Boer, D.E. – 1009494 – Assignment 2
Throughout the years of mankind, all kinds of religious practices have surfaced the earth.
Each of these religions has his own view on the world around, and likewise each of them has
his own view on life, on death, and on dying. In this short essay three of these views will be
elaborated. We will start off with the Puritans around 1618 in America. Then we jump two
hundred years forwards in time to the Second Great Awakening in 1818. Thereafter we skip
another two hundred years to discuss present-day secular humanism. We will see how these
three differ in their worldview regarding life, death, and old age. Finally we discuss if secular
humanism can provide a viable alternative for people to prepare for death and find comfort in
dying.
When the first settlers came to America in the 1620s and 1630s they brought their religion
too. Thousands of Puritans set out ‘’to build the new Jerusalem’’ (Cole, 2006, p.32). The
Puritans believed in total depravity, that is the original sin of men. There were unconditional
elections. This means that every person deserved damnation, and you cannot escape
predestination. The Puritans also believed that there was however a limited atonement. Jesus
did not die for everybody. Just a few persons were destined to receive God’s grace and
salvation. God was seen as an old man, therefore if someone had reached old age it was seen
as a sign of election by God. ‘’Decisions about longevity and death remained in God’s
hands’’ (Cole, 2006, p. 83). Therefore, older people were to be respected, and were seen as
wise. On the other hand, the young people in the colonies ‘’remained dependents in
patriarchal households’’ (Cole, 2006, p. 80). The well-defined future and roles permitted the
slow implantation of religious tradition in the youth. To have a change at old age, you needed
irresistible grace. Surrender yourself to God and you might be elected. The preachers were
stern, and their sermons were one sided. Only they spoke. A continuous practice throughout
your life course was needed thought the Puritans. From childhood to old age, you needed to
believe in God with all you had.
Two hundred years later, during the Second Great Awakening, the times had changed. These
new movements, also called the revivalist, ‘’adopted a hygienic utilitarianism that had little
room for either the vicissitude of old age of the glory of God’’ (Cole, 2006, p.78). They
focused on teenagers and youth. They emphasis was on teenage conversion as old age ‘’was
nog the season to seek salvation: the chills and frosts of age are about as unfavourable to
conversion to God as the frosts and snows of December are to the cultivation of the earth’’
