(no subject)

[fan_elune]

This is our civilisation's unhealthy refusal of death at its best. How many testimonies have I heard on the news this last couple of days, of people who by their own admission can't accept it? Regardless of what I think of John Paul II's bloody stupid policies (not thinking of condoms, not thinking of condoms), I think that it's high time to let go, people. What is it with your obsession with pushing death further and further away? Death is something to be accepted and embraced. I've lost some people, not all of them old. One especially was a very dear friend of mine, she was 18 and she did an aneurism (sp?). It made no sense and I wish I could have made it be untrue, but I didn't refuse to believe it. Death is part of life and denying it is the worst way to deal.

Now I really wish John Paul II would just die, so that we stopped with the endless reports. The cynic part of me is mildly impressed that they haven't already showed a report about the candidates for his succession.

greenie_breizh just pointed out how ironic it was that he's dying on the weekend of Sidaction (action against AIDS).

And why are they all making such a fuss about it? All those wakes-in-advance? Nobody spares a thought for the thousands of other deaths all the time (not just a few of which are his damned fault, due to his condom policy), and here one guy who has clearly lived his allotted time (and then some?) is finally going to die and everybody prays to "accompany" him to the other world. Isn't he supposed to be a holy man, according to their religion? Why would he need to be accompanied? Isn't this god of love and peace going to welcome him perfectly well anyway? And yet everybody prays for him, and nobody spares a thought for those who could actually use a prayer or two.

I've been raised a Catholic. Hey, I was even blessed by the Pope once. I still remember it, it was a bit crazy. People were so crazed about it all, as if he were some rock star or something. He was just an old priest to me, he had nothing extraordinary. Now I respect people who are Catholic (my parents are, my whole family on my mother's side so is, sometimes to a fault), and those who view the Pope as some sort of paternal figure, super-holy man or what-not. It's just not my case. I just see a priest with far too much media attention, and I see some crucial flaws of our civilisation reflected in the media hype. Namely, our inability to deal with death.

Now, I do apologise for this rant. It just needed to get out, what with the news not speaking about anything else.

Comments

[heikki-cheren.livejournal.com]

Haven't read all of that, just have "parcouru" it quickly, but, well, it always annoys me quite a lot when everybody concentrate on the fate of one person, just because they are well-known, and get obvlivious of the rest of the world. It's not just about the Pope. It happens all the time. ::shrug::
At a slightly lesser scale, it also happens when there is a catastroph and everybody bothers about the Europeans involved and not that much about the poor more numerous guys around.

I guess that as for what happens with feeling more when europeans are like us, the fact that he is well-known get people to feel like they know him, and therefore they care a lot more. They just forget they don't know him and he doesn't know them at all.
And I suppose there's also remains of some things related to our gregarious instincts involved. When an alpha male is agonizing, the whole pack is concerned, quite not the same as the death of an inferior individual. The pack dynamic will change, and it will affect everyone. Or so they think, on an unconscious level... We're not anymore a pack roaming the countryside, but things didn't really change that much.

[houses7177.livejournal.com]

No apology necessary, especially as I'm cheering along from the sidelines.

Also, I love your new journal layout. I don't watch Lost, but this is an excellent layout, even for the non fan.

[fan-elune.livejournal.com]

Mais on n'a jamais dit que le monde était juste et que tout ce qui s'y passait l'était aussi.. Si?

Non, bien sûr. Mais ça n'empêche que c'est le genre de choses qui m'énervent profondément. Je les comprends, en un sens, mais ça m'énerve. *shrug* Tout comme le monde est injuste, l'être humain est irrationnel.

[fan-elune.livejournal.com]

Oh, thank you! Dominic Monaghan is very impressive in this show and his character is, imho, one of the most interesting before they start ruining him because they need him to do some specific stuff to not get any answers to the audience, because it wouldn't do on a JJ Abrams show. I'm happy you like the layout!!

[fan-elune.livejournal.com]

It's a very interesting point you make about our gregarian instinct. I hadn't thought of it, but yes indeed. It is probably remnants of that instinct that make people get so attached to one leading figure, should it be in religion or elsewhere.

And big yes to that "caring about Europeans caught up in the tsunami" vibe that we had, it was absolutely horrid. Blargh. But I don't think it's the same problem exactly. But anyway, yes, it's related.