When It's Over

My spiritual father, the late, great Fr. Gommar DePauw, was the youngest of eight children born in Stekene, Belgium. His father, Mr. Desiree DePauw, was an educator and attorney, and his mother, Anna DePauw (nee Van Overloop), was a most pious Catholic homemaker. There were five girls and three boys. His eldest sister (and oldest of the eight) spent the last fifty (50) years of her life as a medical missionary nun in that part of the world formerly called the Belgian Congo and she made many converts. His older brother, Nestor, became a Franciscan priest with the religious name "Father Adhemar." Like his brother, he rejected Vatican II and maintained the Integral Catholic Faith, offering only the Traditional Mass and valid, traditional sacraments. The DePauw family was Catholic to the core and was blessed by three vocations; one of them destined to be God's instrument to preserve His Church in the Great Apostasy. 

It was just after World War II, Belgium had been liberated from Nazi tyranny, and one of  Father DePauw's older sisters was having a big celebration on the occasion of her 15th wedding anniversary. As his other siblings were all busy, and his father would be coming straight from work, Father agreed to pick up his mother at the house with the parish car and take her to the party. Upon his arrival, Father used his key to enter and announced himself. His mother called from her upstairs bedroom. She said she was all dressed up for the party, but needed help picking out her shoes. She beckoned her son to come upstairs and help her decide. She gave him a big kiss and showed him the two pairs of shoes, asking which ones he thought would make her look nicer. Father pointed to the ones he thought were better, and his mom smiled. She sat on the edge of the bed and was reaching down to put them on.

Suddenly, she sat upright and looked straight into her son's eyes. She firmly yet calmly said, "I think it's all over." She immediately laid back on the bed, took her last breath, and expired. Father called the ambulance and gave his mother the Last Rites. He went in the ambulance with her. She was pronounced dead on arrival by the attending physician in the hospital. Mrs. DePauw had been in excellent health, wasn't taking any medication, and took care of herself. "Natural causes" was listed on the death certificate. That we will all die one day is a fact. When, where, and how we die are known but to God. Every All Souls Day, Father would call to mind all the members of the Chapel who were with us the past November 2nd, but never made it to the next.

In Hebrews 2:14-15, we read, "Since the children have flesh and blood, He too shared in their humanity so that by His death He might break the power of him who holds the power of death—that is, the devil— and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death."(Emphasis mine). The One True Church has always taught us to reflect on the "Four Last Things:" Death Judgement, Heaven and Hell. This isn't to be morbid, but to recognize the fact that since the Fall, humanity is propelled (for better or worse) by the fear of death. Those who have the Faith will be inspired to do great things for Christ, live a holy life, die a good death, and attain eternal happiness in Heaven. Those who have the false faith of Mohammed will murder to obtain forty virgins from "Allah." Pagan Buddhists will try to "become one" with the universe.

Today, we have those who deny God and wish to cheat death. Their ideas impact our society. Truly, there have always been those who think they can somehow "transcend death." They try to figuratively "stay alive" by leaving some kind of legacy whether that is by becoming famous, doing something to try and change the world, etc. These things can be good or bad, depending on what they do, however even if done for something worthwhile, it does nothing to make them immortal because the universe itself will eventually end by entropy. There are now those who believe that they can literally live forever.

The modern day heathens, having no faith in God, want to live forever here since they reject the soul and life after death. This post will expose the folly of those who try to achieve secular salvation via medical science, transhumanism, and cryonics.

A Healthy Diet For Eternity?

 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. 

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. Geneticists believe the ability of the human body to continue living reaches it's peak at around 120-125 years old. How does this square with Biblical accounts of people living hundreds of years? There are many factors that limit a human lifespan. Here are but ten of such major factors:

1. Murder
2. War
3. Accidents
4. Diseases
5. Stress
6. Obesity
7. Inadequate exercise
8. Environmental Stress
9. Exposure to Radiation
10. Telomerase Activity (chromosome shortening)


Early humans did not eat the processed foods of today, or lack exercise. Obesity was most likely extremely rare. There were far less pollutants and chemicals in use. This would cross off numbers six and seven above, and greatly reduce number four. However, there seem to be two factors in particular that could account for life spans dropping from about 900 to about 85 with an upward limit of approximately 125: (a) exposure to radiation, from space and within the Earth, and (b) telomerase activity.

Radiation

Coal burning, building materials, paved roads, and even granite countertops in kitchens, guarantee our exposure to igneous rocks. There is decay of radioisotopes in those igneous rocks (uranium, radium, and thorium, for example) that causes small amounts of radiation. Multiply the amount of constant exposure to that of ancient peoples and there is a huge amount of radiation as compared to way back in history. Cosmic radiation (not all of which is damaging) was thought to be constant throughout Earth's history. In 1995, Russian astronomer Dr. Anatoliy Erlykin, challenged this idea when he noted an anomaly in the very high-energy region  of the cosmic ray spectrum. (See A.D. Erlykin, "Around and Above the Knee"Nuclear Physics B--Proceedings Supplements 39 [February 1995]: 215-227).

In 1997, Sir Arnold Wolfendale, a British astronomer, joined with Erlykin and were able to show a significant increase in harmful cosmic rays showering the entire Earth arising from a single supernova in the recent past (i.e. sometime less than 100,000 years ago). (See Erlykin and Wolfendale, "A Single Source of Comic Rays in the Range 1015-1016 eV," Journal of Physics G: Nuclear and Particle Physics 23 [August 1997]: 979).

Telomerase 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).

The shift from immortality to mortality after the Fall might have necessitated longer life spans at first. Shorter lives would also have a limiting effect on the evils the majority of people in their fallen state could bring upon the world, and get people thinking about the things of God sooner, having less time on Earth.

Yet, suppose scientists could cure cancer. That would only increase life spans about two to three years. (See Keyfitz, "What Difference Would it Make if Cancer were Eradicated,"Demography 14 no. 4 [1977]. The study remains relevant as it was subsequently confirmed by others such as Stephen Cave). 

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 

Bottom line: Medical science will not make us immortal. God determines how many years we have on this Earth. I'm sure we all know someone who defies all medical logic. For example, I knew a woman who lived near me as a child who smoked five packs of cigarettes a day, ate greasy food, was obese, never went to the doctor, and never exercised. She died at age 82 from falling down the stairs and hitting her head on concrete. She never had cancer, heart problems, etc. On the other hand, I lost a good friend of mine who did everything right and was extremely athletic. He died suddenly from a heart attack at age 47, leaving behind a wife and two kids. This doesn't mean we shouldn't do all we can to obey the Fifth Commandment, it simply means that it is God, not humans, Who determines life spans. "Give an account of thy stewardship, for thou canst not be my steward any longer." (St. Luke 16:16).

Humanity 2.0

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 27.8 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. 

Conclusion

"In all thy works remember thy last end, and thou shalt never sin." (Ecclesiasticus 7:40). I don't write this post to be depressing but to give real hope through our Faith. I realize that this might be my last post--- God may call me to Judgement before next Monday. Having death before your eyes will help clarify things. Whenever I'm especially upset, I'll ask myself, "If I only had two weeks to live, how important would this issue be to me?" The answer to most issues is "not very important," and I drop it. To those issues that I think would be important, I double my resolve to address it. 

How sad for the godless atheists to seek "immortality" by methods that are doomed to failure. Don't they realize that the entire universe will meet its death by entropy, making transhumanism, medicinal science, and cryonics moot even if such were possible? 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.