Anti-Semitism In France!

[Wheetsin 714]

I just cant understand how fear of the end does not seem to overwhelm you when confronted with it.

No person of sound mind likes to think about their death, and by some regards a concept of the universe that does not include the "I" is impossible to have, since we are the proverbial centers of our own universes. But there's nothing to fear. You can worry about what will happen to your kids, or how you will die, or what will become of your body, or countless other things, but what it really boils down to is "it doesn't matter", because you'll be gone and all of your regard for everything will cease to exist.

My mother and I were talking about my living will, and I indicated I either wanted t be cremated or - if I die of some unusual medical condition or something - to have my body donated for study. She asked me, "Doesn't the thought of your body burning bother you?" And I answered, "What - like I'm going to care? I'm dead."

[BJean 16]

Victorianna: Could you clarify something, please?

What does your sentence, "What I appreciate is the level of transparency you have given" mean? I can see it from a couple of different directions and they are diametrically opposed to each other in meaning.

[Alexandra 55]

What I love about my my faith and belief in Christ is that I have the gift of the reunion of my relationships in the resurrection. I have recieved this comfort and I also can leave this legacy to my children and grandchildren. I can understand that others belief that death is final and thats all there is to it so make the best in the here and now. I just cant understand how fear of the end does not seem to overwhelm you when confronted with it.

Fear of death is a uniquely human phenomenon. It has kept me awake on some nights, indeed, though as I age it gets easier and easier to face. The thought that brings me comfort is that death is the ultimate shared experience--every single living entity that has ever existed has faced it, and I am no different. My long line of ancestors have all gone before me, and so too someday my day will come. It is just how it is.

I find comfort in knowing that however special I may think I am, the fact of the matter is that I'm just another human like everyone else. The highest of the high, the lowest of the low, we all come to the same thing in the end. All that matters is the here and now.

[green 6]

Eventually we all end up dead. Then we are beyond worrying about it. We are beyond everything: the good, the bad, and the ugly, so to speak. I find the thought of death frightening at times, comforting at others.

[BJean 16]

Green: I totally agree with you that sometimes I fear death and other times the thought of it can be comforting. I believe the thing that scares me is that I might be in agony for a long time, hooked up to machines. My loved ones would suffer even more than I would at a time like that and I would not like to cause them that kind of grief.

[Ron Cusano 0]

As a Christian, I do not consider death the end of existance. I believe it is the doorway into eternity. While I have human concerns over weather my death will be painful or the like, I have peace in knowing that this world is not my home and I am only passing through. I believe that God created man different that all other animals because only man has a soul, which live eternally. Where our soul, or consciosness exists in eternity is of the utmost importance from my perspective.

[BJean 16]

Some people consider the soul as just energy. If that were true, would all creatures have souls because they all generate energy?

[Ron Cusano 0]

Perhaps, but I get my understanding from the Bible which say's that God breathed life into Adam and he became a living soul. This was not true of the animals.

Some people consider the soul as just energy. If that were true, would all creatures have souls because they all generate energy?

[TommyO 5]

I fear death but not enough to need heaven, I beleive that death is similar to non REM sleep and I do not fear sleep.

I would say that death saddens me but it does not seem to me to be something I need to fear. To me death is no worse than what I expereinced before I was born and I do not look back with dread when I think of what it was like before I was born.

I think, and I could be wrong, but the greater the fear of death an individual has the more likely they will believe in heaven. I aslo feel that the greater the common fears of a society the more that society needs God and religion. The United Sates has always been a society of fear, far more so than here in Canada and Americans tend to be far more religious than Canadians. Another example of this is that studies show that more Americans have gone back to church since 9/11. As American's have become more afraid of the world they have looked for safety in the church. In Canada we are far less fearful of the outside world, maybe because no one is much interested in us, at least not enough to want to bomb our city's. Because of this we are less afraid of the rest of the world and as such we do not need to feel protected by God or by heaven.

I also think that fear creates aggresion so the greater the fear the greater the likelyhood of violence. In Canada we seem to be less afraid of the world and we are also far more apposed to War than Americans. It seems to be somewhat ironic but societies who are the most afraid of bein attacked by an enemy are often the most war like and they are also often the most religious. Hence the folks who talk of a belief in a kind and loving God also talk the most about blowing up their enemy to protect themselves. Does this not seem a little odd, it does to me!!

[BJean 16]

TommyO: I think that there may well be a whole lot to what you've said about fear, war and being afraid of death, as playing a big part in religion in America. Some preachers seem to home in on it and use it in their sermons to keep their congregation faithful. Even our president has used it to justify a lot of his decisions about the war. It is extremely distasteful to many United States Americans.

[green 6]

As a fellow Canuck, I would say that I am personally inclined to agree with much of TommyO's assessment. Religious beliefs are not expected to play a direct part in our politics. Such religious/political pundits (i.e. Pat Robertson) as you have south of the border do not exist up here. We simply do not have the Canadian equivalent. Indeed, our current Prime Minister is an acknowledged Christian and this may have lost him a lot of urban votes in the recent election. He has a minority government.

I believe that most Canadians take the approach that one's religious beliefs are a personal thing and should be left that way. We don't like to interfere with each other without being invited; we find it terribly impolite.

Though most Canadians probably are believers, I would be inclined to say that our national character is one informed by secular humanism. The issue of God and belief is never, ever introduced into the business of politics and governance. In fact, should a Canadian leader try to introduce such chat, he would be shredded, he would be torn apart by our media! In this respect Canada is much closer to Europe than to her southern neighbour.

[Ron Cusano 0]

I don't know Tommy! I used to think of death pretty much the same way you do, but when I came to faith, it was like hitting lottery! I came to realize that the best is yet to come for Believers!! What scares me personally is the way I used to think, figuring that when I was dead, I was dead. Now I know that we all live on, just in different places. The scary part for me was that I was heading to Hell and didn't even know or believe it.

I fear death but not enough to need heaven, I beleive that death is similar to non REM sleep and I do not fear sleep.

I would say that death saddens me but it does not seem to me to be something I need to fear. To me death is no worse than what I expereinced before I was born and I do not look back with dread when I think of what it was like before I was born.

I think, and I could be wrong, but the greater the fear of death an individual has the more likely they will believe in heaven. I aslo feel that the greater the common fears of a society the more that society needs God and religion. The United Sates has always been a society of fear, far more so than here in Canada and Americans tend to be far more religious than Canadians. Another example of this is that studies show that more Americans have gone back to church since 9/11. As American's have become more afraid of the world they have looked for safety in the church. In Canada we are far less fearful of the outside world, maybe because no one is much interested in us, at least not enough to want to bomb our city's. Because of this we are less afraid of the rest of the world and as such we do not need to feel protected by God or by heaven.

I also think that fear creates aggresion so the greater the fear the greater the likelyhood of violence. In Canada we seem to be less afraid of the world and we are also far more apposed to War than Americans. It seems to be somewhat ironic but societies who are the most afraid of bein attacked by an enemy are often the most war like and they are also often the most religious. Hence the folks who talk of a belief in a kind and loving God also talk the most about blowing up their enemy to protect themselves. Does this not seem a little odd, it does to me!!

[Victoriana 10]

What I mean by transparent is that the personal, close to the bone feelings were allowed to be viewed. Feelings that could be easily hidden so one could remain invunerable. When a person is transparent they are hiding nothing from anyone. I believe that is very honorable, and integrese. (I so wish I had spellcheck)

[Ron Cusano 0]

I don't think I agree with that. When we elect public officials we elect the person that they are and their values and beliefs are essential to their decision making. I think it would be impossible for a persons core belief system, especially religious and moral beliefs, to NOT play a major part in decision making since all decisions come down to one thing . . . is it right or is it wrong?

As a fellow Canuck, I would say that I am personally inclined to agree with much of TommyO's assessment. Religious beliefs are not expected to play a direct part in our politics. Such religious/political pundits (i.e. Pat Robertson) as you have south of the border do not exist up here. We simply do not have the Canadian equivalent. Indeed, our current Prime Minister is an acknowledged Christian and this may have lost him a lot of urban votes in the recent election. He has a minority government.

I believe that most Canadians take the approach that one's religious beliefs are a personal thing and should be left that way. We don't like to interfere with each other without being invited; we find it terribly impolite.

Though most Canadians probably are believers, I would be inclined to say that our national character is one informed by secular humanism. The issue of God and belief is never, ever introduced into the business of politics and governance. In fact, should a Canadian leader try to introduce such chat, he would be shredded, he would be torn apart by our media! In this respect Canada is much closer to Europe than to her southern neighbour.

[green 6]

I suspect that mainstream Canadian values and lifestyles are primarily secular, that of secular humanism, and that we want our elected leaders to reflect these values when making choices in policies which affect the rest of us. This is why such contentious policies as the right for women to choose and the right for same sex couples to have a civil marriage are likely to remain enshrined in law even though there are some groups who are terribly unhappy with these rights, and even though Stephen Harper's personal religious views would likely place him firmly in that list.

In Canada there is very much a city/rural divide on this business of social policies with the cities tending very much more towards a liberal view. Until 15 or so years ago the socially conservative right did not have a voice in politics at all. Our options were the economic right or the economic middle of the road or the economic left. Our social policies reflected majority attitudes which started from slightly to the left of your Democrats. This rise of the moral conservatives has been a recent business and the movement is centered in the Province of Alberta. Many, many Canadians are uncomfortable with the introduction of social morality into their government. We figure that our morals are our own damn business.