Born to Die, part twenty

The human proclivity for classification has led to such euphemisms as “died of natural causes.” Our penchant for comparison and contrast then naturally leads to the conclusion that death can be unnatural. Before long we find ourselves at the dichotomous fork in the road of some kinds of death being “good” while others are “bad”. Certainly, if I had a choice, I would opt for a good natural death as opposed to a bad unnatural one, but I’m quickly struck by the fact that the choice is not really mine. We’re living in the strange age of suicide bombers and mass murderers who conclude their rampages with suicide. Other than being a flat out rejection of the “logic” of capital punishment, this phenomenon resurrects (forgive the pun, I just couldn’t help myself) the age old question of whether or not death can be truly qualified. This only has credence in the context of some sort of afterlife, because death as a concrete finality really has no value attached. So, when we treat death as a form of punishment, conquest, etc, we are affirming our belief that there is some sort of judgment awaiting our crossing over. Once again we are in that uncomfortable position of having to explain where such beliefs come from.