tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3889388775673754833.post5273854852573169753..comments2024-02-24T03:34:18.060-05:00Comments on Stealing Commas: What does death mean? Left Behind, Narnia, Norse Mythchris the cynichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06872875475212333027noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3889388775673754833.post-46027293933134439632014-06-06T14:27:03.749-04:002014-06-06T14:27:03.749-04:00I also think Brin makes a good point, but there...I also think Brin makes a good point, but there's a more temporal angle too: rapture is a way of getting out of this life that doesn't involve pain or fear. It's more instant than a cinematic cardiac arrest, with no time for worries or regrets. The key phrase is "Jesus coming to get us before we die": yes, you are barred from going back to Earth, but the important thing is that you didn't have to go through the indignity of death to get away.Firedrake, catching upnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3889388775673754833.post-79551574604784327142014-06-02T17:04:48.669-04:002014-06-02T17:04:48.669-04:00You make a good point, Brin.
I said it was someth...You make a good point, Brin.<br /><br />I said it was something about the body, which makes it wicked confusing. Baldur can hang out in Helheim with Hel. He's definitely dead... in whatever way that happens if you're a god. And his body was burned. Same thing with his wife, Nanna. I'm going to assume that, being gods, they can requisition/create/animate/etc. new bodies, so the main issue is getting Hel to let them go or the gates of Helheim to break or something.<br /><br />But what about Hel herself? She presumably started off with a body...does she still have it? Basically, when there's divinity and magic involved, matter and physics and biology and whatnot are not behaving the way humans might expect...<br /><br />Also, you can totally die and hang out in Midgard, and/or be reincarnated in your family line...Plus if you're kickass seeress Odin will wake you up to tell him shit.)Lonesparkhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16278753827545905559noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3889388775673754833.post-82150811110423162432014-06-01T22:41:44.348-04:002014-06-01T22:41:44.348-04:00I think the difference is that rapturing/physicall...I <em>think</em> the difference is that rapturing/physically travelling to Aslan's country is dying in a way that makes it clear you're getting an afterlife. Normal dying leaves you and those around you uncertain (to one extent or another depending on the person) of your continued existence.<br /><br />I'm not saying this is a very <em>good</em> argument, mind you. On closer inspection, it falls apart. (What about people who die in one of the various mundane ways that give zero warning? What about the left-behind bystanders who don't <em>actually</em> know (unless they've read the back cover) whether the vanished people were raptured or vaporised?) But I suspect that's the basic idea behind making the distinction.<br /><br />Or, on second thought, it might be something about taking your body with you. Maybe a combination of both.Brinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18034585577015417306noreply@blogger.com