>All brass and ambition, he decided to surf the blast wave of a supernova
"Flare-riding is one of the most exotic and exhilarating sports in existence, and those who can dare and afford to do it are amongst the most lionized men in the Galaxy. It is also of course stupefyingly dangerous - those who don't die riding invariably die of sexual exhaustion at one of the Daedalus Club's Apres-Flare parties."
>afraid of facing jail or losing their children because they did something as simple as letting the children play outside
Check. After more than eight years my son still remembers it as if happened yesterday. "It" is all the "attention" he got from the firefighters, the police, and the stupid lady who found him playing in front of our house while my wife had gone to run a short errand.
The first social worker they sent interviewed us and recommended to close the case. But her supervisor overrode her and sent another one. The second social worker also recommended to close the case, and was overridden as well (which stands to reason - no cases to work, no money for the bureaucrats.) We had to deal with them for almost a year.
>without ever knowing someone who died
Check. Except for the youngest one, so far.
>Without ever having to euthanize a pet
Check. The dog was hit by a car and had to be put down. Partially because the kids who were with her in the backyard got distracted by their own play. (Still blaming myself for it...)
>because religion itself long ago ceased to be anything but moralism
I am sorry for your loss
>Our consciousness is but a brief candle that will soon gutter and fade
Maybe yes, maybe no. It is what it is.
>I know that many of you reading this are religious, but you are the exception in the Western world
Why do you think it is that you a have a disproportionately high number of religious readers?
I suspect it's because I am both concerned with many of the same issues and have maintained a dialogue with my religion and culture of orogin, rather than trying to pretend it never existed.
>All brass and ambition, he decided to surf the blast wave of a supernova
"Flare-riding is one of the most exotic and exhilarating sports in existence, and those who can dare and afford to do it are amongst the most lionized men in the Galaxy. It is also of course stupefyingly dangerous - those who don't die riding invariably die of sexual exhaustion at one of the Daedalus Club's Apres-Flare parties."
>afraid of facing jail or losing their children because they did something as simple as letting the children play outside
Check. After more than eight years my son still remembers it as if happened yesterday. "It" is all the "attention" he got from the firefighters, the police, and the stupid lady who found him playing in front of our house while my wife had gone to run a short errand.
The first social worker they sent interviewed us and recommended to close the case. But her supervisor overrode her and sent another one. The second social worker also recommended to close the case, and was overridden as well (which stands to reason - no cases to work, no money for the bureaucrats.) We had to deal with them for almost a year.
>without ever knowing someone who died
Check. Except for the youngest one, so far.
>Without ever having to euthanize a pet
Check. The dog was hit by a car and had to be put down. Partially because the kids who were with her in the backyard got distracted by their own play. (Still blaming myself for it...)
>because religion itself long ago ceased to be anything but moralism
I am sorry for your loss
>Our consciousness is but a brief candle that will soon gutter and fade
Maybe yes, maybe no. It is what it is.
>I know that many of you reading this are religious, but you are the exception in the Western world
Why do you think it is that you a have a disproportionately high number of religious readers?
I suspect it's because I am both concerned with many of the same issues and have maintained a dialogue with my religion and culture of orogin, rather than trying to pretend it never existed.