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winner of the pulitzer prize in 1974 and the culmination of a life's work,the denial of death is ernest becker's brilliant and impassioned answer to the "why"of human existence.in bold contrast to the predominant freudian school of thought,becker tackles the problem of the vital lie----man's refusal to acknowledge his own mortality.in doing so,he sheds new light on the nature of humanity and issues a call to life and its living that still resonates more than twenty years after its writing.....to read it is to know the delight inherent in the unfolding of a mind grasping at new possibilities and forming a new synthesis.. a while ago there was a post topic on the subject of "death anxiety"and this book was mentioned in that post,so,i went to barnes and nobles and found the only copy left.i am half way through it and find it distubing because if the views are correct,then all we have to look forward to is oblivion.that would certaintly be a cause for death anxiety as mentioned by another poster and the responses given.. however,there is some mention of a leap of faith in the existence of a "creator" which leaves the door open that life does go on after death.has any one else read this book,if so what are your thoughts about the subject matter,"the denial of death".. blueblades
It's a matter of opinion isn't it BB? Some have faith in such a believe and others don't. Speaking for myself, I believe in a Creator since childhood and this belief did not stem from being a JW. My approach is like that All-State commercial, 'your in good hands' but with me, its with my Creator. I believe in choices, when anyone differs in opinion, so be it, I'm not going to make an issue out it.
Guest 77
i believe in curses.
the billygoat.
the bambino.. the sox just lost to the yankees 6-5 after leading by three in the 8th.. we all know what happened to the cubs.. and i believe in the rally monkey too, from last year's angels (though i guess he's looking for work these days, poor little fella).. this is all in kidding, but it does make me wonder.....are some teams "cursed"?
RM, the Bosox had early opportunity's to put the ball game away, and they couldn't execute. It was going thier way until they left the pitcher in too long. I'm going to blame the manager. When the opposing team begins to hit the pitcher its a warning sign to yank him out, instead the Yankess yank him out. Personally, I didn't think the Cubs and Sox would make it the World Series, though I would love to have seen them play against each other. Florida has that fighting spirit, a come from behind team. I want to see a good World Series, not one those runaways. Curse? We can always second guess ourselves, can't we?
Guest 77
my sister is a bethelite.
i got into a discussion with my mother over e-mail about how i thought she generally was at bethel not for the spirituality of it, but because of the prestige.
it got me to thinking.. why do people really decide to become bethelites?
Dan, take it, one step at a time. Your depriving yourself of happiness and good health by getting to involved. Put yourself in your sister's shoes, how would you feel and react?
Have you ever read, Eccl 7:21? "Also, do not give your heart to all the words that people may speak, that you may not hear your servant calling down evil upon you. For your own heart well knows even mant times that you, even you, have called down evil upon others."
I have six brothers and five sisters. Believe me , I could tell you stories.
Guest 77
for background to the story, read here: http://www.jehovahs-witness.com/6/12927/1.ashx.
ok. witness lucy decided to invite estranged non-witness husband ray out for a few drinks last friday evening to the lamb inn, high street, worle.. well, ray was quite pleased, after all, although he and dub lucy are no longer living together, there can be the odd sparkle of you-know-what between them, so he assumed that a boozy and romantic evening was on the cards.. unfortunately, they both got absolutely pie-eyed and decided that "tonight was not the night" and booked seperate taxi's to their seperate homes.
ray got into his taxi and lucy got into hers.. but!
Eng. this person is in need of help. Apparently she can't help herself. I 've spent many days in bars with my co-workers and I know the position she's in. Does this person have self-esteem? Dos she have a family? Why doesn't she get to the root of her problem? Excessive drinking is escapism, but from what?
Guest 77
my sister is a bethelite.
i got into a discussion with my mother over e-mail about how i thought she generally was at bethel not for the spirituality of it, but because of the prestige.
it got me to thinking.. why do people really decide to become bethelites?
Dan, worldlygirl hit it right on the head. Direct your energies to a positive cause.
Guest 77
it's funny, my brother-in-law, a very myopic and strict jw, said something to me once that i still feel has a kernel of truth to it even though it came from a braindead idiot.
"brad, i hated my twenties.
life really begins at 30.
I have no qualms about aging, its something I can't control, so I make it my business to get the most of it. I'm still a high steel worker and a professional tree cutter. I've had aches and pains when I was young and I still have aches and pains but I understand them better. I deal with life's problems head-on. Youth was a learning stage, age (hopefully) helps you to make good use of that stage. I make it a point to keep learning. I'm playing and enjoying golf more than when I was younger, what more do I want? Besides, I often think of the people who died young and never fully experienced their youth let alone aging. When death strikes, so be it for me. Note, I enjoy seeing people making the most of their lives.
Guest 77
my sister is a bethelite.
i got into a discussion with my mother over e-mail about how i thought she generally was at bethel not for the spirituality of it, but because of the prestige.
it got me to thinking.. why do people really decide to become bethelites?
Dan keep your 'luck' in place. If you maintain your cool you will be heaping '...fiery coals upon their head.' I too am lucky in that I speak to my mom, daughter and others in the cong.
Guest 77
protest rally agenda:
purpose :
to make the public aware of what the watchtower society is really about and what harm it is deliberately doing.
Herk, I read your interesting post. It's so sad that many witnesses are not HAPPY people. They appear to be happy, but down deep their troubled, and they don't know what their troubled about! They should be living the present, learn from past and stop worrying too much about the future. "Come,now, YOU who say: "Today or tomorrow we will journey to this city and will spend a year there (pioneering) and will engage in business (selling mags.) amd make profits," (for the org.) whereas YOU do not know what your life will be tomorrow. For you are a mist appearing for a little while and then disappearing. Instead, you ought to say: If Jehovah wills, WE SHALL LIVE AND ALSO DO THIS OR THAT!" James 4:13-15 Who the hell wants to live a life of uncertainty and fear? Where's their happy lives when their suppose to be serving a happy God.
Guest 77
as many of you know, i am 63, and left the religion about 40 years ago.
i was raised in it and would like to explain what it was like compared to today.
first of all, back in the mid to late 40's the patriotism of the u.s. was very high and the treatment at the door was very harsh.
Gary, your coment "If they worked hard as hard to retain members as they do to recruit new ones, they would have a HUGE membership today" is so true. When I heard how many were being disfellowshipped yearly, those were my sentiments. As time moved along the love that they kept talking about and didn't practice it, was slowly slipping away for me. I really don't miss any of the activities though I enjoyed them at the time. For me it was a learning experience. I'm not into getting people out, my life has taken on another dimension and I'm content.
Guest 77
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=514&e=2&u=/ap/20031014/ap_on_go_su_co/scotus_pledge_of_allegiance
washington - the supreme court said tuesday it will decide whether the pledge of allegiance recited by generations of american schoolchildren is an unconstitutional blending of church and state.
the case sets up an emotional showdown over god in the public schools and in public life.
Thanks for that info. SFJ. Well, we've been on the road to communism many decades now and it doesn't surprise me one bit in what I read and see. If anything, I'm expecting more.
Guest 77
