Good stuff from Kim Fabricius
Another seismic shift in the landscape of death in the 21st century has to do with dying as much as death itself. How do people want to die? Almost unanimously people will say that, above all, they want to die quickly – in their sleep would be ideal, next best a stroke that kills you before you hit the floor. Traditionally, however, Christians have prayed to be delivered (in the words of the Great Litany) “from dying suddenly and unprepared”. “Unprepared”? Unprepared for what? Again, for “meeting their Maker”. But, again, no Maker, no meeting – and so no need for preparation: no need for repenting and amending, for cleaning up the clutter in our souls, for repairing broken relationships, for letting go. But how can it be that Christians themselves have slipped into this cultural attitude of indifference? Could it be that, for all intents and purposes, we have become practical atheists? Nowadays people don’t talk about preparations before they die, but they might talk about arrangements after they die. Simon Cowell, him of the X Factor, the richest man on television, said in an interview that “Medical science is bound to work out a way of bringing us back to life in the next century or so, so I want to be available when they do.” Thus has “eternal life” morphed into “unending life”, the resurrection of the body into the resuscitation of a corpse. Thus have the heights of the Christian hope been reduced to an abyss of morbid designer banality.
{ 4 comments… read them below or add one }
Pam 05.11.10 at 12:23 am
I’ve already commented on your excellent sermon on Ben’s blog. Addressing the excerpt above, I “hope” that in attempting to live out my faith here and now I am somehow simultaneously preparing for physical death. And, yikes, resuscitation of a corpse - morbid designer banality indeed.
Joel 05.11.10 at 2:37 am
Eternal life, but on humanity’s engineering as opposed to God’s gift? All civil divorce proceedings would have to be “no fault.” Or if the pretense of a cause were to be required, maybe the category of “eternal boredom” would need to be added.
Would there have to be a way to selectively delete old memories? And if not, what methods would have to been invented or pills manufactured to allow us to concentrate well enough to drive a car, take an exam, enjoy another person’s company, or temporarily push aside the perhaps bittersweet memories of one or more siblings who died 5,000 years ago, and maybe of as many as or more than 1,000 friends who died 100, 200, 300 or more years ago. I know that my substantially better performance on the ACT college admission test than on the SAT was not simply the different test formats but that my concentration was off during the latter.
One space and resource saving mechanism that might be desired or required is to lock up, in small spaces, “pre-criminals” — those neither convicted of or accused of violating any laws but considered more likely than not to do so. And we could even execute those thought likely to murder or rape.
Crime and war would soar anyway as people fought over limited natural resources. What little sense of humility currently exists would all but disappear. It might be that those of below average intelligence or looks, as determined by [X?] might be gently put to sleep.
A reservation to tour the Grand Canyon or to see the historic sites and sights of London might have to be made 250 years in advance.
I’m already tired thinking of the likely negative consequences.
Tony Buglass 05.11.10 at 9:54 am
Three old boys in their 90s were sat on a park bench, discussing the best way to die. The first wanted to be in a crash in a fast car - no time for fear or pain, bang, gone. The second preferred the idea of dying in his bed, surrounded by those he loved. They argued he pros and cons of each: absence of pain, discomfort and fear on the one side, with being able to experience the process on the other. They suddenly realised the third man was very quiet, and asked him how he would prefer to go.
“I was just thinking,” he said, “I’d rather be shot by a jealous husband.”
Over the years I’ve met a whole range of attitudes to death among Christians. One little old lady had a series of angina attacks, and each time I visited her in hospital afterwards she’d say “I thought that was my turn - oh, well, never mind, next time perhaps.” She was ready and waiting to go home. A retired maths and physics lecturer, a well-loved preacher, was dying of cancer - we agreed that since science is primarily about faith, that what he was now doing was the biggest experiment of his life. I’ve also met those who spend so much energy in denial.
I suspect it’s less to do with fear of death, or lack of faith, and more to do with fear of dying. What looks like ‘practical atheism’ may just be plain cowardice. I can understand that - I’m allergic to pain: it brings me out in a big yellow streak…
Pam 05.11.10 at 11:55 pm
Um, forget what I said above. Can I hide behind you when the going gets tough, Tony?