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R.I.P.

Big0ne

Shared on Fri, 01/30/2009 - 08:17

I try to not make a point of throwing my beliefs in people's faces, usually.  I will freely discuss anything though if asked or if I see something that strikes me as particularly good, wrong or odd.  I have plenty of friends around this site who are what one might call "non-believers" or simply have a distaste for anything that might be construed as "religious".  I don't mind them and they seem to tolerate me pretty well too.  It's with that in mind that I want to point out that the following isn't meant to be taken with malice.

One thing that I've seen around the site, either in forums or blogs, is some of my "anti-religious" friends who will use the phrase "Rest In Peace" when talking about some hero of theirs or famous person who recently passed.  I can't help but chuckle when I see it.  It's not that I'm taking joy in the passing of another human's death, it's the sentiment of RIP.

Rest in Peace comes from the Latin, Requiscat in pace. Literally translated, "may he rest in peace".  It's actually a prayer.  Many early Christians believed that the souls of the dead waited in Hades until the day of final Judgement.  Some still hold that, though I think most believe that the departed go immediately to whatever final destination awaits them.  But you could see how a prayer like Rest in Peace would be important for the soul of someone awaiting a judgement.

What makes me chuckle is the atheist's use of the phrase.  Beyond using a "Christian" phrase to express themselves, what "peace" are they conferring to the dead?  What "rest" is there for them?  If you don't believe in an afterlife, a God or the eternality of the human soul, there is no rest.  Only death.  Rotting meat can't rest.  Why does decomposing flesh need peace?  It seems like such a silly thing for someone of that viewpoint to say.  Once a person dies, there's really nothing to say about him/her other than "lets get them in the ground before they start stinking up the joint".  Any conference of peace would be better given to the remaining family and friends.  Oh well,  I guess it's better than Rot Into Pieces.

Comments

ekattan's picture
Submitted by ekattan on Fri, 01/30/2009 - 10:10
Sorry Big maybe I was a bit ambiguous. Something that troubled me in the Bible was that Jesus resurrected with body and soul. This must have been the case in order for people to believe in a miracle. But we as humans only our soul does the crossing. Makes me wonder if Jesus who also was human may have only resurrected just by soul. It is the basis of many religions just like Christianity that our body are merely vessels and our souls are the true gift from God.
Go_Aachmed's picture
Submitted by Go_Aachmed on Tue, 03/18/2008 - 09:43
Uh... yep! And I'll keep whining until I get a head shot on you in R6V2 : P
Deman267's picture
Submitted by Deman267 on Fri, 01/30/2009 - 10:29
We say that shit to be polite,it's just an expression.Rather than say"lets get them in the ground before they start stinking up the joint". How they lived their life is more important to me than where you imagine they go.
JeepChick's picture
Submitted by JeepChick on Fri, 01/30/2009 - 10:35
@lol a Deman Nice blog Big!
Markus's picture
Submitted by Markus on Fri, 01/30/2009 - 10:52
Like many things it has evolved from its original religious meaning. Just like Christmas is no longer a religious holiday (to many) sayings such as "Rest in peace" and "Bless you" are no longer considered religious (again, to many people).
Eviluncle's picture
Submitted by Eviluncle on Fri, 01/30/2009 - 11:11
for the record I don't say bless you when peeps sneeze
Big0ne's picture
Submitted by Big0ne on Fri, 01/30/2009 - 11:13
Ek - First bear in mind, and you may have but I wanted to be clear, that Christ was both Human and God. His resurrection serves to fulfill Old Testament prophecy as well as His own. It also serves to give us hope for our own resurrection in Him. According to Scripture, we know that there was an actual physical resurrection of Christ as observed by a multitude of witness' to Him after His death. In fact, we read that He invited to disciples to see and touch the places were the spear pierced him. Here's a link that might be useful when thinking about body/soul resurrection... http://books.google.com/books?id=DC-TRU4tEvsC&pg=PT225&dq=The+Intermedia...
Big0ne's picture
Submitted by Big0ne on Fri, 01/30/2009 - 11:15
@ Markus - I prefer to think of it as "stripped" from it's original meaning. :lol:
H2Daddy's picture
Submitted by H2Daddy on Fri, 01/30/2009 - 11:35
Great post. Of course that is coming from a believer.
FreynApThyr's picture
Submitted by FreynApThyr on Fri, 01/30/2009 - 12:05
I don't know what a "nonbeliever" is. I do know what an atheist is and I have yet to see one voice their opinion on any subject anywhere on this site and I tend to zero in on religious discussions because I find them fascinating. I've seen a few people self-identify as atheists and than profess distinctly non-atheist ideals and I've seen a lot of self-described believers, Christians, and people with no defined belief system identify anyone without a traditional belief system as an "atheist." While this type of generalism makes for more succinct discussions it undermines the inherent complexity of the spiritual questions that are raised by the types of questions Big asks a lot of lately. These are complicated questions that fold a lot of important centuries old debates into a few paragraphs and the lure of these labels is often difficult to resist just to reduce the sheer amount of typing you might have to do to say what you really mean. To the best of my knowledge I've used RIP (an acronym whose history and literal translation I'm very familiar with) for three people on this site. Hunter Thompson, Betty Page and Eartha Kitt. All three of these people lived lives of extraordinary turmoil and were literally plagued by human frailty like few others. One of them found a little personal redemption later in life and lived in relative peace with their past. Two of them were hounded by illness, depression and self-destruction until the end of their days. Some belief systems condemn Thompson to eternity of torture and damnation for the choices he made in life. Mine does not. It extends a hope and faith that his troubles are ended and that the peace that evaded him in life is his in death. When I say RIP that's what I mean. You don't have to take it the same way, I'm just laying my explanation out there for examination. Couching it in an idiomatic expression that originates from the language of the persecutors of Christ should not be considered a tacit acceptance of Ancient Roman colonialism and jurisprudence. Randomly switching contexts between the historical/literary and contemporary debates of ideology and morality is not my style. It just muddies and oversimplifies what should be a complex personal journey of discovery for everyone.
budman24's picture
Submitted by budman24 on Fri, 04/06/2007 - 11:08
not only was he drunk but he had no license....that guy sucks
Big0ne's picture
Submitted by Big0ne on Fri, 01/30/2009 - 12:56
You're correct that it's extremely difficult to try and fully develop a point of view that fully addresses the position of every potential reader in this format. At least not without creating a wall of text like Dastard might do. ;) By atheist, I was referring to the general position of a lack of belief in a deity or afterlife. I know there can be a number of nuances within that broad generalization but again, I don't want to take the time to address each one. I suppose there's a whole discussion that could be had about how the meaning of words and phrases are being devalued of their meaning and whether or not that's good for society but I just found this particular instance one that made me grin. The point of the blog wasn't really to get into a debate over whether or not there is an afterlife or God, just an observation about how a phrase is used.
Deman267's picture
Submitted by Deman267 on Fri, 01/30/2009 - 13:19
I've said it before and will again-We're ALL atheists.Don't believe in Odin?Allah?How 'bout my pal the FSM? Atheism is a matter of degrees-I just go one more god.
TheDastard's picture
Submitted by TheDastard on Fri, 01/30/2009 - 13:30
"There are no Atheists in foxholes"
TDrag27's picture
Submitted by TDrag27 on Tue, 02/03/2009 - 14:45
I find it silly that you seem to use "atheist", "non-believer", and "anti-religion" interchangeably.
Eviluncle's picture
Submitted by Eviluncle on Fri, 01/30/2009 - 14:07
@ Dastard I can say from experience that there are Atheists in foxholes
webmonkee's picture
Submitted by webmonkee on Fri, 01/30/2009 - 14:39
Well, word and phrase etymologies are certainly interesting, but I would wager that the average person, and even the average poster in this blog, knows the etymology of very few of the words they use every day, and very few of the words they posted up here. I'll include myself in that category, and I'm a real word nerd. But, we do know the contextual meaning of those words and phrases, and so we use them to fit the occasion. Besides, I'm pretty sure the 'Kinemortophobics' would say 'Rest in Peace' for a whole 'nother reason. :)
Lbsutke's picture
Submitted by Lbsutke on Thu, 01/15/2009 - 12:46
KKKKKKHHHHHHHHAAAAAAAAAANNNNNNNN!!!!!
BalekFekete's picture
Submitted by BalekFekete on Thu, 04/05/2007 - 08:54
Major loss there for all us 'old school' movie goers (back when comedy was comedy and punches were not pulled). Might have to head over to Best Buy at lunch and pick up Porkey's just out of respect. :D
NorthernPlato's picture
Submitted by NorthernPlato on Thu, 04/05/2007 - 09:12
RIP, director of some of the earliest, great Canadian cinema =(
Devonsangel's picture
Submitted by Devonsangel on Thu, 04/05/2007 - 09:13
One of my favorites.:(
DruishPrincess's picture
Submitted by DruishPrincess on Thu, 01/15/2009 - 13:25
:(
DIE75's picture
Submitted by DIE75 on Thu, 04/05/2007 - 09:16
RIP... Man that sucks!
Kwazy's picture
Submitted by Kwazy on Thu, 01/15/2009 - 13:26
Damn it...LB beat me to it :(
lostsupper's picture
Submitted by lostsupper on Thu, 01/15/2009 - 14:12
Let's all bow our heads and observe a moment of silence for his fabulous prosthetic chest.
codemonkey's picture
Submitted by codemonkey on Thu, 04/05/2007 - 11:02
Fucking drunks.
thebrigade's picture
Submitted by thebrigade on Thu, 04/05/2007 - 11:02
so sad.
darththorn's picture
Submitted by darththorn on Mon, 03/17/2008 - 22:30
You still whining about your 360?
Anonymous's picture
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ekattan's picture
Submitted by ekattan on Fri, 01/30/2009 - 08:39
Let me ask you something Big, I have known the word resurrection to mean, revival or renewal. If when we die our souls go to heaven, does one not resurrect? If so, then why did Jesus resurrect with body and soul? First of all he was human, flesh and blood, like you and me. Aren't our body's merely vessels?
ATC_1982's picture
Submitted by ATC_1982 on Fri, 01/30/2009 - 08:46
Thank you for sharing. I learned something knew today.
pendragon's picture
Submitted by pendragon on Thu, 01/15/2009 - 17:17
: (
Big0ne's picture
Submitted by Big0ne on Fri, 01/30/2009 - 09:07
Ek, I've stared at your questions now for about 15 minutes and I'm not exactly sure what you're getting at or asking. lol The word "resurrection" used in Biblical terms would almost always be in reference to being "raised to life again". I'm not sure what to respond with beyond that just yet. Of course I am a little dense but I'm happy to give my personal viewpoint if you have a question.
TheDastard's picture
Submitted by TheDastard on Fri, 01/30/2009 - 09:17
Nice post. Most people do not realize how substantial a foundation Religion (and for America, Christianity) has built for society. I wrote recently about Freedom of Religion and I think many misunderstand what it means. Ever had an atheist say "Bless You" when you sneeze? While I doubt they are concerned that part of your soul tried to depart, it's funny that a this polite retort has its roots deeply ingrained in religious beliefs. That said, I don't like the 'Religious Right' trying to dictate public policy. I always thought I had free will to follow God or not.
Bob's picture
Submitted by Bob on Fri, 01/30/2009 - 09:26
+1 post
Bob's picture
Submitted by Bob on Fri, 01/30/2009 - 09:26
+1 post
Eviluncle's picture
Submitted by Eviluncle on Fri, 01/30/2009 - 09:41
Hey the church has stolen many an idea from other earlier religions so it is only fair for us to steal from them.

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