The Tucson citizen., 1902-10-21
THE FEAR OF DEATH
1T SHOULD FIND NO LODGMENT III
ANY RATIONAL MIND.

Yet This Dread of Meeting the TA'
ewitabIe Is So Universal That Our
Entire Social Fabric lis Largely
Built Upon 1t.
Do we dread death on the saEiU
principle that half flock Of sheep
leap through a certain hole in fence
because the other. half has done so!
For unless the fear be Evolutionary
and hereditary it is hard to account
for it.
Death is a change, occupying mo
ment, from one form of life to another.
Whether it come in the course of ma
ture or by accident or design. it is sell
dom painful: never probably so painful
as a bout of the toothache. 1t brings
US from a condition of bondage and
uncertainty at best to one of freedom
| and security. But often it is a change
from slavery, both physical and moral
to emancipation comparatively perfect,
or, if we hold the materialist view, to
everlasting unconsciOusness. The spir-
itual state is emancipated from the
inertia of matter and the tyranny of
space; therefore thought will be pres
ence, and a mans surroundings as to
both thing and person will be nevi-
| tably such as are most desirable to
him. The evil viii be emancipated
from the opposition of the good. and
the good will not be grieved and ham,
| pered by the Vaccinations of the evil.
The whole chapter of accidents which
here looms so large will there be elm
mated. Time, which now makes US
long for the arrival of an appointed
| hour and now dread its too speedy
coming, will be no more. But we shall
measure life by it's intensity and by its
opportunities In other words. we shall
be the makers of our own times and
seasons.
Death takes us from a world of eff
fects to one of causes. The soul is
made of will and thought. and, as we
may daily perceive, it is only the OBJ
struction of material conditions that
prevents US from Immediately accom-
piishing our desires and beholding the
realization of our thoughts. Again,
death is inevitable to all and to any
one who chooses is at any moment at
tainable. BY what logic can our fear
of it be defended?
Yet we fear it so much and so uni
versally that our entire social fabric is
built largely upon that fear Our law
makes death the supreme penalty. Our
funerals are occasions of mourning,
and the medical profession, one of the
most numerous extant, spends it's eX-
istence in combating death. We seek
eagerly @all nostrums or eliXirs that
promise us continuance of life. We
ascribe supreme merit to the soldier
who risks his life for his country or to
} the individual who sacrifices it for 9th
ers. We laud the stoicism which af-
fects to despise death, but which bases
the virtue of that despising upon the
acknowledged terror Of the event. Onl
humanitarians spend sympathy and
: money in attempting to prolong the
} miserable condition of the poor and
diseased. We shudder to hear of vast
natural calamity like that of Marti
nique or of akoidable accidents such a!
j are furnished daily by railways anG
other Instruments Of civilization. AnC
all the while it is the survivors whe
suffer, if any one does. though they
too. are soon comforted by time or thl
insurance companies. The dead man
r the man who has entered upon the new
|. and spiritual life, whom we absurd!
\ pity, is free. and his troubles are over.
Suicides, it is true, are said to in
crease with civilization. But few
philosophical suicides occur. The ma
jority are induced by dread Of lif
d overcoming dread of death. 1t may b.
doubted if suicide be ever the act of ;
q man at once perfectly brave and thos
oughly sane. The value of this life
and it is real value-is in the disci
pline and experience it gives which
is our honest and sensible duty to i'm
e prove to the utmost and to the last
Life may be interesting and arduouS
, 1t may be disappointing and irksomt
: 1t is very seldom if ever uniformly an
: positively agreeable. Fear, ON the 9th
e er hand, is one Of the worst and bases
j Of evils. and fear of death the mos
e irrational. 1t must have originated i
j sheer ignorance and thoughtlessness
f 1t ought to vanish before our moder
f enlightenment and sagacity. and wit
s its disappearance will appear socia
f changes that cannot but be revolution
l. ary and salutary.-Julian Hawthorn
It in Brandur Magazine
: Dangerous Criminals.
4 .xx-,v - - , er .