All this talk is reminding me of a movie I saw a few years ago... Brave
Heart. The lead actor dies at the end of the movie, because he was not
willing to surrender, even after capture. All he had to do was say "I
surrender" and they would have let him live. Instead, he shouts
"FREEDOM!!!" and they chop off his head. My little sister hated the
movie becuase "the main guy dies! That makes movies stupid!" But I see
it as just the reverse. Convictions recieve their ultimate test at the
brink of death. If you're not willing to die for what you think is
true, why beleive?
(as a really large aside, I've been thinking about Jesus and his
"sacrifice" on the cross. I've been reading The Jefferson Bible, which
as you might know has removed from the Bible all of the "impossible"
things like miracles and the resurrection. It seems to me that Jesus's
sacrifice on the cross (capital?) is all that much more meaningful if he
/dies/ forever. No measly 3 days in hell and then straight to heaven.
Then instead of seeming to me a sacrificial lamb who has it light, he
really would be bearing the brunt of all the sins of humankind, like the
Christians claim. Eternal suffering in Hell. So my question: why is
the resurection of Jesus necessary at all?)
> > What, preytell, would you apply the conviction to?
>
> My work, my writing and my beading, anything I wanted to do. With that
> kind of conviction there isn't much that you can't do.
I don't really see how convictions enable you to "do" something you
couldn't before. They do allow you to /try/, but that doesn't mean
success. And if to try your best is all you want, why not merely go for
a "strong self-confidence"? I don't see any need to be so sure of
yourself that you are willing to /die/ for your goals.
ERiC