Life After Death

The other driver had been drinking peppermint schnapps at the house of friends, who persuaded her to stay for dinner to give the liquor time to wear off. We watched her walk down the stairs and to her van," they later told the police. "She was fine. Two miles before the crash site, she stopped at a roadside tavern to use the bath room; there she tried and failed to get a ride home. When the ambulance reached the emergency room, her blood alcohol measured .20, twice the Washington state legal limit.

My immediate shock and grief were mixed with an upwelling of vengeful anger. I was furious with the drunken driver and with those who had let her drive home that night. When it appeared she would die from her injuries, I wanted her to live to suffer horribly. When she pulled through, I wished she could be blinded so she would never drive again. I wanted revenge.

But heaven is just wishful thinking. Belief in life after death can be explained away so easily that way. Is belief in hell wishful thinking too? We believe in both because Christ taught them, and we believe in him. Long ago, Lucretius, the ancient Roman materialist philosopher, let the cat out of the bag when he said that we should stop believing in life after death because then we don't have to be afraid of hell. That's wishful thinking.

Its importance to the great city has ebbed and flowed throughout history, reaching a peak during Britain's imperial period when it was possible to cross the river by hopping between boats laden with colonial plunder. The health of the Thames has similarly fluctuated-from great ecological abundance to staggering levels of pollution.