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Politics : Sharks in the Septic Tank -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Neocon who wrote (9833)	3/27/2001 10:40:04 AM
From: epicure	Respond to of 82486

>it is like confessing you don't really care about what happens to them........ < If I eat an ice cream, do I want it to go on forever? Do I need to believe in a god of ice cream, that I may be assured of enjoying ice cream for eternity, in order to enjoy my ice cream now? Perhaps I realize that though I enjoy my ice cream now, I would not want to eat it forever. And for me, it is that way with existence. I can love it now, and let it go for whatever comes after- whether it is something, or nothing for me as an individual. Of course sometimes we all grieve for our own passing- in every artistic work in which someone dies we see the death of the self, and it helps us enjoy the work- but at the core, I am reconciled to the death of the self and I don't need anything to help me reconcile myself to my own death. My death does not make my life meaningless, because I say it does not- and since that is my thought, and my creation, no one can take that away from me. Does it need to have objective eternal meaning for me to be pleased with it? No. Would I argue that that is objectively true? No. Would I argue it could be true for you? No- from what you say it apparently could not be true for you. Does your apparent disagreement with my beliefs make my truth less true? No. Does that make either of us "right"? No.

To: Neocon who wrote (9833)	3/27/2001 4:29:33 PM
From: Dayuhan	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 82486

We live. We die. Does the inevitability of death make life less worth living? Why bother pretending to ourselves that we will have eternal life, when the only evidence suggesting that we might is our own desire for it? We make the most of our time here; when it's time for us to find out what comes after, we will. In the meantime, why not order our lives according to what we want for ourselves and our descendants, rather than on an illusory premise?

To: Neocon who wrote (9833)	3/27/2001 11:42:22 PM
From: E	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 82486

<<I cannot fathom being indifferent to the prospect of all that you loved, all that you strove for, end in dust and ashes. >> But that doesn't happen. You know your beloved children, and theirs, and theirs, will die; but you hope you gave them something that they will give, and that those to whom they passed it on will pass it on.... If you thought all you valued on earth, all love and art and beauty and goodness and sweetness and fun and funniness would pass.... well, it would be terrible. But if you feel that the aspects of you that you most value will continue in others, in those descended from you and those not, except "spiritually," then... all is well. This life is just your turn to embody those qualities or live those experiences. Neither of my atheist parents had any fear of death at all. My mother even said, at the end, "Don't worry about dying, E. It isn't very hard."