Truth from the Heart: death

When We Think About Death…

6:00:00 AMEmma Lindle

The Culture of Death

6:00:00 AMLindsay Russell

“Man’s main concern is not to gain pleasure or to avoid pain but rather to see a meaning in his life.” - Viktor Frankl

In a recent post, I wrote about how philosophy can be dangerous, how we must consider the practical applications of ideas before we claim them in order to see how they translate into reality. In the article, I spoke about the Nazi ideals of anti-semitism, eugenics, and nationalism; however, there are more modern examples that must also be addressed.

One such idea is materialism. Materialism is the idea that matter is all that exists in the world. There is no soul, no spiritual realm, nothing besides that which is empirical. In this way, a person is merely a body, and there is no outside reason to live any specific lifestyle. There are only the goals that each person comes up with, goals which are determined by his or her own DNA. This cosmological idea gives way to utilitarianism. If we believe that we are merely matter, then our bodies become our number one priorities, as that is all we are. Further, our goals in life are centered around our bodies. Most people believe that happiness is the number one goal in life. But if we claim that our bodies are all that we are, then we must insist that life is all about making our bodies happy. In this way, morality becomes rooted in the idea of physical pleasure, because that is what makes the body happy. Utilitarianism is the idea that one must bring about the greatest amount of good for the most people and refrain from evil. When we incorporate materialism, this idea means that the good is merely pleasure and therefore pain must be evil. If we believe that pain is evil, then we are unable to tolerate it, and become unwilling to cope with even the slightest discomfort. In this way, denying one’s self becomes abhorrent. The person seeks pleasure and cannot tolerate pain or discomfort, because there is no reason to do so. Because of this idea, some have come to believe that death, the extermination of all physical feeling, would be preferable to suffering.

If we believe that we are nothing more than matter, then the malfunctioning of that matter gives us the “right” to dispose of it. Abortion, or the removal of a fertilized fetus from the uterus, is just such an expulsion of matter. No longer is the thriving mass of life considered intrinsically valuable; it is merely inconvenient. One argument for abortion is that the fetus in question may not have a family that would be able to take care of the baby, and that he or she would be put in a foster care system, which is undoubtedly a difficult life. In this way, pro-abortion advocates claim that it is better for the baby to not survive in the first place, in order to avoid a life of pain and suffering. They see no value in a life that has not been able to encounter the world outside the womb.

A second practical application of materialism and utilitarianism is euthanasia. When a person’s body breaks down, they suffer. This suffering can vary greatly, but there are times when a person experiences pain with little or no relief. There are those who claim that such persons should be put out of their misery, that they should either be injected with something that kills them or deprived of that which gives them life. In this way, the evil of suffering can be avoided.

A third extreme example that flows from these philosophies is suicide. It seems as though suicide is on the rise. According to the Center of Disease Control and Prevention, suicide is a leading cause of death for people between the ages of 15 and 34. It is second only to unintentional injury. But suicide is completely preventable. It occurs because of emotional and psychological turmoil. But if we truly believe in materialism and utilitarianism, then we must believe that what was done was right. The person ended his or her suffering.

But something is wrong here. The end of suffering does not seem good enough to deprive someone of life. Even in our most miserable moments, we still live. In fact, we can find solace in that fact. Life itself is a gift, not a burden. As Pope John Paul II states in his encyclical, Evangelium Vitae, “Life is entrusted to man as a treasure which must not be squandered, as a talent which must be used well.”(1) We did not just happen to come into existence, we were given it. Our being is unique, irreplaceable, and unrepeatable. Never has there been, nor is there now, nor will there ever be again, a person who is you. This “selfhood of the human person” (2) is what gives rise to intrinsic value of life. It proclaims that every person matters even, and perhaps most especially, when they suffer. Yes, pain and suffering are difficult to cope with, but when one finds meaning in suffering, then there is hope. Viktor Frankl, author of Man’s Search for Meaning, phrased the idea in this way:

"The way in which a man accepts his fate and all the suffering it entails, the way in which he takes up his cross, gives him ample opportunity — even under the most difficult circumstances — to add a deeper meaning to his life. It may remain brave, dignified and unselfish. Or in the bitter fight for self-preservation he may forget his human dignity and become no more than an animal. Here lies the chance for a man either to make use of or to forgo the opportunities of attaining the moral values that a difficult situation may afford him. And this decides whether he is worthy of his sufferings or not."(3)

Spoken by a prisoner of a Nazi concentration camp, Frankl’s statement carries serious weight. Frankl was in the midst of one of the most heinous environments known to man. Death camps were designed to break people mentally and physically, and yet, Frankl insists that we are to find meaning in our suffering. If this man could find hope despite intense suffering, how can we cringe from our own troubles? We must find meaning in our suffering, and in this way, uphold not only the intrinsic value of life, but the unique dignity of every human being.

__________________

Pope John Paul II, Evangelium Vitae
Dr. John Crosby, Selfhood of the Human Person
Viktor Frankl, Man’s Search for Meaning

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death Ethics exploitation

Execution and Exploitation at the Hands of Terrorists

12:09:00 PMKaitlin Fellrath

[Warning: this post contains graphic description.]

Last week, the terrorist organization Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) released a 22-minute propaganda video showing one of their prisoners being burned alive. First Lt. Moaz al-Kasabeh was a Jordanian fighter pilot who was captured in December after his plane was downed over Syria. Kasabeh was doused with accelerant, then placed into a metal cage. An ISIL fighter then lit the fire with a torch. Kasabeh burned to death over the course of two minutes. The last minutes of the film show ISIL fighters bulldozing the cage containing his charred body. The video was shot and edited to appear like a Hollywood film, with different angles and close-ups showing the man's agony as he was consumed by the flames.

Just the description of Lt. Kasabeh's brutal murder is enough to make one sick. As someone who unwittingly came across images of the actual video on social media, I can tell you firsthand that it is the most disturbing footage I have ever seen. They are images that once seen, cannot be forgotten.

When ISIL released the video, news agencies and other media organizations were forced to decide whether or not to show the video or provide links on social media and other web pages. ISIL releasd the video to terrorize and intimidate the international coalition that is fighting them across large swaths of Iraq and Syria. With that in mind, many news agencies across the world refused to share the video on TV or online so as not to act as a platform for terrorism. However, some news organizations and social media sites have chosen to show the video and images to demonstrate the extent of ISIL's brutality. These organizations have their own code of media ethics, and I am sure many of them are sincere in their desire to communicate the barbarity by which ISIL operates.

But that is the point.

ISIL has become infamous for its use of media to spread terror. They wants the world to know what they are capable of, and showing the videos of the decapitation and immolation of captives certainly seems to play into their hands. By now, no one is questioning their depravity, and watching a video of a man being burned alive seems rather superfluous when so many others are suffering under their terror.

I would like to offer a second reason why news organizations should not share the video of Lt. Kasabeh being burned alive. It is out of reverence for him as a person.

Lt. Kasabeh is a real person who was caged and then burned to death. If news organizations choose to show the video, they must not use his murder as a means to an end, even if that end is a noble one. That is a real risk for news and social media coverage of ISIL brutality. The person can never be only a means to an end, and Lt. Kasabeh's death, and the deaths of the other captives, should not only serve as propaganda used to foment international action.

Some may contend that by showing the video, news media are ensuring Kasabeh's death is not in vain by encouraging action. This seems to have been the case in his home-country of Jordan, where coverage of the video has prompted heavy airstrikes in ISIL-held territory.

I would, in turn, respond that any broadcast of such footage would be an occasion of use, no matter how noble the motive, and even if it is done out of a sincere desire to honor his memory. The video itself was intended as a provocation. It was filmed and edited with the intent to incite reaction from both ISIL followers and their opposition. Kasabeh was not just brutally murdered, but he was exploited for the ends of a terrorist organization. A second occasion of use, even by the "good guys," is feeding off of the exploitation of another person. It would be similar to sharing "revenge porn" in an effort to encourage anti-revenge porn legislation.

The man in the video cannot only be “the man who was burned to death by an evil terrorist organization.” He is Moaz al-Kasabeh, someone's son, someone's friend and a human person.

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death personhood reflection

Death: A Moment of Reflection

6:00:00 AMMarisa Ramos

affectivity C.S. Lewis death

An Observance of Grief

4:29:00 PMUnknown

“Death forces us to think, prods us to become wise, as nothing else does.”

File:Dutch Painting in the 19th Century - Artz - Mourning.png

For some people standing in line at a funeral parlor is one of the most uncomfortable, awkward, and nerve-wracking things one can experience. Many individuals become anxious looking for the perfect thing to say to the grieving family. However you try to look at the scenario, it seems that all the words in the world can not fill the hole in their hearts. Those of us who possess some form of faith will comfort ourselves and loved ones with the knowledge that death is not the end but only the beginning of a new life with God. Yet, even such optimistic reassurances can not completely stifle the pain we feel or keep our eyes dry. And it is rightly so that it doesn't.

Death merits a response; not a response of indifference but a response of sorrow and acceptance. C.S. Lewis re-edifies grief as being an experience which even the greatest stoic can not evade. Concerning his own experience of his wife’s death Lewis writes,

“I look up at the night sky. Is anything more certain than that in all those vast times and spaces, if I were allowed to search them, I should no where find her face, her voice, her touch? She died. She is dead. Is the word so difficult to learn?” (A Grief Observed, p. 16)

Lewis was a man of reason, reason enlightened by his faith. He recognized the importance of grief and its blessed grip on us which awakens our emotions, our affectivity, our sentimentality. Lewis rejected the lofty man’s view that ‘death does not matter’ and reminded us that our feelings grant us a glimpse of that which is the core of our being: our heart.

The proper attitude toward death is twofold. We have a right to grieve as we do a right to hope. Death is tragic. For some it can be explained as the result of the Fall, for all it is nature’s unconquerable power over us. Even as a Christian, who has faith in eternal life, I find myself unable to fully rejoice at the passing of a loved one.

Was it not Christ who wept at Lazareth’s grave although He was fully aware that Lazareth would rise? Likewise, Christ sweated blood at the garden of Gethsemane asking if it be possible that “this cup be taken away”.

C.S. Lewis clearly explains the ambivalent Christian view of death: “It is Satan’s great weapon and also God’s great weapon; it is holy and unholy; our supreme disgrace and our only hope; the thing Christ came to conquer and the means by which he conquered” (Miracles, p. 125).

Our sorrow over death should not be feared, for it is the opposite of despair. We grieve because we are loving creatures who possess the unique capability to deeply mourn the loss of our fellow man. There is no room for despair. Our sorrow is evidence enough that we once knew someone worth loving, someone worth grieving for...and we are blessed to have known such a person.

“We are human beings...flesh, feelings, sensitivity. We feel, we love, we live in the flesh. Our loved ones are like a song. A song which has become one of your favorite songs, a song instilled in your loved ones’ being. We loved to hear it played. We loved the tune that resonated in our earthly flesh. When someone dies we deal with the resonating thought that the sound will not be played again. The song in our heart can no longer be heard but only remembered. It is not that we do not understand the purpose or the reason for their passing, it is only that as human persons we fully appreciated them as a gift, as only loved ones can, and the loss of that gift as only human flesh and thought and feeling can.”

(George Foster)

Ultimately, I have counted myself fortunate that the tears which fall from my eyes are not cried in vain. Death has merited its response from me. My sorrow is not only a response but rather a gift from my heart to the person whom I shall no longer see again in this earthly lifetime.

This blog is dedicated to my Uncle Tim who recently passed. 6/22/14

“Unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit.”

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Sources: Pages 98-101. Peter J. Kreeft, The Philosophy of Tolkien: The Worldview Behind The Lord of the Rings

When We Think About Death…

The Culture of Death

Execution and Exploitation at the Hands of Terrorists

Death: A Moment of Reflection

An Observance of Grief

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