From the Huffington (Puffington) Post:
Headline- Grief Without God Is A Challenge For Atheists
"When Rebecca Hensler's infant son died in 2009, she received numerous condolences from friends, colleagues and even total strangers she met online. She knew their intentions were good, but their words weren't always helpful. And in the rawness of her grief, Hensler found some of them downright hurtful.
Hensler is an atheist, so when people described her three-month-old son Jude as being an angel, or part of God's plan, or "in a better place" than in his mother's arms, the pain sometimes overwhelmed her.
"(Atheists) don't think we are going to get to hold our children again," Hensler told a group of about 30 members of the East Bay Atheists, a monthly gathering of nontheists, where her descriptions of people's visions of her son as an angel drew a few gasps. As the atheist community grows and matures, one thing people are looking for is a way to process grief and sorrow without the trappings -- or support -- of religious ritual and belief. Last year, Hensler founded "Grief Beyond Belief," a Facebook page where unbelievers can share their grief and loss in what she describes as "a safe place" devoid of God-talk. "When I became an atheist, death was one of the hardest issues I had to deal with," said Greta Christina, a prominent atheist activist who encouraged Hensler to establish Grief Beyond Belief."
For Christians, we know how Christ responded to the grief of death, the same way humans do today, for when His friend Lazarus died- Jesus wept. John 11:35
Headline- Grief Without God Is A Challenge For Atheists
Hensler is an atheist, so when people described her three-month-old son Jude as being an angel, or part of God's plan, or "in a better place" than in his mother's arms, the pain sometimes overwhelmed her.
"(Atheists) don't think we are going to get to hold our children again," Hensler told a group of about 30 members of the East Bay Atheists, a monthly gathering of nontheists, where her descriptions of people's visions of her son as an angel drew a few gasps. As the atheist community grows and matures, one thing people are looking for is a way to process grief and sorrow without the trappings -- or support -- of religious ritual and belief. Last year, Hensler founded "Grief Beyond Belief," a Facebook page where unbelievers can share their grief and loss in what she describes as "a safe place" devoid of God-talk. "When I became an atheist, death was one of the hardest issues I had to deal with," said Greta Christina, a prominent atheist activist who encouraged Hensler to establish Grief Beyond Belief."
For Christians, we know how Christ responded to the grief of death, the same way humans do today, for when His friend Lazarus died- Jesus wept. John 11:35
