Postscript and further thoughts on death, life, and conflict.
Western society dreads death; Asian and Middle-eastern societies don't take it nearly as seriously. But they know that we do, and so we are held hostage by our fear. Western societies are held hostage by the fear of death, by the ardent desire to avoid it personally, and to avoid suffering the loss of a loved one. But the other side of that coin is respect for life, which also makes it most difficult to take life, to mete out death as easily as it is done in societies where life is held to be of... Sign in to see full entry.