Contending For The Faith---Part 30

 

In St. Jude 1:3, we read, "Dearly beloved, taking all care to write unto you concerning your common salvation, I was under a necessity to write unto you: to beseech you to contend earnestly for the faith once delivered to the saints." [Emphasis mine]. Contending For The Faith is a series of posts dedicated to apologetics (i.e.,  the intellectual defense of the truth of the Traditional Catholic Faith) to be published the first Monday of each month.  This is the next installment.

Sadly, in this time of Great Apostasy, the faith is under attack like never before, and many Traditionalists don't know their faith well enough to defend it. Remember the words of our first pope, "But in your hearts revere Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect..." (1Peter 3:16). There are five (5) categories of attacks that will be dealt with in these posts. Attacks against:

• The existence and attributes of God
• The truth of the One True Church established by Christ for the salvation of all 
• The truth of a particular dogma or doctrine of the Church
• The truth of Catholic moral teaching
• The truth of the sedevacantist position as the only Catholic solution to what has happened since Vatican II 

In addition, controversial topics touching on the Faith will sometimes be featured, so that the problem and possible solutions may be better understood. If anyone had suggestions for topics that would fall into any of these categories, you may post them in the comments. I cannot guarantee a post on each one, but each will be carefully considered.

True Immortality

No one likes to think about death. Especially one's own. Yet death stares us in the face everyday. We hear of people dying in the news, and in our neighborhoods. It hits home especially hard when someone you love passes. Among the hardest for me were my parents, my best friend from high school, a gentleman who was like family to me, and Fr. DePauw. It's at those times we need our Faith most of all.

The fear of death is natural. Despite the fact that life is overall more suffering than happiness, we want to live as long, and as well, as possible. The great poet, and Catholic priest, Fr. Gerard Manly Hopkins' (1844-1889) most famous poem, Spring and Fall to a Young Child, speaks to this fact. 

Margaret, are you grieving

Over Goldengrove unleaving?

Leaves, like the things of man, you

With your fresh thoughts care for, can you?

Ah! as the heart grows older

It will come to such sights colder

By and by, nor spare a sigh

Though worlds of wanwood leafmeal lie;

And yet you will weep and know why.

Now no matter, child, the name:

Sorrow’s springs are the same.

Nor mouth had, no nor mind, expressed

What heart heard of, ghost guessed:

It is the blight man was born for,

It is Margaret you mourn for.

The young girl in the poem, Margaret, is sad about the trees dying in the fall. However, we are told that what she's really sad about is the fact that she (in the spring of life) realizes the she will also reach her autumn and die. She has become self-aware of her own mortality for the first time. In 1973, cultural anthropologist Ernest Becker (1924–1974) published his seminal and Pulitzer Prize–winning book The Denial of Death. He advanced the idea that death anxiety comes naturally to all people because they find the thought of death and dying unacceptable. That is why, he argued, everything everyone does – the goals we set, our passions and hobbies, and the activities we engage in – is, in essence, a coping strategy, and that these are things we focus on so we that need not worry about our eventual death.

Becker’s work gave rise to “terror management theory" (TMT), which posits that humans must constantly deal with an internal conflict: the basic desire to live against the certainty of death. TMT emphasizes individuals’ self-consciousness and their drive to achieve personal goals, motivated by the awareness of mortality. For Traditionalists, that is a good thing.  Ecclesiasticus 7:40 tells us: "In all thy works remember thy last end, and thou shalt never sin." 

For those who don't have the Faith, death is not only inescapable, but the greatest of all evils--so much so, life isn't worth it. German atheist philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer, is claimed to have remarked, "The greatest of all possible worlds is to have never been conceived." (I have never seen a citation to the source for that quote). To him it is better not to exist at all than to exist and then cease to exist (that's what he believed, even if the quote is not his). 

Having the firm Faith in the resurrection and the ability to live with God forever in Heaven, is the only thing that makes death and suffering worth it. The quest for immortality is so well ingrained that many people seek "immortality" in other ways; each of which is futile and accomplishes nothing. Surprisingly, many Traditionalists also fall for this trap, instead of focusing on living a good life, to die a good death, and avoid the "second death" of unending torment in Hell. 

This post will explore some of the most popular ways to be "immortal," and why it fails. Some of the popular "immortality slogans" (as I call them) that even some Traditionalists fall for will be exposed. Thus equipped, you will be prepared to answer those who want to live forever (literally or symbolically) without the One True Faith. 

Living Healthy Until Death Becomes Obsolete?

Bulletproof Coffee founder and "biohacker" advocate, David Asprey (b. 1973), claims to have spent $1 million on a quest to live to 180. To accomplish this, he has bone marrow extracted from his hips and then has the stem cells filtered out and injected into every joint in his body, his spinal cord, and his cerebral fluid. He intends to do this twice a year. He also “takes 100 supplements a day, religiously follows a low-carb, high fat diet, bathes in infrared light, chills in a cryotherapy chamber, and relaxes in a hyperbaric oxygen chamber.” (See “Asprey’s Quest for 180,” The Week, February 15, 2019, pg. 10). 

The fear of death motivates people to exercise and eat certain ways. To take reasonable good care of our health is necessary under the Fifth Commandment. We should all strive to exercise and eat right. However, taking it to extremes like Asprey, is not only fanatical, but false. People place so much hope in diet and exercise to stave off death that when someone is stricken with a serious disease, we often see Traditionalists and non-Traditionalists alike start blaming the sickness on some unhealthy or unwise habit of the sufferer. People do this because they desperately want to believe that if they live rightly, then tragedy won’t strike them. When someone dies, people often ask, "How old was he?" If it's 90 or above, the sigh of relief comes, if not, "What did he die from?" If it was a disease, then he must have done something wrong, like smoke, drink, etc. Many don't want to accept that death can come for anyone no matter how healthy he/she may be.

Theologian Jone reminds us of the duty which the Fifth Commandment imposes upon us: "Since death can result from the neglect of adequate care of one's health, the preservation of life and health is also a duty." (See Moral Theology, [1961], pg. 133). We can (and should) try to live as long and healthy as possible. This includes a good diet, exercise, getting regular medical check-ups, don't smoke, don't drink to excess, etc. I do all that. However, there are those that think that if we can just live long enough, medical science will cure all our ailments and we need only worry about dying in an accident.

Didn't people in the Bible live hundreds of years? Why can't we? Methuselah was a person mentioned in the Old Testament who lived to be 969 years old. (See Genesis 5:27). We also find that Adam lived to be 930 years old and Seth was 912 years old when he died. The shift is due to changes in cell activity. 

Our cells can only replicate a limited number of times. For the somatic cells that make up our organs, the telomere region of the chromosomes is incompletely replicated during cell division. Eventually, the chromosomes become so short that important genes fail to get replicated leading to the inability to replace damaged cells, resulting in organ shut-down and death. There is an enzyme, telomerase, which adds nucleotide base pairs to the ends of DNA to counteract the shortening process. There is one huge drawback: If cancer should occur, the tumors would grow unchecked and virtually unstoppable no matter what kind of cancer. Too much telomerase activity will bring about an early death from cancers and tumors; too little results in earlier death from organ failure. (See, e.g., E. Blackburn, "Telomere States and Cell Fates," Nature 408 [November 2, 2000]: 53-56). We are limited in our current world to a maximum life span of about 125 at the very best. This is shown accurate by Jeanne Calment (1875-1997), who is the oldest person whose age has been independently verified, dying at the age of 122 years and 164 days.

What if science eliminates cancer? Harvard demographer Nathan Keyfitz (1913–2010) calculated in 1977 (and still holds true today) that if researchers cured all forms of cancer, people would live only a measly 2.265 years longer before they died of something else. (See Nathan Keyfitz, “What Difference Would It Make If Cancer Were Eradicated? An Examination of the Taeuber Paradox,” Demography 14, no. 4 (November 1977): 417). 

Besides the myriad (and contradictory) fad diets, exercise regimens and the like, there are strange things people will do in the hope of "living long enough." One recent development is parabiosis, where the blood of 16 to 25 year olds is transfused into older people. Regarding this "treatment" molecular biologist Michael Conboy at the University of California, Berkeley, said, "It just reeks of snake oil." (See https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/young-blood-transfusions-are-on-the-menu-at-society-gala/). Nevertheless, if there's even a one in a million chance of living an extra year or two, people will try it, no matter how risky or how crazy it might be.

The odds of the medical establishment beating cancer (and every other disease) are slim to none. COVID-19 sent the world into a tailspin and it's not even that severe of a virus. It does nothing to help the cause of so-called "health and fitness gurus," claiming they have the answers to living extremely long lives, when you see that their own lives were not long for many of them. Here's just a partial list:

• Lucille Roberts, female health club empire-owner and fitness fanatic; died in 2003 at age 59 from cancer

• Euell Gibbons, nutrition book author and natural foods advocate; died in 1975 at age 64 from an aneurysm

• Jim Fixx, long-distance runner/advocate of running for health and long life; died in 1984 at age 52 from a heart attack after running

• Nathan Pritikin, author and founder of the low cholesterol Pritikan diet committed suicide by slashing his wrists in the hospital at age 69 in 1984. He was dying from leukemia.

• Robert E. Kowalski, author of many nutrition books, including The NEW 8-Week Cholesterol Cure which spent 115 weeks on the New York Times Bestseller List, died at age 65 in 2007 from a pulmonary embolism 

Healthy living is a must, but it will not make you immortal or even 180. 

The False Hope of Transhumanism

There is a movement known as "transhumanism." Proponents believe that it is possible not merely to replace organs with better mechanical organs and parts (for those of us whose memories go back to the 1970s, think of the TV show The Six Million Dollar Man--now 41.7 million when adjusted for inflation--who had bionic parts). They actually think it is possible to "upload your mind" into another body, a machine, or even a computer program. Those who advocate for transhumanism are atheists by necessity because they assume that the mind and the brain are identical; you are your brain. They are materialists who deny the existence of the soul which works through the brain but is a separate substance that survives physical death. 

Ian Pearson, head of a futurology unit said:

If you draw the timelines, realistically by 2050 we would expect to be able to download your mind into a machine, so when you die it's not a major career problem,' Pearson told The Observer. 'If you're rich enough then by 2050 it's feasible. If you're poor you'll probably have to wait until 2075 or 2080 when it's routine. We are very serious about it. That's how fast this technology is moving: 45 years is a h*** of a long time in IT.

(See https://www.theguardian.com/science/2005/may/22/theobserver.technology;Emphasis and censoring of word mine). 

In this way you could live for centuries in a robotic body, or ostensibly forever in a computer program that never ends. There are several insurmountable problems with this idea.

1. Science can't explain consciousness. How is it that matter can be aware of itself? On the atheistic/materialistic worldview, people are simply atoms and molecules no different from anything else. How does evolution produce self-awareness? This question has no answer from materialists, anymore than they can explain how the first living cells appeared from non-living matter. Even atheist philosopher of mind, Dr. David Chalmers admits, "It is true that we have no idea how a non-biological system, such as a silicon computer system, could be conscious. But the fact is that we also have no idea how a biological system, such as a neural system, could be conscious. The gap is just as wide in both cases." (See Chalmers, in Science Fiction and Philosophy from Time Travel to Superintelligence, [2016])

2. A Computerized You wouldn't be You. Suppose you had an identical twin with identical molecules. Also suppose that you had identical experiences. Your twin would be "qualitatively identical" to you, but not "numerically identical." If you get killed, you die and the twin that survives is not "you." Likewise, if your twin dies, you continue to live, and do not cease to be you. Simply by duplicating your neurons and transferring them to a machine, does not magically make it "you." Consciousness only makes sense if God and souls exist, which is a defeater for "uploading minds."

3. Science can't even duplicate a roundworm's neurons. McGill University neuro-scientist Michael Hendricks writes in MIT Technology Review:

I study a small roundworm, Caenorhabditis elegans, which is by far the best-described animal in all of biology. We know all of its genes and all of its cells (a little over 1,000). We know the identity and complete synaptic connectivity of its 302 neurons, and we have known it for 30 years. If we could "upload" or roughly simulate any brain, it should be that of C. elegans. Yet even with the full connectome in hand, a static model of this network of connections lacks most of the information necessary to simulate the mind of the worm. In short, brain activity cannot be inferred from synaptic neuroanatomy. 
(See https://www.technologyreview.com/2015/09/15/109906/the-false-science-of-cryonics/)

Hence, transhumanism cannot work because:

• science bases the concept of mind on the atheistic/metaphysical assumption that matter is all that exists

• science has no idea how consciousness works

• a mechanical "you" isn't really you at all

• science cannot even replicate the brain function of a simple worm

Cold Comfort

Baseball great Ted Williams (1918-2002) is cryonically frozen with his head and body in two different tanks of liquid nitrogen. Liquid nitrogen is very cold, -320 degrees F (-196 degrees C). Absolute zero, the temperature at which molecules cease moving is -459.67 degrees F (-273.15 C). His body and head are kept at Alcor Cryonics labs. According to their website:

Cryonics is an experimental procedure that preserves a human being using the best available technology for the purpose of saving his/her life. We believe medical technology will advance further in coming decades than it has in the past several centuries, enabling it to heal damage at the cellular and molecular levels and to restore full physical and mental health. (See https://alcor.org; Emphasis mine).

Immediately after death, the person's body will be frozen in liquid nitrogen to prevent decay. When medical science cures what killed him, he will allegedly be defrosted and "revived."  Once more, problems that cannot be overcome arise:

1. Cryonics is based on the materialistic worldview. When the soul leaves the body, it cannot be "revived"--only resurrected by the power of God. 

2. Subjects must be frozen almost immediately. Alcor admits on its own website (cited above) that a person should "preferably" be frozen within 15 minutes after death, because longer wait time will make it more difficult to "restore" the person. Unless you die at Alcor, good luck getting frozen in 15 minutes or less.

3. Will anyone want to defrost the person? If, ad arguendo, science was able to cure most diseases, there would be a great surge in the world's population. Those who approve of cryonics are the same people who see humanity as a "plague" on "Mother Earth." Even Bergoglio exalts environmentalism and hardly ever mentions abortion. Who needs another rich person, revived, and wasting natural resources?

4. Freezer burn. According to Dr. Mehmet Toner, cryo-biologist at Massachusetts General Hospital, "You can only slowly freeze and slowly warm large things. Ice is going to form inevitably during warming. The chances that you will bring a frozen head back is the same as when you go home tonight, open the freezer, get the ground beef out, and make a cow out of it." (See https://www.glitch.news/2017-01-27-the-arizona-desert-holds-145-frozen-humans-waiting-to-be-resurrected.html).  Not even a worm has been successfully frozen and restored to life. 

Cryonics is another failed "immortality project" that cannot deliver what it promises. 

What About Symbolic Immortality?

Atheist Michael Shermer writes:

Although immortality has not yet been vouchsafed to us in this universe, we live on nonetheless through our genes and our families, our loves and our friends, our work and our engagement with others, our participation in politics, the economy, society, and culture, and our contributions—however modest—to making the world a little bit better today than it was yesterday. Protopian progress is real and meaningful, and we can all make a mark, however small. (See Michael Shermer, Heavens on Earth: The Scientific Search for the Afterlife, Immortality, and Utopia, [2018], pgs. 243–44). 

We can achieve "immortality" symbolically by the deeds we do here on Earth and those who remember us. Having children is often cited for this purpose. Humanist Lawrence Rifkin gives it a scientific spin in Scientific American: “So is making babies—and having genes survive through the generations—the meaning of life? The answer is yes—from an evolutionary gene’s eye view.” 

(See blogs.scientificamerican.com/guest-blog/is-the-meaning-of-your-life-to-make-babies)

The true purpose of procreation and educating children is to populate the Church and Heaven. Yet, single people or childless couples (through no fault of theirs) will often be told, "You have no one to carry on your legacy." 

Sorry to burst their bubble, but if Christianity is not true, then there will ultimately be no legacy for anyone. In 100 trillion years, the heat death of the universe will take place. Entropy wins. There will be no life anywhere, and no life ever again. To "make a difference" means that the end of the state of affairs is changed because of what you did. However, if there will be the heat death of the universe regardless of what you do, you didn't make a difference. The end result is the same. Whatever DNA you passed on is gone forever. There ultimately is no legacy. 

The False Slogans of Secular Salvation

Although most people know about the "live healthy and live forever" falsehood (and some may be taken in by the idea without realizing it), the majority of Christians will not consider transhumanism or cryonics. Some believers may fall for the false concept of symbolic immortality. However, it has been my experience that many believers get taken in by one of the three slogans discussed herein. These slogans are capable of a Christian interpretation, but they can distract you into implicitly believing in a false immortality. All too often, these slogans are little more than a distraction to make us think we have plenty of time before we think of death and get our lives in order (or keep our lives in order in order by remembering our last end and true purpose). 

Atheist philosopher Bertrand Russell thought this wise: “If you have wide and keen interests and activities in which you can still be effective, you will have no reason to think about the merely statistical fact of the number of years you have already lived, still less of the probable brevity of your future.” (See Bertrand Russell, Portraits of Memory: And Other Essays,  [1951], pg. 51). Thus people busy themselves with careers, children, chores, and a host of other things to keep thoughts about their deaths at bay.

1.  "Bucket Lists" and "You Only Live Once"

Bucket lists (things you want to do before you "kick the bucket"--i.e., die) are a big distraction from what's really important; they allow someone to keep busy—to live it up until the end. Once you’ve checked something off, you can move immediately to the next accomplishment. Thus can someone busy themselves with planning their next trip to Paris or Machu Picchu, skydiving, running a marathon, climbing a mountain, starting a business, seeing the northern lights, or playing a new instrument. Often, if someone goes to a unique place on vacation, I'll hear someone say, "I'm going to put that on my Bucket List!" Unfortunately, I've never heard someone say that in regard to the things of God. Going on a pilgrimage, attending Mass more often, going on a retreat and other laudatory works, never seem to make it onto the "Bucket List." 

Similarly, when people are buying something expensive or engaging in something adventurous or even dangerous, they’ll often say “You only live once,” which is now popularized as YOLO. When I hear that, I think, “Yeah, but we can live forever.” What have you done for God, or for others out of the love of God? Our one life determines our final destiny. 

2. "Work Hard and Be Successful"

While definitely true, there is a tendency to idolize becoming a workaholic. Although many people rightly recognize workaholism as a bad thing, it’s for the most part socially acceptable. Thus when a person is being interviewed for a job and they inevitably ask what the job applicant considers to be his biggest weakness, the joke answer is, “Well, people say I’m a workaholic, but I don’t think that’s so bad.” By working hard you can make a difference in the world. However, workaholics are famous for ignoring their families, and  the things of God. Although work is very important (all of us need to pay the bills, after all), many people ignore other truly important (and more important) things.

3. "Work to Live, Don't Live to Work"

On the opposite end of the spectrum, there are those who want to work as little as possible and enjoy amusements in various forms. It’s no accident that successful entertainers—singers, actors, athletes—receive some of the highest salaries in the world. Consider that many professional athletes, who were passed through college because of sports, make way more than a neurosurgeon. They help with what the world need most—to escape thoughts of death. Now, I’m not opposed to watching some television, movies, and sporting contests or engaging in social media, computer games, and so on, but how easy is it for people to waste their lives on it? The Neilson Corporation reports that on average, people spent about 10 hours and 24 minutes interacting with media each day (e.g., radio, television, and/or social media). If that seems high, it’s because “about 81 percent across all age groups use a digital device while watching TV.” (See usatoday.com/story/money/media/2018/12/12/cutting-cord-2018-tv-dominates-but-younger-users-connect-via-web/2276207002; and that was six years ago--probably more wasted time now).

Bottom line: We must put Christ and His Church first. Only one thing in life matters: Gaining Heaven. Nothing else matters. A great man I respect very much said to me, "Blessed is the man who dies with unfulfilled dreams." Perplexed, I asked him what he meant. He replied, "Always do everything with the desire and dream of obtaining your salvation and that of others. Since you can never do it enough, your dreams will never be fulfilled, but if you die like that, you lived the best possible life for God and will reach Heaven." What a glorious life and death.

Conclusion

"In all thy works remember thy last end, and thou shalt never sin." (Ecclesiasticus 7:40). Think often of the Four Last Things: Death, Judgement, Heaven, Hell. How sad for the godless atheists and misguided believers to seek "immortality" by methods that are doomed to failure. Super-healthy living, transhumanism, cryonics, doing deeds to be remembered by, and having children will not make you live forever--literally or even symbolically. I don't know how I'll face my death when that time comes. I hope to be brave as one can be and in the state of grace, which is why I pray for the great grace of Final Perseverance every day. 

None of us will overcome the fear of death, or respond to it correctly, without the One True Faith. Instead of denying death, or trying not to think about it, the real solution to minimize the fear of death is to face the reality of it while striving to achieve true immortality in Heaven through Our Lord Jesus Christ and His Church. Living and dying as a True Catholic is the only way to a happy immortality when this Earthly life is over.