This is SPP, religion has to be brought up in every dispute.
Because I'm evil and I knew people would react to it... like flies to a light... the kind that kills them.
Do you respect all living people equally? I don't. If someone has achieved something I find admirable I respect them more, and I don't see why death should suddenly put an end to that respect. "holy shit, the guy died! What a loser."
People pay respect to dead guys they care(d) about, and John Lennon meant a great deal to millions. I agree that no one should be obligated to have a moment of silence for him, but those who want to should absolutely be able to do so, without being accused of insulting all other dead people. Would you say I insult all dead grandparents when I visit my grandfathers grave?
And yes, if Tesla mattered to you I find it fair to have a moment of silence for him, if you want to. Besides; there's a monument to him in Niagara Falls. Same goes for Lincoln, he has a memorial that people visit every day.
Being an atheist doesn't necessarily mean that you don't believe in any form of afterlife, it means that you deny a deity. I don't believe in any of the Gods I've ever heard about, but I'm still not entirely convinced that this life is all we got. For all I know John Lennon might be smoking a doobie with his thumb up right now, in an awesome place that awesome people come to after they've lived an awesome life.
YAWN. Not exactly what I meant, but close enough I guess.
First I will come clean and admit that my first sentence was a lie in my original post, but it saddens me as to why nobody picked up
why it was a lie, or rather, a quote.. paraphrased of course, but close enough.
Second line of affairs... My grandparents are alive still, and I'm not much of a graveyard goer, but I may visit from time to time. You can probably judge by my first post that I
do in fact respect the dead, I just won't waste a moment of silence on them because frankly, if I was dead I wouldn't want people wasting moments of silence on me.
People can dedicate all day long if they want to how great John was, or Hitler, or whatever... I was just voicing that I don't much care because I don't feel he was all that great in comparison with other people that died, and while I have a great deal of respect for many, I just find it silly.
Lastly, the big answer to the big question. This is sure to piss off a lot of people, but I've been feeling a little
crazy lately, and have little or no remorse for many of my actions... which leads me to my final point.
I dragged religion into this, or lack thereof because if there is one thing that pisses me off, it's hypocrites. Now, you know as well as I do that everyone is technically a hypocrite, it's mainly just a measurement of how much of a hypocrite a person is, very similar to homosexuality. People voice this idea of respect, dedicate a moment of silence to their dead brethren, and yet cannot and will not respect the people alive and around them. You see it every day, especially on this board. Everyone shitting all over everyone's viewpoints and beliefs. And when a scrooge like myself comes in and does the very same, it's the usual defensive procedures... You were right about one thing though, I was mistaken to assume that atheists have no belief in an afterlife, but you gotta admit, they usually don't advertise it.
He was a good musician, he had a lot to say. So did a lot of other less famous people that nobody cares about, but **** them, they don't need a moment of silence. If you don't know them, they don't matter.