[davem]

Originally Posted by Raynor

We need not speculate; there are (or at least have been) societies which accepted death as natural, as a stage of life; some even embraced it. Of my ancestors, the dacians, it is said that they welcomed death, so as they may meet Zamolxe, their god.

There are some strands of hinduism and Zen which preach that God may be met in the last moment of life - if God was the center of one's preocupation. There are monks who center their life's efforts on this ultimate trial; at least for them, death is not a punishment, but the culmination of their strivings.

Fine - but most of us are not in that position, & we are the very ones Tolkien's work speaks to. We are not monks or nuns, we are ordinary 'Hobbits' & death is not a 'culmination' of our strivings. Of course death is 'natural', but so are man eating sharks, MRSA, AIDS, hurricanes & a whole load of other nasties.

Many martyrs, from almost every country, have taken actions which meant their certain death, yet they undertook them because they knew this could bring their cause closer to reality, and because of them people in many places enjoy more rights than otherwise (for the record, I don't agree with suicide bombings ). For themselves, death was an unique opportunity to make a difference; for those who benefited from it, it was a sacrifice revered.

But this is effectively treating life, not death, with contempt - as a means to an end. That is not 'accepting death' at all, it is denying it its right & proper 'respect'.

At least in Tolkien's world, death "as it should be seen" is not something banal; it doesn't change how it affects the person and one's world, but acknowledges that this end is also a begining, or a return of you will -a return which is a bounty that even the Powers and the Immortals envy. They envy it twice, because that fea leaves this world, and joins another one, most likely - Eru's.

Then why are the deaths I mentioned seen (& more importantly felt) as tragedies? Tolkien never implies that those who felt grief at the passing of those individuals were delusional, or 'sinful' (which would be the case if they were merely believing Melkor's lies). Those deaths are presented & perceived as wrong - & more importantly so is Aragorn's by Arwen - & she knows the theory - 'Death is the Gift of Eru to Men' 'Its only a transition' etc, etc. Yet when it comes to it she also knows it is not 'good', pleasant or right - its the opposite in fact.

Ultimate trust, faith, in Eru is required from his Children in both life and death. Trust that "of all His designs the issue must be for His Children's joy".

And the evidence for that trust? Eru does not one single thing to justify it.