comments_image Comments  When It's Not God's Plan: 8 Things to
Say to Grieving Nonbelievers   Photo Credit: Lisa S./
Shutterstock   If you know someone who's grieving a death, and
they don't believe in a God or in any sort of afterlife, what do
you say?  A lot of religious and spiritual believers find
themselves stymied, at a loss for words, when the atheists and
other non-believers in their lives are grieving. The comforts
and consolations they're used to offering, and that they rely on
themselves, don't do much good with atheists and other non-
believers. "It's all part of a plan." "I'm sure they're smiling
down on you now." "You'll see them in the afterlife." Etc. At
best, these notions are useless for atheists: at worst, they're
actually upsetting.  Some believers behave very badly at these
times. It's all too common for religious believers to use death
and grief, and the heightened vulnerability that comes with it,
as an opportunity for proselytizing. And when confronted with
the reality that non-believer