Comments on: Atheist at a Funeral

By: Valhar2000

Valhar2000 — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 23:31:08 +0000

I guess you just can’t get any “friendlier” than that. LOL!

I think that the blog you are looking for is “The Doormat Atheist”. This blog is not it.

By: Marc

Marc — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 12:38:22 +0000

This is why I’m glad to be an atheist. Because I know that, when I go, there won’t be some asshole up at a podium using my death to push his agenda.

I guess you just can’t get any “friendlier” than that. LOL!

By: Friendly Atheist » Another Problem with Religious Funerals

Friendly Atheist » Another Problem with Religious Funerals — Wed, 19 Mar 2008 04:12:05 +0000

[...] Last week, Tobasco de Gama had an issue with religious funerals. [...]

By: Julie

Julie — Sat, 15 Mar 2008 01:39:45 +0000

That guy’s name is Tobasco. Couldn’t quite get past that part.

By: Atheists at a Funeral: We Sometimes Marvel at People’s Priorities « The Bad Idea Blog

Thu, 13 Mar 2008 23:55:57 +0000

[...] at a Funeral: We Sometimes Marvel at People’s Priorities Per the Friendly Atheist, I came across a great little essay by one “Tobasco da Gama” about his feelings about [...]

By: miller

miller — Thu, 13 Mar 2008 21:24:29 +0000

Was it a true story? Deathbed conversions are notoriously hard to verify.

Edit: Come to think of it, why does it matter if it was true? The rest of his life is way more important.

By: cognitive dissident

cognitive dissident — Thu, 13 Mar 2008 19:52:47 +0000

Horrible events like hijacked funerals are reminders that, as members of a misunderstood minority, we need to take responsibility for planning our own memorial services.

Write your own obituary (update it annually) and file it along with your will. Document your wishes for a non-religious event, pick the person to deliver the eulogy, select your own secular readings and music, and clearly explain all these things to your family and friends. When you’re gone and they’re suffering from your loss, the last thing they need is an insult to your memory from some fly-by-night-friar-Tuck who thinks he can get the last word in because you’re no longer able to correct him.

By: rekounas

rekounas — Thu, 13 Mar 2008 15:46:13 +0000

Last two funerals I attended were done by the same Catholic priest.

The first funeral was for a 27 year old friend that died of cancer. The second was a double funeral for a friend and co-worker and his wife that was killed by a drunk driver leaving two young children.

He talked about god’s calling and other crap like that. Each funeral was about 50 minutes with 40 minutes of the funeral not even talking about the deceased.

I found the whole thing unemotional and aggravating at the same time.

By: shalini

shalini — Thu, 13 Mar 2008 15:24:17 +0000

When I’m on my deathbed, I’ll make sure that there are *lots* of atheists around to ensure that nobody tries to preach about Baby Jeebus and rattle about a ‘deathbed conversion’. What could be worse than being known as an atheist who turned theistard/Christard at the very end?

By: Betty

Betty — Thu, 13 Mar 2008 14:22:16 +0000

I recently went to an extremely Christian memorial service in rural Alabama. Lots of prayer, lots of talk about God, quoting the Bible extensively, etc. I mean, the prayer had absolutely nothing to do with the woman who died; it was just ridiculous. Anyway, I wanted to share this experience because at this giant Christian extravaganza, there was a slideshow with wonderful pictures of the deceased woman. And attached to this slideshow were dozens of quotations about death, hope, motherhood, etc. A strikingly large number of the quotations were actually by famous atheists!! Evidently, someone just snatched some stuff off the internet without bothering to find out who these people were. No one noticed but me (as I said, it was rural Alabama...), but I have to say I was pretty amused (and shocked) by the whole thing.