THE DEATH WATCH-TWENTY-FOUR
(As I proceeded to write this portion of the Blog I had a feeling that it was going to be too lengthy for a single entry so I have split the following into two parts. Please reserve comments until you have absorbed the two parts.)
I fully expected to hear from some religious person about what I have been writing in my Blog but I was really surprised when I got this letter today from my cousin in Israel. First of all he is Jewish and as far as I know, not a very religious Jew. He has lived in Israel since WW-II and as a young man helped to settle the Holocaust survivors into what was then known as Palestine. Rather than copy the entire part of the letter that deals with religion I will take excerpts from his letter and comment accordingly. He is eight years older than I am and our paths have crossed several times over the years since I was about four until we last saw each other for my 60th birthday.
First, about your attitude toward the fact that you are, as it seems, about to die. You say that you are not afraid of it. I’m sure that some may think you are bluffing, but I don’t think so. Being eighty years old, death for me is not something very remote or irrelevant, and the thought of dying does not scare me either. After all, death is nothing more than not existing anymore, and this is not and should not be frightening. Nevertheless, we, human beings (animals as well) cling to life by instinct...
This leads me to your defining yourself, in your Blog, atheist. Consequently, you probably don’t believe in “life after death”, reincarnation, heaven or hell, etc… For you, like for me, death most certainly, means the ultimate end. So, Michael, if Atheism, for you, means that God does not exist, one can give you a good argument.
After all, as I see it, the universe is a creation. If so, who is the creator? How and when was the universe created? All theories dealing with the subject, including the “Big Bang” theory, do not provide us with a satisfying answer, since you can keep asking “what was there before?” And if they tell you that the universe is definite in size, what is there beyond its limits? And if you mean to say that time and space is unlimited, this is certainly something inconceivable by the human mind. So, for me “God” is a concept we use to explain all phenomena which are inconceivable. Those areas get narrower, along with progress and knowledge.
My biggest argument with organized religion is that it expects an answer for everything. Science is always in search of an answer and the easy route of “God is the answer” does not sit well with me. The exact date of the start of the universe is a debated question among religious folk and they all come up with different answers based on their interpretation of the Bible, or whatever book they are using as The Bible. Why is that really important? In “Inherit the Wind” the argument is made that God did something on a day which preceded the creation of the sun and the moon and yet we measure a day by the rising and the setting of the sun. That “day” might have been a billion years or more.
I fully expected to hear from some religious person about what I have been writing in my Blog but I was really surprised when I got this letter today from my cousin in Israel. First of all he is Jewish and as far as I know, not a very religious Jew. He has lived in Israel since WW-II and as a young man helped to settle the Holocaust survivors into what was then known as Palestine. Rather than copy the entire part of the letter that deals with religion I will take excerpts from his letter and comment accordingly. He is eight years older than I am and our paths have crossed several times over the years since I was about four until we last saw each other for my 60th birthday.
First, about your attitude toward the fact that you are, as it seems, about to die. You say that you are not afraid of it. I’m sure that some may think you are bluffing, but I don’t think so. Being eighty years old, death for me is not something very remote or irrelevant, and the thought of dying does not scare me either. After all, death is nothing more than not existing anymore, and this is not and should not be frightening. Nevertheless, we, human beings (animals as well) cling to life by instinct...
This leads me to your defining yourself, in your Blog, atheist. Consequently, you probably don’t believe in “life after death”, reincarnation, heaven or hell, etc… For you, like for me, death most certainly, means the ultimate end. So, Michael, if Atheism, for you, means that God does not exist, one can give you a good argument.
After all, as I see it, the universe is a creation. If so, who is the creator? How and when was the universe created? All theories dealing with the subject, including the “Big Bang” theory, do not provide us with a satisfying answer, since you can keep asking “what was there before?” And if they tell you that the universe is definite in size, what is there beyond its limits? And if you mean to say that time and space is unlimited, this is certainly something inconceivable by the human mind. So, for me “God” is a concept we use to explain all phenomena which are inconceivable. Those areas get narrower, along with progress and knowledge.
My biggest argument with organized religion is that it expects an answer for everything. Science is always in search of an answer and the easy route of “God is the answer” does not sit well with me. The exact date of the start of the universe is a debated question among religious folk and they all come up with different answers based on their interpretation of the Bible, or whatever book they are using as The Bible. Why is that really important? In “Inherit the Wind” the argument is made that God did something on a day which preceded the creation of the sun and the moon and yet we measure a day by the rising and the setting of the sun. That “day” might have been a billion years or more.
posted by Michael at
12:03:00 AM
3 Comments:
it seems like an argument for ego more then it is an argument for god. there really is no reason, and very little rhyme. the sun is only the sun because we call it the sun. we only see it the way we do because of the physical make-up of our eye. we don't actually cling to anything. our ego does. when we die it is only the death of our ego. our hair and nails continue to live. our cells act like cells. they do not cling to any such hopes and dreams of life or heaven. they know perfectly well that they have been, that they are, and that they will continue to be. it's actually in their unknowing that they function so well as themselves.
no?
By
Anonymous, at 2:11 AM
Not to be flip, but since the answers to life after death and such matters have a required step involved I've always figured it could take care of itself until such time.
I just don't have the ego to make statements regarding the non / existence of god.
By
Chuck Butcher, at 12:29 AM
Thanks for the note Chuck. I'd love yp hear what you have to say after reading the second part. I read your profile and I am also a bearded Gemini with Liberal leanings.
Peace, Michael
By
Michael, at 1:15 PM
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