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When looking back on all of the multiple subjects we have learned about death and dying, the subject that stuck with me the most would have to be in Chapter Four and Five when we read specifically about western culture’s perspectives on death and dying. As I first read the introduction piece of the chapter, I immediately found how fascinated I was with the idea that western cultures are the only culture to typically see upon the conversation of death as scientific and factual compared to other cultures of the world that seem to know exactly what happens to us during, after, and whilst death is happening. However, as I questioned why exactly western cultures such as Europe and the United States were predominantly seen as a “Death-denying” culture, I then realized there were still religions such as Christians, Mormons, and Catholics that were and in some ways are still the backbone of western societies. America was basically built off of Christianity, creating most if not all of their amendments and laws upon the bible and their faith at the time.

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Regardless of how many religions there may be in America and all over Europe, western societies have over the years found a dramatic surge of decrease in belief and practices when it comes to church, religion, and practices of said religion. Life no longer surrounds God. Personally, I think it may be because of our recent embrace of technology and science. The Internet more specifically, has been with our recent generations since birth. If you can’t explain something, you go to the internet to find the answer whether it be a year that a movie came out of how long brian activity lasts after death. In fact, this phenomenon has occurred so much as of recently that churches as well as sociologists have named this occurrence Secularization. Secularism has been around since Ancient Greece and was first introduced in the United States in the 1920’s but officially started to rise in the 1960’s. Secularization is the overall decline in influence that a church or a religion holds over a society. Throughout history religion has been used as a leash to keep common folk such as civilians in a persuasive, controllable, state of mind to ultimately induce fear and instill dominance upon the government and its people. In the beginning religion was not about scrutiny and power over others. It was more so about treating other with kindness and creating a peaceful environment for all. It was solely based for humans to get a sense of something bigger than themselves to put their faith in. Secularization in the United states specifically has been a feared issue by the church in recent years due to the rise of technology and belief in science. Throughout the past decade the United States has become an economic, scientific, and self-sufficient nation that has taken things such as religion, God, and the church into question when it comes to morals, credibility, and power.

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Annual gallup polls from 2008-2015 showed that a fraction of Americans that did not identify with any religion rose from 14.9% in 2015. At the same time, Americans that identified as Christians sank over 80%. Statistics do show that in the span of a couple years, Americans have started to see more scientific and technical evaluations when it comes to their beliefs and religious standpoints. The beliefs that the majority of Americans articulate today is that God was initially formed to fill the video of knowledge when it comes to the unknown. It wasn’t until Ancient Roman times where they realized how powerful and controlling religion could be in society. Though the majority of the Romans were not actually religious themselves, they knew that if they warped religion into their own agenda, people would be much more obedient and abiding when it came to rules and beliefs that “God” had placed. Religion had an evolutionary advantage, that advantage would be a form of social cohesion such as the inability for abortion, homosexuality, and so on.

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As technology and artificial intelligence grows in the modern era, the majority of society is able to begin to understand that religion at the end of the day is how humans from long ago dealt with limited knowledge of surrounding wonders such as the existential question why? Why were we as humans placed on earth with rationalism? Why are we the only species birthed with comprehension? With rationalization and self awareness?  Human beings are inherently anxious about the unknown, it terrifies us especially with the dawn of technology giving ourselves an immediate answer to anything and everything at our fingertips. All except for death and God. Therefore in order for us to cope with the question as to why we are here and where do we go once we die? We long ago created an answer for ourselves as to our lord and creator of all, God. Thus leading into the second and final discussion as to why are all western countries such as Europe, the United States, and Canada deemed death denyers? In other areas of the world death is not only celebrated but also accepted. And despite the uprising in technology, they are still devoted to their beliefs and religion. The question now is why? How come it is only religions that are practiced in the western regions that are rapidly falling?

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Vulnerability of accepting the reality of the fragility of life and its numerous stems in the vein of dying affects psychological systems in which the dying individual can be afforded the convenience of denying death rather than make sense of their situation. Fragility in American culture is typically ineffably predicated upon the variety of rugged-individualism historically ingrained into the larger culture, generationally influencing the way in which societal perceptions of taking care of ourselves medically, physically, and emotionally are based. That, as a factor, can translate into “death as a concept” fundamentally being purposely ignored as a response to the aforementioned vulnerability and exposure therein; Death and the accounting of its implications can be overlooked until time approaches demise. Additionally, the lack of transparency and unwillingness to be vulnerable enough to have conversations involving death can be, at least in part, attributed to American superficiality and the consumer culture in which it is based. Success, especially financially and monetarily, will always be prioritized in any civilization or society cradled in the foundational capacity of capitalism. In relation to this notion, it is important to realize the tragic contention it incorporates into the American idea of acknowledging death and its components. To deny death, is to withhold information about the state of being an individual facing it, (before the death has occurred despite clear indication(s) of dire circumstances regarding a persons’ condition.) Most agree it is ethically dangerous to withhold this information, however, the behavior continues as it engenders a dying individuals' dignity by removing their agency to address the situation. Harking back to the earlier idea that weakness even in death is frowned upon as their worldview permits them to accept the suggestion that poor health or declining health is a marker of being unsuccessful in life especially if the scenario correlates financial standing with ability to access supreme health care or medical attention.

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America has over time inhabited death as a “Transactional” means when it comes to dealing with financial circumstances. America has always rooted itself in treating civilians as consumers. In modern America, there is no specific celebration of life besides birthdays and funerals. Fear is most certainly ingrained within almost every American through social media, news, and societal stance to fear death for it is deemed avoidable when no matter what, death always occurs. It  goes back to what was said earlier, about how the United States perceives death as preventable.

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With the most amount of cosmetic surgeries as well as different operations that will possibly extend your life. Unfortunately, many Americans see through with surgeries such as these. As to the rest of the world, they carry the question as to if religion is truly about undying faith and pleasing a God, or perhaps a large, sub conscience coping strategy for simply not having an answer for death, dying, and the afterlife. With that being said, can fears of the unknown and death still be the main reasons that underlie the tight grip of religion over human life, as it was in the days of scientific ignorance and deep seeded fear, or could it be spiritual weakness and a need with daily affirmations and reinforcement explain it all? Without a doubt, ignoring all of the gathered knowledge of our universe as well as evolutionary development of our species while giving God credit may seem like the furthest from reality, however as a human being looking for answer as to why we were placed here, may gain us spiritual tranquility as well as a protected and sacred protection against what we fear the most, death and the unknown.

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austinpublishinggroup.com.

https://austinpublishinggroup.com/depression-anxiety/fulltext/depression-v9-id1115.pdf

https://www.washingtonpost.com/religion/2022/01/14/secularism-atheism-religion-nones/