What can an atheist say to a friend who is grieving the death of a loved one? Believers have a standard repertoire: “He’s with God now.” “I’ll pray for you.” “She’s in heaven now.”
As I’ve written before [1], I don’t really have a standard phrase to utter in those situations, but that’s probably for the best. I certainly don’t want to sound like a greeting card. [2]
Greta Christina recently raised this same issue. [3] She and her readers compiled a list of approaches for people who don’t believe in God. Her extensive list includes the following:
1. “I’m so sorry.”
2. “I remember when… /My life is so much better because of…”
3. “What can I do to help?”
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