Does religion help with fear of life, dying and death?

[Followtheinstructions]

I'm in my 50's and for as long as I can recall I have feared life, living, dying and death.

I'm talking from young childhood, I would lay in bed a night thinking and thinking, without any answers and would cry from my fear of the enormity of life. No idea why. I've had no childhood traumas and had a lovely childhood.

I was diagnosed ND last year, not sure if this makes me more prone to these thought processes but I simply can not compartmentalize life in the way others do. I over think everything.

I went to a CofE school with the church nearby and all events and celebrations were held in our village church. The village I still live in. I probably saw myself as (non-practicing) Christian most of my life until my 4 year old niece died from a brain tumour 15 years ago. I gave up on praying and believing, it felt wrong somehow.

Although I have a lovely life with a great dh, beautiful DC, family and friends I have always felt something is missing which may contribute to my fear of life? I don't know but could that be religion?

I am always drawn to more spiritual religions and beliefs and have wondered if Buddhism or something similar may be a better fit for me. I often ponder if it would help guide me to peace of mind and a more relaxed feeling towards life, living and death?

Does anyone find having a religion, whatever that means to you offers you some kind of peace, a feeling of being free from fears from the enormity of simply living?

Just something that I ponder now I'm past middle age and head towards my later years.

@Parker231

Anecdotes are defined as evidence - it's why the term "anecdotal evidence" exists.

Anecdotal evidence - Wikipedia

"Wikipedia quote: Anecdotal evidence (or anecdata[1]) is evidence based on descriptions and reports of individual, personal experiences, or observations,[2][3] collected in a non-systematic manner.[4]"

Anecdotal data is culturally and legally accepted as a form of evidence.

It's not scientific evidence, but it is a form of evidence.

Regarding scientific evidence specifically, there is some scientific evidence of an afterlife (I gave examples of this with the links I included.) Research done (since the 1880s) by the Society for Psychical Research, as well as the Institute of Noetic Sciences and The Windbridge Institute, has provided some evidence in favour of the possibility of an afterlife.

I am not saying that this evidence is totally conclusive or constitutes definitive proof beyond all doubt, but this evidence does exist.

The examples of anecdotal evidence you have quoted are no more credible than the examples I gave. All something someone has made up without being able to prove it.

@Parker231

If you don't think they're credible, that's fine. My point is that they are still a form of evidence. I've never said that you need to see the evidence as being credible or strong.

The links I posted are examples of scientific evidence, not anecdotes.

Completed Studies – Windbridge Research Center

The above link is a series of complete studies by the Windbridge Research Centre, carried out by qualified academic researchers. None of this is anecdotal data, this is scientific evidence from completed studies/investigations.

You misunderstand the nature of Christ Jesus: God the Father; God the son; God the Holy Spirit. All in One.

I looked up Windbridge - a lot of debate over their credibility

@Parker231

And if you're inclined to consider them a not-so-credible organisation, fair enough - but the results of their studies are from experiments by academic researchers. So the evidence from their studies is not anecdotal evidence, but rather evidence from experiment and investigation.

As I said there is doubt over their credibility. Their findings, from a very limited number of coached researchers remains heavily contested by the scientific and academic communities. No factual evidence, just heresy

My grandmother converted to the Catholic faith in her later years. When she was in her 90s she told me that she had had her allotted time on the earth and felt she was living on borrowed time. She said "If the Lord takes me in my sleep tonight I will be quite content." A few weeks later she asked my aunt to fetch the priest to give her communion. After that she refused an evening meal and breakfast next day. She told my aunt "I don't need breakfast where I'm going". She died two hours later off a heart attack. It was very quick. What was clear is that she knew she was dying, had made her peace with her deity of choice, and felt no fear,

My religion (Christianity) has helped with the fear of dying and what's after, to the point that I am not worried at all. It's not just the belief that there's a God, it's a strong belief in the person of Jesus Christ who promised his believers that He would prepare a place for us and return for His Bride (the Church).

Personally I am convinced that Jesus really existed, that He ministered to thousands during his short ministry, that he was crucified, died and then was subsequently resurrected and appeared to hundreds of people. Some of this was of course 'anecdata' as people witnessed Jesus after His resurrection over a period of about 40 days before he ascended to Heaven. His actual existence and crucifixion is documented both by Roman and Jewish historians. I'm not willing to discount any of this just because it was over 2,000 years ago.

You're free of course to disagree with this but that will make no dent in my own faith.

That's rather the point of 'faith' though. You can't prove it. If you could it would be called 'fact', not 'faith'. People can choose to, or not, to believe in the 'evidence' - the bible, historical accounts, people's testimonies and experience.
You can't point at something and say 'that's God' any more than you can point at something and say 'that's the wind', or 'that's love'. We experience the wind by feeling it and seeing its effects, and physics can explain it, but what does it look like? Same with love. It has chemical effects on us, can make us do stupid things, but what does it look like? The 'evidence' is there.... it's up to us whether we beleive or not.

There is a lot in the Bible without evidence - pure impossibilities

Strangely I have never been afraid of death, (yet!), rather seeing it as a next stage. I'm Muslim but also studied science, so the idea that people do not get their just desserts in this world does not sit right with me, so it just makes sense that God will dispense justice to each of us after we die, since we are responsible for our own conduct. Hence life is a test. I suppose I worry that I have sinned but also I have faith in God's mercy.

Also there is the concept of praising God in every circumstance be it good or bad because it is part of His plan and His wisdom which we may not be able to figure out; this brings enormous comfort and less anxiety.

Heresy is usually used in the context of challenging established beliefs of religions.

I suppose it can be used in the context of scientific knowledge and opinion but when it's used it tends to sound quite dogmatic and authoritarian to me. In any case, science should (and I believe is) a strong enough field to be able to stand amidst so-called heresy. Some scientific "heresies" in the past have later proved true. That's not to say that an afterlife will be proved true, but I'm happy to personally lean into it as to what I think is most likely to be accurate.

For others, it's up to them, if they're not convinced or don't find the data/testimony reliable, then they should not believe in an afterlife.

For Muslims, what do they think will happen to non believers when they die?

What does it matter whether any of this is real or not, explicable or not, factual or fantastical? If belief or unbelief give a person comfort and enable them to function healthily, why judge or analyse? When no demands are made that others should also believe or disbelieve, why not just accept difference?

It matters when those with a faith intimate that something dreadful will happen to atheists at end times or when we die when obviously it won’t or they try pass impossibilities off as fact - a virgin birth or resurrection as examples