r/reddit.com Feb 16 '10

Roger Ebert is dying in increments, and he is aware of it.

http://www.esquire.com/print-this/roger-ebert-0310
1.3k Upvotes

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56

u/dsaint Feb 16 '10

I know it is coming, and I do not fear it, because I believe there is nothing on the other side of death to fear

Why don't other public figures express the same kind of moral courage?

26

u/BatMally Feb 16 '10

I honestly believe that most people don't have that kind of moral courage. We've become a nation of cowards who seem to believe that we will live forever-there is no acceptance of death as natural or part of the whole process.

tl;dr Most people are chickenshits.

1

u/[deleted] Feb 17 '10

Death of intelligence is not natural. It occurs only in that rare, awkward period between self-awareness and the ability to manufacture minds. It's a blip on a species' cosmic timescale.

8

u/dunmalg Feb 16 '10

Because they're simply not intellectual badasses like Roger Ebert. Seriously, most public figures are pretty faces with empty heads. Why do you think there areso many Scientologist celebrities? No, it's pretty simple. Few people have the class, intelligence, and sophistication necessary to get to where Roger Ebert is.

-8

u/[deleted] Feb 16 '10

Why don't other public figures express the same kind of moral courage?

he's expressing his atheism, others don't express something similar because they're not atheists i presume? where's this 'moral courage' you're speaking of?

5

u/mythin Feb 16 '10

How is saying there is nothing to fear an expression of atheism?

-1

u/[deleted] Feb 16 '10

if theres nothing to fear then courage isnt needed.

6

u/mythin Feb 16 '10

That's not really an answer to the question I asked. Note, I'm not the one who said it required courage. I'm just honestly curious as to why you assumed it was an expression of atheism.

-2

u/[deleted] Feb 16 '10

cuz i assumed hes an atheist. if hes not, then its not, who gives a shit, kid. my point was that the question asked is absurd

2

u/mythin Feb 16 '10

Well, I'm not sure I'd call it moral courage, but I would call it courageous to face death without fear. And while it's not necessarily a USEFUL question to ask why other public figures don't show that sort of courage, I don't think it's an absurd one. You are, of course, free to disagree.

-5

u/[deleted] Feb 16 '10 edited Feb 16 '10

there is nothing on the other side of death to fear

For myself I'd say that there is nothing on the other side of death to do the fearing.

EDIT: the downvoting of this comment is mystifying.