Is there a life after death?

The title itself is ironic. Think of birth, life, and death in stages. You're born, that's stage one. Your life is stage two. Your death is stage three. Is there a fourth stage?

Let me provide an example.

One of my friends (who will remain nameless) told me a story about their grandmother. She was very old, and she was about to die. She was in the hospital, and for one moment, her heart stopped. They found a way to quickly bring her back, but she didn't want to. Her words were:

"Let me go back. It's beautiful."

So they let her go back.

But what can we take from this example? What exactly, is beautiful about death? Is it having the burden of life lifted off your shoulders? Is it another land, another heaven? I'm not saying I believe in heaven, I'm just saying it's a possibility.

What do you think?

Cloning

What is your position on cloning. Do you have different positions for different types?

1. Human cloning

2. Cloning animals for food

3. Any other kind of reproductive cloning

4. Therapeutic cloning

Human Nature

I know we are going to continue this discussion in class another day, but I though I'd post this so that people who can't make it to class either today or next week could join the discussion and also so that we could discuss it without all the sidetracking and the loudness (if you were in class you know what I mean :) ) So here you go.

Does human nature exist? If so what is it? Is there a difference between human nature and instinct? How can you prove the existence or non-existence of human nature?

Well there you go: DISCUSS :)

Freedom of Speech

Consider this scenario: Someone creates a website where he posts how to make a homemade bomb and encourages people to use those bombs. Two weeks later a completely different person with no relation whatsoever to the creator of the website blows up a building. He is arrested, but what about the person who made the website? Should he be held responsible for this bombing? Should he have not been allowed to post this, what about freedom of speech? Now consider this scenario: Someone writes a wilderness survival guide and includes directions to make a homemade knife. A criminal uses this guide to create a knife and then stabs someone with it. Is the creator of the guide responsible for the stabbing? Should he still be allowed to write survival guides?

So should we have laws stopping people from writing instructions on how to make and use weapons? And if so at what point does that become a violation of our rights?

The Root of all Evil

Money. Our modern society is mostly built on it these days. Over the years, money has become more and more imbedded into our lives and our habits. Out of money is power, the rich and wealthy can rule the financial empire. But also, we can get dragged away by the pleasure of wealth. Just look at the recession! Bad spending habits, credit card debt, foreclosure, you hear it all over the news every night. And yet, we may try to fix it, but we keep falling into the same habits over and over again, digging that hole deeper and deeper. We are hooked on a drug, and it's called money. Our whole society is hooked!

Based on how it is right now in the present day and time, how do you think our society will change? How will we be effected by wealth?