Culture of Death

What we love To die is not our desire. Yet our fascination with death tells us otherwise. For what we love is what we practice, what drives us, and what defines us as a people. And if you agree, consider our adoration of death.

To illustrate, we do not have to go far back in history, or appeal to the great Philosophers. You simply need to go back a few weeks. Remembering 9/11 was a perfect illustration of our morbid desires. Sure, we must not forget what happened that day. But is there a need to show the video footage, to show the faces, and to show the horror? Though these pictures may help people deal with the events of that day, psychotherapy was never meant to be a public show. We are thriving on people’s suffering.

The Money-Driven Machine It seems that almost every week someone goes on a shooting spree. And time after time, the media showers us with the horror and what-if scenarios. Why?

How does this help humanity? How does this advance the kingdom of God? It doesn’t in either case. The Media, this money-driven machine, controls our morality more than we would like. We agree with the heroes, but we can’t help feeling sorry for the misunderstood villain; for the could’ve beens.

Sadly, we are secretly wishing for the end of morality. We are secretly wishing for more profanity, more sexuality, and more violence (rzim.org). Thankfully for us, every new TV season entices us with more of each. That modern-day Roman coliseum will air soon.

Evangelium Do not get me wrong. Not all of us fit this profile. So there is hope. Respect for the individual is shared by many. And the Church needs to work together with everybody to create strong communities via festivals, picnics, games, and the arts. For if we continue living in our basements, watching porn, shooting people via Xboxes, or blogging manifestos, the surprises will end. Death would be a non-event.

Nietzsche predicted that God’s death meant death for all. Plato was greater in asking us to go outside the cave – towards the light of the world - Dominus Iesus.

Ellen Degeneres on the subject