'Why? Why do the fools fly?' said Denethor. 'Better to burn sooner than late, for burn we must. Go back to your bonfire! And I? I will go now to my pyre. To my pyre! No tomb for Denethor and Faramir. No tomb! No long slow sleep of death embalmed. We will burn like the heathen kings before ever a ship sailed from the West. The West has failed. Go back and burn!'
(The Siege of Gondor, The Return of the King, JRR Tolkien)
With these few words, JRR Tolkien clearly shows us the folly of suicide, euthanasia and cremation all in one go! If it is not clear to you, then please read the whole of The Lord of the Rings (again I hope). Remember that while the Church may allow cremation, it does not recommend it! This old pagan ritual came back into practice in the early 1900's for those who did not want a Christian Burial.
1 comment:
Tolkien also said
"Many that live deserve death. And some that die deserve life. Can you give it to them? Then do not be too eager to deal out death in judgement. For even the wise cannot see all ends." Gandalf; The Shadow of the Past; The Fellowship of the Ring
He's a good fellow, isn't he? I like him very much for putting his wise, and much needed words into such a wonderful tale.
God Bless J.R.R Tolkien
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