Welcome to Stepford

It always bugs me when people offer these words for comfort, “he/she is happy now” or “they are in a better place” after someone has died (including pets… which are people in my book). Even worse is “they are in Heaven” or “they are with The Lord.” These things do NOT comfort someone who does not believe in an afterlife, Heaven, or The Lord.

It is correct to say that their suffering has ended, and those are words of comfort to be sure when there was suffering taking place before death. As for being in a better place after you die, it gives many people comfort to imagine/believe that there is a reward of some kind waiting, and that we will be reunited with all our loved ones again.

I have often thought about how truly awful it would be if everyone (again… animals included) lived forever in some other place, and everybody knew each other from their previous lives. Want to spend eternity with all your exes? Your in-laws and ex-inlaws? All your previous pets? All the animals you killed for food? How about the countless animals sacrificed so that their blood would appease a god... might even be the god you are planning on being near. How about all the dinosaurs?

Believers in Heaven think that all imperfections are removed at the Pearly Gates (and what about the poor oysters who had to produce all those pearls? Ouch! OK, maybe the pearly stuff is created by magic miracle, like loaves and fishes... magical fishes who were never alive and not meant for Heaven), but how could anyone or anything be interesting without nuances, quirks, and individual personality traits? I’m picturing a communal mind with one Controller (you-know-who) and no free will at all. Does that sound like a happy place? And there’s no way to leave it either, not unless you manage to sin (and how would sin be possible if it’s all perfect?) and get tossed out like Satan did in the old myth. Well, I don't know... I don't even think I'd want to be on a permanent happy pill.

Click on the graphic below to read the finer print. Pretty good stuff.