Nonreligious Afterlife: Emerging Understandings of Death and Dying
Death Cafés are informal events that bring people together for conversations about death and related issues. These events connect strangers from across a range of backgrounds, including healthcare workers, hospice volunteers, and funeral directors, among others. Based on an analysis of focus groups...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2024-01-01
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| Series: | Religions |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2077-1444/15/1/104 |
| _version_ | 1797342655773933568 |
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| author | Chris Miller Lori G. Beaman |
| author_facet | Chris Miller Lori G. Beaman |
| author_sort | Chris Miller |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Death Cafés are informal events that bring people together for conversations about death and related issues. These events connect strangers from across a range of backgrounds, including healthcare workers, hospice volunteers, and funeral directors, among others. Based on an analysis of focus groups and interviews with Death Café attendees, this paper explores how participants construct and express conceptions of the process of dying and what happens after we die. Ideas about the afterlife have historically been shaped by a religious outlooks and identities. However, nonreligious lifestances have shifted how people understand death and dying. We suggest that notions of continuity of life are not the purview of religious people. Rather, participants in Death Cafés draw simultaneously on many ideas, and reveal ways of conceptualizing life after death—in various forms—without the guidance of religion. Based on conversations with attendees about their outlooks on death (and what may happen after death), our data reveals four main typologies of afterlife imaginaries, which we label cessation, unknown, energy, and transition. Among the diverse perspectives shared, we argue for the emergence of an immanent afterlife outlook. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-08T10:36:24Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-6855abb3f3944bc8a8d670fd01a8d883 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2077-1444 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-08T10:36:24Z |
| publishDate | 2024-01-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Religions |
| spelling | doaj.art-6855abb3f3944bc8a8d670fd01a8d8832024-01-26T18:15:01ZengMDPI AGReligions2077-14442024-01-0115110410.3390/rel15010104Nonreligious Afterlife: Emerging Understandings of Death and DyingChris Miller0Lori G. Beaman1Department of Classics and Religious Studies, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, ON K1N 6N5, CanadaDepartment of Classics and Religious Studies, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, ON K1N 6N5, CanadaDeath Cafés are informal events that bring people together for conversations about death and related issues. These events connect strangers from across a range of backgrounds, including healthcare workers, hospice volunteers, and funeral directors, among others. Based on an analysis of focus groups and interviews with Death Café attendees, this paper explores how participants construct and express conceptions of the process of dying and what happens after we die. Ideas about the afterlife have historically been shaped by a religious outlooks and identities. However, nonreligious lifestances have shifted how people understand death and dying. We suggest that notions of continuity of life are not the purview of religious people. Rather, participants in Death Cafés draw simultaneously on many ideas, and reveal ways of conceptualizing life after death—in various forms—without the guidance of religion. Based on conversations with attendees about their outlooks on death (and what may happen after death), our data reveals four main typologies of afterlife imaginaries, which we label cessation, unknown, energy, and transition. Among the diverse perspectives shared, we argue for the emergence of an immanent afterlife outlook.https://www.mdpi.com/2077-1444/15/1/104nonreligiondeath and dyingDeath Caféafterlifenonreligious afterlife |
| spellingShingle | Chris Miller Lori G. Beaman Nonreligious Afterlife: Emerging Understandings of Death and Dying Religions nonreligion death and dying Death Café afterlife nonreligious afterlife |
| title | Nonreligious Afterlife: Emerging Understandings of Death and Dying |
| title_full | Nonreligious Afterlife: Emerging Understandings of Death and Dying |
| title_fullStr | Nonreligious Afterlife: Emerging Understandings of Death and Dying |
| title_full_unstemmed | Nonreligious Afterlife: Emerging Understandings of Death and Dying |
| title_short | Nonreligious Afterlife: Emerging Understandings of Death and Dying |
| title_sort | nonreligious afterlife emerging understandings of death and dying |
| topic | nonreligion death and dying Death Café afterlife nonreligious afterlife |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2077-1444/15/1/104 |
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