Which Is Worse?

[iheartjp2]

VERY curious to see what the responses will be.

[InHisLove726]

Definitely dying knowing you made a terrible choice. If you die without repentance, you have no way of correcting your transgressions. If you are still alive, you have the opportunity to repent and correct your mistakes.

[CatherineM]

My dad told me after a bad heart attack that the last thing he wanted to be thinking about when he felt his life slipping away was regret about something he'd done, or not done.

[morostheos]

While you're still alive you can do things to rectify horrible choices, when you're dying, you're out of time.

[sarcasmguy126]

It's a tough choice, but I'd have to say living with it, cause when you die, you die...but living with it, having it on your conscience for all your life, that would probably be worse!

[Nihil Obstat]

Much worse to die. If you live you can make amends, and more importantly, repent.
It's probably harder, objectively speaking, but then again our set of morals was never supposed to be easy.

[iheartjp2]

[quote name='sarcasmguy126' date='24 August 2009 - 09:42 PM' timestamp='1251164567' post='1955832']
It's a tough choice, but I'd have to say living with it, cause when you die, you die...but living with it, having it on your conscience for all your life, that would probably be worse!
[/quote]

Interesting response, I like it.

[iheartjp2]

I'd just like to inject a thought to see if one's opinion might change.

Does it depend on the situation or is it always better to live with the consequences of one's actions? A lot of people are saying that one always has the chance to amend what's gone awry, but what if the consequences are absolutely irreversible?

Edited August 25, 2009 by iheartjp2

[Nihil Obstat]

[quote name='iheartjp2' date='25 August 2009 - 02:04 AM' timestamp='1251183888' post='1955964']
I'd just like to inject a thought to see if one's opinion might change.

Does it depend on the situation or is it always better to live with the consequences of one's actions. A lot of people are saying that one always has the chance to amend what's gone awry, but what if the consequences are absolutely irreversible?
[/quote]
You can still confess, and that's the most important part in any case. Making amends isn't always possible, and in some ways damage that we do can never be undone in our own lives and on our own power, but [b]by far[/b] above all, the most important part is how you fix your relationship with God.

So it's really a simple scale of priorities:

State of your own soul,
damage done to another,
living with yourself after the fact.

[iheartjp2]

[quote name='Nihil Obstat' date='25 August 2009 - 03:11 AM' timestamp='1251184288' post='1955966']
You can still confess, and that's the most important part in any case. Making amends isn't always possible, and in some ways damage that we do can never be undone in our own lives and on our own power, but [b]by far[/b] above all, the most important part is how you fix your relationship with God.

So it's really a simple scale of priorities:

State of your own soul,
damage done to another,
living with yourself after the fact.
[/quote]

What if it has nothing to do with your soul or your relationship with other people? Take for instance, this story:

Some friends are hanging out at a pool and a couple of the guys dares another one to jump off the high dive. He doesn't want to at first, but their taunting persuades him to do so, even though he knows it's dangerous. When he jumps, he doesn't submerge in a proper position and the contact with the water puts immense stress on his spine. He's a paralyzed from the neck down as a result. Would it be better for him if he died soon after impact from complications knowing he did something stupid, or that he live the rest of his life knowing he did something stupid? I know this is hypothetical, but something rather close happened to someone I met, so it's not far-fetched.

Edited August 25, 2009 by iheartjp2

[homeschoolmom]

Dying. Especially if you are dying because of the bad choice you just made-- like jumping out of a plane without your parachute. I mean, I really don't want my last thoughts to be, "Oops!"

[Nihil Obstat]

[quote name='iheartjp2' date='25 August 2009 - 02:19 AM' timestamp='1251184797' post='1955969']
What if it has nothing to do with your soul or your relationship with other people? Take for instance, this story:

Some friends are hanging out at a pool and a couple of the guys dares another one to jump off the high dive. He doesn't want to at first, but their taunting persuades him to do so, even though he knows it's dangerous. When he jumps, he doesn't submerge in a proper position and the contact with the water puts immense stress on his spine. He's a paralyzed from the neck down as a result. Would it be better for him if he died soon after impact from complications knowing he did something stupid, or that he live the rest of his life knowing he did something stupid? I know this is hypothetical, but something rather close happened to someone I met, so it's not far-fetched.
[/quote]
One could argue that doing something that you know is dangerous, just because of peer pressure, is sinful.
Or, from another angle, how do you think all those friends feel if you die? Wouldn't they feel that your life was forever on their conscience?

[zunshynn]

The question doesn't make sense to me. If you died knowing you made a terrible choice then you also lived knowing you made a terrible choice. And what is the choice? Something sinful? Or just a terrible mistake?

And knowing you made a terrible choice, if we are talking about a sin, doesn't go away just because you repent. I mean, you can repent, but you will still know the choice is wrong. So dying, or living, with that knowledge would not necessarily be a bad thing... it could be a bittersweet experience. To experience forgiveness, and still live with the fact that a terrible decision was made.

[eagle_eye222001]

Both bad, however at least with living you can try to make amends.

[iheartjp2]

[quote name='zunshynn' date='26 August 2009 - 05:59 PM' timestamp='1251323943' post='1956580']
The question doesn't make sense to me. If you died knowing you made a terrible choice then you also lived knowing you made a terrible choice. And what is the choice? Something sinful? Or just a terrible mistake?

And knowing you made a terrible choice, if we are talking about a sin, doesn't go away just because you repent. I mean, you can repent, but you will still know the choice is wrong. So dying, or living, with that knowledge would not necessarily be a bad thing... it could be a bittersweet experience. To experience forgiveness, and still live with the fact that a terrible decision was made.
[/quote]

I simply asked the question. The rest is for you to contemplate. I like the fact that you're thinking about it in more ways than one, though.

Edited August 26, 2009 by iheartjp2

[aalpha1989]

House said something once kinda to this effect; It's slightly less horrible to live in misery than to die in it.

[iheartjp2]

[quote name='aalpha1989' date='26 August 2009 - 11:14 PM' timestamp='1251342863' post='1956804']
House said something once kinda to this effect; It's slightly less horrible to live in misery than to die in it.
[/quote]

Wait, did you type that correctly? I haven't seen the episode (granted I don't watch House MD religiously as some do) but that coming from House just doesn't sound right. From what I've seen of his character on the show, he would seem to espouse the belief that to live in misery would be slightly [i]worse[/i] than to die in it.

[aalpha1989]

[quote name='iheartjp2' date='27 August 2009 - 02:26 PM' timestamp='1251397611' post='1956934']
Wait, did you type that correctly? I haven't seen the episode (granted I don't watch House MD religiously as some do) but that coming from House just doesn't sound right. From what I've seen of his character on the show, he would seem to espouse the belief that to live in misery would be slightly [i]worse[/i] than to die in it.
[/quote]

nope, he definitely said it "smells of elderberries slightly less to live in misery than to die in it". he was talking about suicide.

[picchick]

I voted to live.

Even after going to confession, making amends, repenting a million times, I will still regret and have disdain for the terrible things that I have done. So when I die, I will no longer have those feelings.

[iheartjp2]

[quote name='aalpha1989' date='27 August 2009 - 03:13 PM' timestamp='1251400420' post='1956945']
nope, he definitely said it "smells of elderberries slightly less to live in misery than to die in it". he was talking about suicide.
[/quote]

Hm, assuming that elderberries smell good, I'd come to the conclusion that he meant that it would be slightly worse to live in misery than to die in it, no?