Is there such a thing as a 'meaningful' death?

You write: "Religion seems mainly to be focused on worshiping death and sacrifice. " So the first thing is to point out that this is an untrue statement. Replace the word 'religion' with 'Christianity' and you might be more accurate.

As it's a false premise that you're starting from, it's hard to answer the question in that context. Judaism is very much about living life. Nowhere in Judaism will you find the notion that being dead achieves more than living. However, once in a very long while there are situations where death is seen as preferable to the alternative. For example, at Clifford's Tower in York, a group of Jews were hounded by local people in 1190, took refuge in the tower and many eventually killed themselves rather than being killed by the murderous mob. Those who didn't were, as expected, murdered. So there was a defiance in this and a clear statement about their own autonomy, which can be seen as meaningful.

That's about it (there are other similar examples, given the many occasions of pogroms throughout Europe). Other than that, Jews emphasise the need to live life fully. This includes being able to come to terms with the inevitability of death, which is why the Jewish rituals around death are so helpful. But there is most decidedly no worship of death and sacrifice.

As I was about to post, I saw your edit to Angels. I have no sense whatsoever about paganism or Buddhism being based around death. What are you talking about here? Can you refer me to some evidence? I spent many years involved with Soto Zen Buddhism and there wasn't any worship of death there, I can promise you.

The Buddhist monks who self-immolated were doing so as a protest against inhumanity and are a totally different case from suicide bombers and kamikaze pilots whose aim is/was to take out as many other people as possible. The Buddhist monks might be seen as more akin to the Jews in Clifford's Tower.

EDIT: Whew!!! I'm astounded that you don't see a difference between people killing themselves IN ORDER to kill lots of other people and believing that their death will be remembered BECAUSE it killed lots of a perceived enemy, and someone offering their life as a protest against injustice . And Angels is right - they are able to do this through non-attachment and being committed to an ideal without ego-attachment. It's an entirely different thing, and an entirely different motivation, and has an entirely different place in the community thereafter, from a suicide bomber.

Where is the meaning behind death? You decompose into basic elements that feeds plants, plants feed carnivores, humans eat carnivores and the cycle continues.

Well, that's the physical aspect of it.

Spiritually, there is no capacity to think beyond death. Some believe they retain the values and beliefs of the person, but not their memories. So therefore a spirit without memories is just an empty vessel with pre-programmed instructions. Depending on your beliefs, if you are Christian you go to heaven or hell, if you believed in reincarnation, you get reincarnated into another vessel. Or alternatively, don't exist, don't think, darkness, no sense of time,etc which would scare the crap out of everyone.

It really depends on what you believe in.

the assumption of "no longer something" is bullshit. think of approximately this for a 2d, are you able to even understand a time the place your concepts isn't energetic and you're actually not questioning some thing? no you will no longer be able to via fact your concepts can not ever be destroyed or broken down. once you die your concepts will pass directly to a much better understanding and be freed from the actual obstacles of the human physique. possibly the assumption of god as an eternal "tension" extremely than a "being" is authentic, or possibly a mix of the two. possibly the means of your concepts returns to that collective "hivemind" it is "God" do no longer even difficulty questioning approximately it, a concern like it is previous the comprehension ranges of the human concepts, you could desire to fairly tension your self insane working around in psychological circles. you will locate out once you die is the appropriate answer i components you. only stay your existence.

Imagine ... you're standing on the street corner about to cross the street and suddenly this car screaches up to you, within a few feet, and this window lowers and a pistol comes out ... The assassin is ready to peg the guy in the picture. Unfortunately the person looks like YOU. He's about to pull the trigger and a friend of yours says "Nooooooooooo ... not GLOW!" and he jumps in front of you as the bullets rip from the gun. He lays there in a pool of blood looking up at you and says "You alright mate ... good ... that's all that counts" and he dies in your arms.

Would YOU consider that a meaningful death?

I rest my case.

Boo hoo ... it's a cruel world ... everyone is out for themselves ... no one cares about anyone else anymore ... the world is so unfair. Boo hoo. Wine ... OK ... ya over it ? Cool.

Peace out.

I AM

Dartagnon

Please don't use Christianity as the model for all religions. It's rather misleading.

Judaism has some excellent psychology for coping with the death of someone close, especially in terms of providing community support and guidance through the stages for all (mourners and community) involved. We certainly don't worship death, rather we remember those who have taught us through their lives.

The 'sacrifice' that we're asked to make is giving our time and attention to reflect on our lives and how we live them. That's good practice for anyone, regardless of the metaphysical model used.

Remember the drinking scene from "Fiddler on the Roof"? Our toast is l'chaim, to life. That's what it's all about, how to best live with ourselves and each other.

Death is extremely meaningful.

Please read two books, and you will understand this.

"My Descent into Death" by Howard Storm (forward by Anne Rice).

"Saved by the Light" by Dannion Brinkley (forward by Dr. Raymond Moody).

Death Record Search Database : http://deathrecordinfo.com/Info

If you kill yourself at a young age, there's a certain mystique that builds up behind you, and people usually want to inquire about the life you lived. This is seen all the time with celebrities.

Christians worship the living Lord.

The death of any and all of God's redeemed people is meaningful - for it's the portal through which the Christian steps into eternity and before the throne of Jesus Christ their Redeemer.

I certainly hope that you've learned from the Jewish answers here that Judaism is Not one of those religions that seems to be mainly focused on worshiping death and sacrifice!

From "Judaism for Everyone" by Rabbi Shmuley Boteach

Central to the Jewish response to suffering is a staunch rejection of the belief in its redemptive power. According to Judaism there are no ennobling qualities in pain…. The belief in the redemptive quality of suffering is a profoundly Christian concept. In Christianity, the suffering servant, the crucified Christ, brings atonement for the sins of mankind through his own sacrifice and torment. The message: Without suffering there can be no redemption. According to Christianity, if Jesus had not suffered and died on the cross, mankind would still be damned. Suffering is therefore extolled in the New Testament: “And not only that, but we also boast in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces hope” (Rom. 5:3-4). “If we are being afflicted, it is for your consolation and salvation; if we are being consoled, it is for your consolation, which you experience when you patiently endure the same sufferings that we are also suffering” (2 Cor. 1:6). Indeed, Paul even made suffering an obligation, encouraging the fledging Christians to “share in suffering like a good soldier of Christ Jesus” (2 Tim. 2:3).

In Judaism, however, suffering is anything but redemptive. It leads to a tortured spirit and a pessimistic outlook on life. It scars our psyches and brings about a cynical consciousness, devoid of hope. Suffering causes us to dig out the insincerity of the hearts of our fellows and to be envious of other people’s happiness. If individuals do become better people as a result of their suffering, it is despite the fact that they suffered, not because of it. Ennoblement of character comes through triumph over suffering, rather than its endurance.

Man’s mission was never to make peace with suffering and death, but to abolish them from the face of the earth for all eternity by joining God as a junior partner in creation. By studying medicine and offering aid to people in need, we live up to our highest calling of having been created in the divine image. The atheist doctor who struggles to cure AIDS is infinitely more in tune with the Jewish response to suffering than the minister of religion who tells his flock that suffering is part of the divine plan. The sinning businessman who may have never stepped into a synagogue but makes a loan to a colleague to save him from bankruptcy is more in tune with the Jewish response to suffering than the Rabbi who seeks to give a rationalization for why children die of leukemia…. Our role as humans is not to give meaning to aberrations, but combating them and to healing wounds.

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