Author: Chris Krause

The gods have just managed to tie Fanjariho to the ground. Tiw
lost his right hand during the process; it was the wolf’s
security, a guarantee he would not be tricked; but he was indeed.
His jaw has been bolted to the ground with a broadsword, and foam
runs from his mouth in two rivers. The rivers Wan and Wil – of
hope and will. The gods are laughing in joy, and walk happily
back towards their home; the terrible wolf has been rendered
harmless. Only Tiw is left, bleeding heavily from the wrist,
watching the suffering of the wolf, as it twists its body in
torment. He looks into the eyes of Fanjariho and sees its very
soul, its pain and sorrow; its dreadful faith. Getting up, he
walks back to Eron to let her heal his wound, stop his bleeding.
Now he knows what it is like to see into the eyes of Fire. He
will never be the same again, he did not only lose his hand, when
on the island with the wolf.

“Okay, so let’s say you meet a person who is leaving for college the next day. You spend an entire day with them talking. You are totally clicking with them, you feel a strong connection, and you’re really bonding. You stay up all night talking; you are both being honest and open with each other about your feelings, and you end up having sex.

The person leaves town the next day, as they told you they would. There are no hard feelings between either of you and you are left with a fond romantic memory. Maybe you’ll keep in touch, maybe you won’t.

Is there really anything so wrong with that?

Let me introduce a commentary which does not necessarily answer your question directly but does offer an alternative way of looking at why it becomes “good” to do what you are claiming is good.

Modern thinking suggests that personal pleasure and the personal gains and profits of the individual are the most important factors in the determination of actions. This mindset does not necessarily reflect the best way of acting, even though it has turned from “opinion” to “knowledge” in contemporary America. Such a thought process is no longer a philosophy – it is now the only way to live. The result of this thought process is the contemporary western world: one which claims to be enlightened on the surface but experiences great personal misery below the gilding, one which slaughters innumerable people with the technology which was supposed to ensure a greater peace, instead sowing strife, and hollowness of human affairs.

Rejecting extravagant indulgences and seeking to minimize desire is another alternative standard to live by. Surely the pre-Modern man thought of a heroic individual as one which rejected all desire and sought to serve the great City of humanity while exemplifying the virtues of prudence, justice, fortitude and wisdom. Austerity and a strict economy were considered virtues instead of failings. Material things were considered irrelevant and in flux, civic virtue and the pursuit of ideals replacing the pursuit of gold. As Heraclitus famously put it:

No man ever steps in the same river twice, for it’s not the same river and he’s not the same man.

The question becomes: why should we pursue or find value with the sort of arrangement you have described? What is the standard to which your actions are chosen and is that standard one which, if adopted by all people, would result in a functional long term society?

When love once pleads admission to our hearts, (In spite of all the virtue we can boast), The woman that deliberates is lost.

It must be so — Plato, thou reason’st well! —

Indifferent in his choice to sleep or die.

A good summary of the issue [PDF]

It is dissent from government policies that defines the true patriot and champion of liberty.

No, you are the king of killers.
I’ve seen what you do.
Carving through the hearts
and souls of many with cloven hoofs you stomp the dreams of men,
of men far greater than me.
I’m not going I’ll hold here.

I, Krause of Eboracum Novum, do hereby pledge to honor the strictures of this sacred heritage and promise by my faith to be loyal to the Republic of Cincinnatus and the Greek lifestyle, maintaining my devotion against all persons without deception or forethought. Further, I vow to promote and uphold the principles of fealty, courtesy, honesty, valor, honor, chastity, prudence, justice, fortitude and temperance and to solemnly and faithfully follow the edicts of the great city of gods and men, and my beloved. I take this pledge freely, without coercion or expectation of reward, sworn by my hand, and in blessed memory of those who have given their lives to this noble cause.

There are many reasons to kill yourself; the idea that suicide is bad in all circumstances is a strictly Judeo-Christian notion. Falling on a sword instead of betraying your principles and burning yourself in a town square in defiance of a corrupt regime are two examples of worthy suicides. Suicide is also a way to regain your honor if you have committed a great injustice such as the rape of a woman or committed treason. It is nobler for a traitor to take his own life than to be imprisoned or executed for his crimes: this act shows true remorse and true integrity of character.

It is better to end your life if you are being forced to do something which compromises your character or dignity. At all times we are the captain of our fate, one only truly dies when he can no longer control his destiny, when he can no longer end himself. A fate far worse than death is one in which we lose control over our actions, decisions and judgments, the only three things we ever have control over in the first place. Suicide is a reassuring option that reminds us that we are mortal and everything can be endured in one fashion or another.

We speak of unendurable terminal illness and the great pain it causes being worthy of suicide, so why should the exits from a similar pain of a mental sort be any different? Those who can find no solace in the strictures of the society or can find no use for themselves in a real, meaningful way – also suffer a form of illness, usually terminal. It is an unpalling anguish born from being honest and living in western society and as a consequence having no possible future that is fulfilling. Why should someone who has no desire to live be legally forced to? Life is not universally precious and it is not the domain of external agents to judge it as such.