, or is it something else altogether? Has anyone ever dealt with, or heard of someone about to pass away, who in their last breath, asked budda, or krishna, or the light within themselves to save them from their untimely fate?

No agenda here, simply curious, as to if this is a normal human trait, or if at that last moment we all turn to the same thing....

After all, if we are to be reincarnated, why would one fear death at all, and perhaps some would even relish it, as they move on from life to life....

I will return to check on responses in the morning, rather late here in the rockies....

reply to post by freetree64


the old saying is that there are no atheists in a foxhole?

some might say, "I AM SO SCREWED!!" but the majority will invoke a deity.




err, natural response to your scenarios, i think.

reply to post by fooks


Correct, and exactly to my point, " where does this neccessity come from"? To invoke a deity, as you've stated...

For me it'll be "Oh holy sh#t, help me lord." then I'm f-ed.

This is why I consider prayer and belief to not necessarily be the same thing.

If you were raised religious (even just a little...doesn't have to be fanatic), I can almost garantee there will situations where you would find the prayers "jerked out of you" with very little rational control -- war zones, medical emergencies, or maybe just intense personal stress. This reaction seems to come from somthing very primal and it seems totally disconnected from the higher reasoning aspects of faith.

Also, a lot of dying men call out for their mothers, too, as well as God.

reply to post by Heartisblack


Indeed, I believe the second most common response to this particular situation, is quite often the second part of your statement.....

reply to post by silent thunder


I was not awre of the mother part, thank you for that.... seem's only appropriate, after all if we do not have faith in wher we come from originally, at least we would be aware of where we immediately came from....

As my Jeep slid into the back of the 18 wheeler I didnt have time to utter anything EXCEPT This is gonna hurt !!!
Then the lights went out ,Given more time I would have asked for forgiveness but there wasnt time .Someone else may have said Lord forgive me . I guess last words depend upon the individual .

reply to post by granpabobby


Yes, its true, in fact some may not have the time to even think, as you have described.....

My father is a preacher, so he deals with people (Christian and non-Christian alike) dying almost on a daily basis. Unless he's lying to me, which I see no reason he would do, in his experience most people turn to whatever comforts them. Be it God, Krishna, Allah, or whatever. Though this does seem to be the case with most people (and him being a preacher means whoever's bedside he is at is most likely a Christian, so that's kind of skewed), he has also known Atheists and Agnostics to vehemently deny an existence of God as they die. One man despised the concept of God so much that his last words were "F*** God." So while most people do tend to call upon a deity, some do not. You also have to take into account the fact that most people are monotheists, so logically it makes sense that most people who die are monotheists and thus cry out to God when dying.

Edit to add: I have drowned twice (the first time I was a baby so that story doesn't pertain as much). The second time, however, I was 12 and I vividly remember it. As I was being dragged underwater - I had fallen forward on a Banana Boat (it's a type of raft shaped like a banana), and my neck and arms were caught in the corner of the rope (shaped like a V) so that I was being hanged and dragged underwater simultaneously - I remember trying to breathe. I also remember it not working. That's all that was going through my head: breathe, breathe, breathe, oh sh**, breathe, pass out. So I think the conditions of dying also have a great deal to do with last words/thoughts. Had I been slowly dying of cancer and had time to think, I would have done and thought entirely different. Given the circumstances at the time, however, all that was on my mind was trying to survive.

In a bad situation, the first words out of my mouth are always "Oh, sh*t"... no deity involved.

Can't say I've ever called out to any sort of deity in a scary scenario.

*shrug*




But I'm kind of liking your suggestion of calling out, "Please save me, oh merciful stream of energy !"

Originally posted by CranialSponge
In a bad situation, the first words out of my mouth are always "Oh, sh*t"... no deity involved.

Can't say I've ever called out to any sort of deity in a scary scenario.

*shrug*




But I'm kind of liking your suggestion of calling out, "Please save me, oh merciful stream of energy !"

Thought that was just me! I'd say the same. I was eight when my house burned down words I said was. "Holy sh#t I'm homeless now"

Originally posted by freetree64

No agenda here, simply curious, as to if this is a normal human trait, or if at that last moment we all turn to the same thing....

Some people cry out for their mother.

So we don't all turn to the same thing.

The question is put in a local context (but US based fundie-christianity isn't the whole world).

In Europe only a diminishing group would refer to any abrahamic deity, in Asia very few.

reply to post by freetree64


a cousin of mine (female) was dying of cancer and the christian congregation she was a member of were praying for her survival. it didn't work. i found this reaction strange considering with their beliefs she was going to a far better place, so why delay it? after all it was only the body she was wearing that was dying. (her 2 children were adults at the time.) i have no idea whether she was calling to Him as the moment of death drew near.

my personal experience was "ok, lets go, i'll manifest somewhere else". in 2002 i had lost a lot of blood over 6 days thru the bowel and thought my time was up. i was never born so i could not cease to exist. i had entered the world at melbourne and could leave the world anywhere. the kids had grown up, the farce was over. a new experience awaited me. however, i responded to a transfusion, refused a bowel scan, (boy, did that raise some eyebrows) and resumed my life shortly thereafter. "god" did not occur to me.

there is just existence and i am that.

reply to post by freetree64


I had a bad dream once. To wake up i asked for help and i woke up. I dont know what that means.

Originally posted by freetree64
I've frequently wondered why, when facing the prospect of imminent death, or horrible circumstances, such as tornado's, flood's, earthquakes or any life threatening situation, does the person involved not cry out to another life form, or any other form of spirituality, and the most frequently heard term, is something along the lines of, "Oh God" or "Help me Jesus".

I'm guessing by the very fact you posted this, that you have lived and interacted primarily with English speakers and Western cultures.

There is an instinctive response in many (perhaps post) to reach out to a "higher power"... but that power is dependent upon the core belief system of each individual. A person who lived their entire life *truly* believing beings from Sirius would be there to save them will call out to them.

What you are seeing is a reflection of your own cultural and social niche more than humanity as a whole. Especially humanity that is significantly out of contact and view from you.

Namaste!

Originally posted by freetree64
reply to post by fooks

 

Correct, and exactly to my point, " where does this neccessity come from"? To invoke a deity, as you've stated...

genetic code cry out for help. Naturally embedded GOD SAVE US GOD HELP US GOD PROTECT US...
GOD=related deity to the CALLER... Still GOD though
Be Well

Is there something to those who automatically invokataz GOD and to those that dont Just wondering?

reply to post by freetree64

who in their last breath, asked budda, or krishna, or the light within themselves to save them from their untimely fate?

Buddhists or Hindus perhaps though I'm not sure their attitudes toward death would involve supernatural salvation from it or an afterlife controlled by the gods.

Usually when someone mentions God or Jesus on their deathbed it's because they were either raised Christian or were at the very least raised in a culture where the majority of people are Christian.

why would one fear death at all, and perhaps some would even relish it, as they move on from life to life....

For the same reason that most Christians and Muslims still fear death, because even though they believe in an afterlife there's no guarantee that there is one. Not everyone has the blind faith of a zealot and, in my opinion, regardless of irrational afterlife beliefs most people understand full well the finality of death.

So I would say it's a cultural thing primarily, English, especially here in America, is filled with references to Christianity and God constantly through exclamations and figures of speech.