LETTERS

 

JOE KOWALSKY wrote with comments about two recent Immortalist articles. One was the QUICKIES piece  "Seventy Five percent of sudden deaths during sex occur in extramarital affairs." (May-June 2003) The other was in reply to Jim Yount's article "Watchtower Pro Cryonics?" in the same issue. ( Joe has been a CI director for a number of years, he and his wife Jennifer live in the Detroit area.)

 

"I mentioned the "Quickies" article 'Seventy Five Percent of sudden deaths during sex, occur in Extramarital Affairs'  to my wife and wondered aloud whether the 'sudden deaths' were, perhaps, not so sudden but rather that in the 'affair' situations the partner hesitated in calling for medical attention. 

 

My wife, without missing a beat, responded 'maybe it is from being shot by the spouse.'  (Actually, she said wife"!)
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Regarding Jim Yount's piece "Watchtower gives 'Thumbs Up' to Cryonics?"  The Watchtower magazine speaks, as I understand it, for Jehovah's Witnesses as a whole.  They believe that the Bible dictates that true Christians speak with one voice, based on the Bible and God's position as elucidated therein.  There is, therefore, never a "by-line" in a Watchtower article.  The articles are not by one author but are, rather, gone over by many people to ensure that they speak what is the Witnesses' understanding of God's word. 

 

I, too, am disappointed that the Witnesses do not "allow for the possibility that God would work through man to accomplish this 'life everlasting,' but that is precluded by their reading of The Bible.  They believe that resurrection of the dead and everlasting physical life on a paradisiacal Earth will come directly from God and his assistant Jesus and that The Bible describes the specific order of events by which this will be brought about.  

 

On the other hand, because the Watchtower speaks for the Witnesses as a group, your comment that "at least one Christian writer believes that there is nothing wrong with the desire to be immortal, and sees the desire fulfilled as physical immortality upon this Earth . . ." can be expanded to: it is heartening that some six million Christians (the approximate number of Jehovah's Witnesses worldwide) believe that not only is there nothing wrong with the desire for everlasting life, but see that as a natural part of being human and expect that it will eventually come to pass. 

 

(This is my understanding of Witness Theology.  I do not claim to be an expert and apologize if I have erred in any of my comments in accurately reporting their positions.)

 

I should note in passing that the Witnesses - as well as many other Christian and Jewish denominations - believe that Adam and Eve were created with the intention that they would live forever; that the Human body was not designed to die.  Only after eating the fruit did God follow his admonition that "you shall surly die" and make their bodies limit their duration - a trait which has passed genetically (according to these beliefs) from then on.

 

[The word "immortal" connotes self-sustaining incorruptible life.  Even perfect humans with the ability to live forever could not be self-sustaining (they would need to breath, eat & drink to remain alive and their bodies, although perfect, would not be "incorruptible.")]

 

My e-mail address was wrong at the end of Jim's article.  It is peterson@m-net.arbornet.org.

 

Joseph Kau writes "Our Association, here in Australia, has a bulletin board, just in case you were not aware of its existence."   Here it is:  caa-list@prix.pricom.com.au  (we weren't!)