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I would have loved to see this beautifully written, touching story without mentioning any form or idea of God.
by leibniz 14y ago
I would have loved to see this beautifully written, touching story without mentioning any form or idea of God.
- tptacek 14y agoThank you, you just won me $20.
- MattSayar 14y agoDoes HN's predictability ever perturb you?
- larrys 14y agoI won $50 for correctly predicting that Paul wouldn't change the picture that appears with the assault rifle.
- Scramblejams 14y agoThat one was like taking candy from a baby. I hope you at least offered them a time limit, so there was SOME element of sport to it. :-)
- venus 14y agoWho was stupid enough to take the opposite bet? Of course polluting an otherwise touching and thought-provoking essay with God Talk provokes moans from those of us, thankfully many, who have no wish to see it. It's as if someone took a few beautiful pictures of picturesque landscapes and then in the last few shots the bottom of the photo included their stinky foot and some empty cans of Bud Light. You could make $20 predicting the moans about that, too.
- charlieok 14y agoNot I. Paul Buchheit is sharing a deeply personal account of what is most important to him and why. If that includes some form or idea of God, why should he leave it out?
- paul 14y agoThen you don't understand. One needn't believe in anything metaphysical to appreciate the power of a concept.
- 3pt14159 14y agoMaybe he did understand, yet disagreed with your characterization of a large set of people's beliefs. Literally comparing what some view as the cornerstone of their religion with rape does not belong on this board. What does belong is the heart wrenching story of prioritization of life following the death of a family member, same with complications of a daughter. Many of us are planning on having children soon, so the perspective is very interesting.
- tptacek 14y agoAs a Catholic I also object to Paul's failure to venerate the Virgin Mary. You know what I think would make this posting better? If 'pg added a feature I just came up with to HN that allows us to collaboratively edit Paul Buchheit's stories as if they were Wikipedia articles or Stack Overflow answers. I bet, as a group, we'd sure do a great job of capturing what Paul thinks about what's important in life, and also we could better inform people about why they shouldn't use vi because modal editors are relics best left to the 1970s.
- paul 14y agoI care about the world that my daughter will grow up in, and I think it's important for people to understand that love isn't something that can ever be given or taken by force. It must be a gift.
- diego 14y agoYou phrased that in an ambiguous way. I believe you mean that the gift is being able to feel love, not the love itself. Loving someone may cause you to give "gifts" to that person, but the love itself is not a gift to them. You are the one enjoying that gift from life.
- corry 14y agoI disagree. If God was integral to his experience, why should he self-censor that? I'd much rather read a truthful account of his experiences than a white-washed one. Thanks for sharing, Paul.
- xxpor 14y agos/God/idea of goodness/g. Better? I believe Paul is really referring to an abstract concept here, not what most people think of as God.
- ChuckMcM 14y agoI've come to realize that some people are afraid of the concept of God. This fear manifests it in several ways. My mother-in-law is afraid of dying. But more than a healthy respect that one might expect with regards to ceasing to exist, so afraid that she cannot talk about it. She cannot utter its possibility, nor conceive thoughts which involve a state of the world in which she is no longer living. It really puts a crimp in estate planning as you might imagine. Here is a person who refuses to write a last will and testament. The will is only a useful document when you are dead, and to think about the things you put into a will you have to start with "ok so when I am dead ..." And for her, she will not think that thought. She cannot even think of being dead in the abstract her fear is that powerful. I've met people who respond that way thinking about God. Abstract or not, conversational or theological, just can't go there. My Dad is like that. Its because he has combined the notions of "God" (sort of the abstract concept that Paul talks about of forgiveness and love) with "Religion" which Paul talks about as using Fear and Greed to exhort behaviors. It is sad when being unable to think thoughts about a subject causes hurt to those you love. Their love prevents them from bringing it up, and the circle is complete.
- theorique 14y agoInteresting point. As a teen-aged atheist and Ayn Rand fan, I was so determinedly atheistic that I couldn't use the word "god" even in a metaphorical way. Perhaps I was afraid of the concept (or afraid of what devout believers would do to me). My literalism probably interfered with effective communication at times. Nowadays I aim to focus on the underlying intent, rather than the literal meaning. God is a fairly abstract, catch-all word that can mean a lot of different things to different people.
- ChuckMcM 14y ago"God is a fairly abstract, catch-all word that can mean a lot of different things to different people." Exactly right.
- endlessvoid94 14y agoHe even told you he was going to be speaking abstractly, and you still had to go and say it.
- theorique 14y agoYou could replace it with "Universe" or "everything that exists" or "total consciousness" or "enlightened perception" or "stillness" or any number of words or phrases...
- Xcelerate 14y agoIf your post has a point other than to provoke people, I don't see what it is. You and I both know there are plenty of people on HN who both believe and don't believe in God, and you had to have known that a comment like this would cause contention and detract from the point of Paul's post.
- leibniz 14y agoI think the point of the essay is perfectly made without the final part about God. I found the perfect rhythm of the essay got broken at bit this point, and that's why I'd loved to see it without it.
- ianstallings 14y agoWell you have a keyboard and can post to the Internet right? I'll be awaiting your essay.
- leibniz 14y agoI think it is a great essay with a misleading end.