Mervyn wrote: > >If some one has lived a good life, why would s/he be afraid of death? >
Filomena wrote: > >Fear of death is probably biologically a self-protective instinct. > Good question and a great answer! One can certainly look back at one's life and know whether one has lived a good life or not. One's peers can do so as well. It is as elementary as knowing the difference between good and bad, and right and wrong. However, it summons our uniquely human abilities for reflectiveness, self-evaluation and moral judgment. It is also true that some humans lack these abilities, irrespective of whether they are practicing Catholics or not. Fear of death, on the other hand, is much more fundamental; it is evident throughout the animal kingdom. Again, there are some exceptional animals, including practicing Catholics and non- Catholics, who lack such fear. Self-knowledge of the goodness of one's life and fear of one's death are mostly independent of each other. And they most certainly do not depend on addherence to or practice of any kind of faith. So practicing Catholics do not enjoy any sort of advantage over the pagans and the infidels in this respect. Cheers, Santosh ########################################################################## # Send submissions for Goanet to [EMAIL PROTECTED] # # PLEASE remember to stay on-topic (related to Goa), and avoid top-posts # # More details on Goanet at http://joingoanet.shorturl.com/ # # Please keep your discussion/tone polite, to reflect respect to others # ##########################################################################
