# I'd want to die praying in church **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [June 26, 2015, 6:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/id-want-to-die-praying-in-church/723517 "2015-06-26T06:36:58Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Try2B\_Comprehensive](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/try2b_comprehensive/32/65_2.png) [@Try2B\_Comprehensive](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Try2B_Comprehensive)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2015, 6:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/id-want-to-die-praying-in-church/723517/1 "2015-06-26T06:36:58Z")
Don’t get me wrong: I am no Bible fundamentalist. Far from it. Nonetheless, there is something wholesome about praying in church, and an implicit recognition of mortality in the act. Considering one has to die sometime anyway, I’d just as soon die praying in church with a bullet in my head as anyplace else. You don’t have to believe it. But you must admit, aesthetically, it is a good way to die. ---
**Author:** ![Novelty\_Bobble](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Novelty\_Bobble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Novelty_Bobble)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2015, 6:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/id-want-to-die-praying-in-church/723517/2 "2015-06-26T06:51:14Z")
Naturally I disagree. I don’t have any faith so I’d much prefer to die doing something either fun, useful or noble, those being the criteria by which I’d judge a good life. So…being hit by an avalanche on a black slope aged 90, sucked into a black hole while expanding the boundaries of science, rescuing children from a burning house. Those are far “better” ways to die. ---
**Author:** ![Try2B\_Comprehensive](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/try2b_comprehensive/32/65_2.png) [@Try2B\_Comprehensive](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Try2B_Comprehensive)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2015, 6:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/id-want-to-die-praying-in-church/723517/3 "2015-06-26T06:53:27Z")
Well, I’d argue by your criteria that it would be a ‘noble’ death. Aesthetically speaking, of course, but you must admit, that often trumps other concerns in this present world we all observe today. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2015, 7:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/id-want-to-die-praying-in-church/723517/4 "2015-06-26T07:00:06Z")
> [@Try2B\_Comprehensive](#): > > But you must admit, aesthetically, it is a good way to die. Not from the cleaners’ point of view :mad: ---
**Author:** ![Verily](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/e9a140/32.png) [@Verily](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Verily)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2015, 7:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/id-want-to-die-praying-in-church/723517/5 "2015-06-26T07:05:09Z")
> [@Try2B\_Comprehensive](#): > > Considering one has to die sometime anyway, I’d just as soon die praying in church with a bullet in my head as anyplace else. You don’t have to believe it. But you must admit, aesthetically, it is a good way to die. I’m sorry, but this strikes me as flat-out incoherent. First of all, I don’t want to die because some shithead with a gun decided it was my day without consulting me on the matter. Secondly, I don’t see what’s so aesthetically wonderful about being shot while kneeling down and talking to yourself. I don’t think that sounds like a “good way to die” at all. So no, it’s not true that I “must admit” that, because I think it’s gibberish. Thirdly, even if you are a believer and want to glorify the victims as martyrs, that’s not even what they are. They weren’t killed for refusing to renounce their beliefs. They were killed because a racist asshole felt like shooting holes in black people. There’s nothing good about that, and I find the insinuation that they had good deaths to be, frankly, sickening. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2015, 7:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/id-want-to-die-praying-in-church/723517/6 "2015-06-26T07:08:51Z")
The people who get killed for their beliefs don’t find it any more “aesthetically pleasant” than those who get killed for the color of their skin. Painful and terrifying yes; aesthetically pleasant, no. Getting murdered sucks - the landscape and motivations don’t ever make it aesthetically pleasant. ---
**Author:** ![Jonathan\_Chance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jonathan_chance/32/701_2.png) [@Jonathan\_Chance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jonathan_Chance)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2015, 9:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/id-want-to-die-praying-in-church/723517/7 "2015-06-26T09:37:42Z")
More opinion, really. Let me move that for you. ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2015, 9:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/id-want-to-die-praying-in-church/723517/8 "2015-06-26T09:59:58Z")
> [@Try2B\_Comprehensive](#): > > Considering one has to die sometime anyway, I’d just as soon die praying in church with a bullet in my head as anyplace else. You don’t have to believe it. But you must admit, aesthetically, it is a good way to die. Death may be inevitable, but ideally, however it arrives, it should arrive at the end of a long life well lived. It’s especially not an aesthetically pleasing death when the deceased leaves behind young children, as some did in this case. If a bullet strikes me down while I’m praying at the age of 92, I’m fine with that. If a bullet strikes me down while I’m praying tomorrow, leaving my wife to raise our 7 year old son by herself, that’s a very different story. ---
**Author:** ![Cinnamon\_Imp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/58956e/32.png) [@Cinnamon\_Imp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cinnamon_Imp)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2015, 10:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/id-want-to-die-praying-in-church/723517/9 "2015-06-26T10:00:03Z")
Can’t remember what chain of links lead me there, but I’ve just been re-reading about[this guy](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arland_D._Williams,_Jr.) this morning. Yeah, if I have to go, saving five other people ahead of me (live on TV so my family get the credit) would be a good note to exit on. ---
**Author:** ![elbows](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b3f665/32.png) [@elbows](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elbows)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2015, 11:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/id-want-to-die-praying-in-church/723517/10 "2015-06-26T11:17:10Z")
While I can see a certain appeal in being taken whilst communing with your God, a bullet to the head still lacks appeal, I’m afraid. I definitely don’t want to go out in some extraordinary fashion that garners national attention and have my death circumstances discussed in the national press. Nor in connection to some significant political or societal change that will likely be revisited for possibly decades. But mostly I would hate if my death, in whatever fashion it is delivered, was witnessed by others, traumatizing them for all time. That seems the worst to me! ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2015, 11:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/id-want-to-die-praying-in-church/723517/11 "2015-06-26T11:48:51Z")
Personally, I’d be embarrased dying in a church. My friends would all be like, “What the fuck was _ **kayaker** _ doing in a church??” ---
**Author:** ![Cinnamon\_Imp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/58956e/32.png) [@Cinnamon\_Imp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cinnamon_Imp)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2015, 11:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/id-want-to-die-praying-in-church/723517/12 "2015-06-26T11:49:49Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > Personally, I’d be embarrased dying in a church. My friends would all be like, “What the fuck was _ **kayaker** _ doing in a church??” Nah, they’d understand it was the lightning bolt that killed you as you walked in. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2015, 11:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/id-want-to-die-praying-in-church/723517/13 "2015-06-26T11:54:11Z")
nm ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2015, 12:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/id-want-to-die-praying-in-church/723517/14 "2015-06-26T12:06:44Z")
“In my own bed, at the age of 80, with a belly full of wine and a girl’s mouth around my cock.” _~~Tyrion Lannister_ ---
**Author:** ![lieu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c2a13f/32.png) [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2015, 12:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/id-want-to-die-praying-in-church/723517/15 "2015-06-26T12:11:02Z")
Dying in church from a bullet wound… I’m afraid I don’t understand, is it a mere mortal or God himself that’s putting a cap in my ass? If it’s a mere mortal then getting murdered by some punk sucks no matter where it happened. And if it’s God, well, I’d sure hate to be the one that gets him 15 to 20 in the poke (with time off for saintly behavior.) ---
**Author:** ![Slithy\_Tove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slithy_tove/32/18248_2.png) [@Slithy\_Tove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slithy_Tove)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2015, 12:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/id-want-to-die-praying-in-church/723517/16 "2015-06-26T12:21:07Z")
When I was little that was how I was afraid I’d die, if I let the communion wafer touch my teeth. ---
**Author:** ![Your\_Great\_Darsh\_Face](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/ac8455/32.png) [@Your\_Great\_Darsh\_Face](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Your_Great_Darsh_Face)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2015, 12:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/id-want-to-die-praying-in-church/723517/17 "2015-06-26T12:35:07Z")
> [@Fear\_Itself](#): > > “In my own bed, at the age of 80, with a belly full of wine and a girl’s mouth around my cock.” _~~Tyrion Lannister_ At the age of 80 and with a belly full of wine, there’s essentially zero chance that your cock would be doing anything meaningful. ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2015, 12:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/id-want-to-die-praying-in-church/723517/18 "2015-06-26T12:37:17Z")
> [@Your\_Great\_Darsh\_Face](#): > > At the age of 80 and with a belly full of wine, there’s essentially zero chance that your cock would be doing anything meaningful. Hence the girl’s mouth around it. She does all the work. ---
**Author:** ![Hector\_St\_Clare](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b5ac83/32.png) [@Hector\_St\_Clare](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hector_St_Clare)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2015, 12:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/id-want-to-die-praying-in-church/723517/19 "2015-06-26T12:42:21Z")
> [@Fear\_Itself](#): > > “In my own bed, at the age of 80, with a belly full of wine and a girl’s mouth around my cock.” _~~Tyrion Lannister_ On that note, Tyrion’s dad had a fairly sh\*tty way to die. ---
**Author:** ![Slithy\_Tove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slithy_tove/32/18248_2.png) [@Slithy\_Tove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slithy_Tove)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2015, 12:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/id-want-to-die-praying-in-church/723517/20 "2015-06-26T12:49:38Z")
In prostitutes’ argot, the girl is the one who’s “praying at the altar.” [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/id-want-to-die-praying-in-church/723517.md?page=2)