My dad died at 3:19 pm on February 13, 2004.
I was saying to a friend today it's convenient to have everyone die the same time of year; makes grieving more efficient. Just watch, next person to go will probably be in July, fucking up the schedule.
As an atheist, should I be getting anything out of all this? Okay, it hurts. That's about as profound as getting hit in the head with a baseball bat. It's random, too. As far as I can tell, painful and random things are just to be endured, and it's fine not to come away from them with any deep insights.
just b/c you're atheist doesn't mean you can't take anything away from death.
don't buy into the theist-critique of atheism that atheists have no spirituality.
that's bunk. because that means you're allowing yourself to be defined by your opposite.
bayle showed long ago that atheists could be ethical.
nietzsche, that they could be spiritual.
i can't understand your pain so i'll stop.
Posted by: e | February 14, 2006 at 02:34 AM
bayle showed long ago that atheists could be ethical.
Oh, I'm feeling ethical (and contagious). Ethics are rules for how living people treat other living people. What does watching a good friend die have to do with that?
nietzsche, that they could be spiritual.
Mrrph? The spirit of the material? I'm undereducated and all, but it seems slightly contradictory. No, don't tell me - it'll just piss me off.
Posted by: Mithras | February 14, 2006 at 10:45 AM
death makes us treat the living a little better.
makes us realize that there is a shared core in all of us.
Posted by: eteraz | February 14, 2006 at 12:29 PM
makes us realize that there is a shared core in all of us.
Good point. If I really hate someone, I won't kill them. I'll kill someone they really care about. When they get over that, I'll do it again.
Thanks.
Posted by: Mithras | February 14, 2006 at 12:36 PM
In my family, July's been the killer month. I lost my Dad (2003), my older brother (2005) and youngest brother (2005) between July 20 and August 1st.
As a devoted communicant of the 'Beats-Me' faith, the only truth I can discern from this is to stay the hell out of Florida in the freaking hellish summer there.
This leaves me on track towards my personal goal of dying at 91, shot in the back by a jealous husband while yippie-yi-ki-yo-ing in the saddle.
Posted by: Kevin Hayden | February 25, 2006 at 08:48 AM