I once heard the great Christian theologian R. C. Sproul quote an atheist friend of his who said, “It is good to be an atheist until it comes time to die.” Atheists feel free during their lifetimes because they’re not beholden to a manipulating deity or a religious institution. The problem is that once they near the ends of their lives, they find all their years of freedom are powerless to change the totalitarian rule of death. Maybe that’s why our largely atheistic culture spends so much time trying to get us to read books and buy products that create the façade of eternal youth. If we could just look in the mirror and see a face without wrinkles or a scalp with more hair, we might be able to hide the symptoms of the only disease without a cure, death.

Why would we evolve the ability to be anxious about something so inevitable? One could argue that fear would be the ultimate manifestation of the drive for survival, but then why, when death is imminent, do we wish we had reconciled with an old friend, been a better parent, or found a way to serve mankind? People on their deathbeds don’t ask themselves why they weren’t faster, stronger, or more cunning; they end up asking themselves why they weren’t more vulnerable. Isn’t that odd? Wishing you had been more vulnerable in life sounds like a terrible evolutionary idea!