I'm not so sure it is a lack of comprehension on their part. I have known people who would be classed as prolife whi have had horrendous lives, they have felt suicidal, they have been where I am. Yet, somehow, they find a way to live with that pain. They keep going. They can still laugh and find joy in things. They dont live any kind of privileged life either. Far worse than mine. I am quite privileged and i come from a privileged background. I have often wondered whether I am just not able to manage pain as well. We are all different obviously and I think we should perhaps be able to accept everyone's differences.
I think humans are programmed to live, hence thr SI issues. It is natural to fight for life not against it. I think it is just simple human nature. From knowing the people I know, I know they know what death is, they don't fear death. They have stared death in the face and they have experienced the death of loved ones. I find it difficult to just people in a box and label them prolife. They experience life differently to us and that is okay.
That's an interesting take. I think you are correct in your 2nd paragraph, especially regarding human nature and the SI. They do indeed experience 'life' differently from us which is also another reason why they don't see it the same way we do.
I don't think all pro lifers do fear the void. My God Father once made my God Mother very upset over dinner saying he was ready to die. It wasn't that he hated life. Quite the opposite- they loved their lives. It was more that he'd done all he wanted to do, he was feeling the effects of illness and old age and he genuinely felt at peace to go. He wasn't even dieing at that point. It wasn't a depressive episode or anything- he wasn't suicidal either- as far as I'm aware. It was just a logical- I've had my fill. I'm not really sure about his religious beliefs though. Maybe he believed in an afterlife.
I couldn't really say about people who REALLY fear the state of being dead. I don't actually know that many! I know plenty who are frightened of the process... A friend of my Dad's was apparently terrified of his own mortality but (unsurprisingly,) he didn't like to talk about it.
It has always seemed weird to me- it's like- you (likely) won't even know about it- so what is there to worry about or feel like you would miss or regret about your life? Fear of an afterlife I DEFINITELY understand.
With regards to religion- definitely- I would say- partly a comfort blanket- we never really loose the ones that die before us- we'll see them again. Partly arrogance- we're FAR too important to only be mere flesh and bone mortals. Partly scare tactics- follow the rules or go to hell/ be reincarnated over and over.
Your God Father is quite rational based on how you described what he said, and I think the God Mother just didn't see that death was really an acceptable outcome and/or perhaps even that talking about it was unpleasant due to the fact that most people (even if death was inevitable, eventually as all living things, humans included, expire/die at some future point in time) just want to avoid the topic of death. As for religion, yes that is true that it was an invention used for social control as well as humanity's imperfect solution to address death, thus by many religions the idea of an afterlife was some way to cope with death and to presume that there is some part of existence and sentience that carries over. As an atheist, I don't buy into the religious arguments and thus is irrelevant towards me, contrary to some religious pro-lifers who like to use (like you said) scare tactics to try to intimidate, proselytize, and/or change another person's mind.
Yes, I believe that they very likely do fear the thought of being dead, so they place so much value on life and view it as something that must be prolonged, rather than seeing it as being a personal choice whether to continue existing or not. The fact that they fear our inevitable fate could be a reason why they try and force their beliefs onto others and could be why someone voluntarily choosing death over life scares them as it shatters their worldview that existence is always worth enduring. It does seem like to me whenever I see something pro life, it's like these people forget that we will all die anyway.
And after all, continuing to exist is only delaying the inevitable, that's all that existing could ever be, so if someone wishes to leave to prevent unnecessary suffering then there could never be anything wrong with that. In fact it makes sense to me to wish to leave.
Yes, all life that is created is set on an inevitable path towards oblivion, the only differences is the means, the time, and location, and circumstances for said individual(s). Some people end up dying peacefully at an old age, some die young, some die undignified, some lead horrific lives all the way to the end (and oftenly die uncomfortably, undignified), and the possibilities of suffering is endless. Non-existence and non-sentience itself is really the true winner as they never entered sentience or life itself.
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