05.06.09
Winter is iccumen in
Go gentle into that good night
by Roger Ebert – Chicago SunTimes
Reposted from Dawkins site
http://blogs.suntimes.com/ebert/2009/05/go_gently_into_that_good_night.html
I know it is coming, and I do not fear it, because I believe there is nothing on the other side of death to fear. I hope to be spared as much pain as possible on the approach path. I was perfectly content before I was born, and I think of death as the same state. What I am grateful for is the gift of intelligence, and for life, love, wonder, and laughter. You can’t say it wasn’t interesting. My lifetime’s memories are what I have brought home from the trip. I will require them for eternity no more than that little souvenir of the Eiffel Tower I brought home from Paris.
James said,
May 7, 2009 at 12:35 pm
One thing that strikes me about these writings and this quiz(http://www.beliefnet.com/Entertainment/Quizzes/BeliefOMatic.aspx) is how poor modern discourse is on this topic. I see absolutely no reason why this topic can’t be discussed in impersonal and objective terms without falling into sentimental mushiness, bringing in an intelligent designer, or resorting to some form of idealism. The Darwinian atheist can scoff, but the relationship between the psycho-physical organism (or, if you will, the psycho-physical process) and space-time is much more complex than they can imagine.