PASCAL’S WAGER

Blaise Pascal was a 17th century philosopher and mathematician who first posed the argument that one should believe in God because doing so carries a higher probability of a positive payoff than does rejecting belief in God.

ON CEMETERIES, "OUR TOWN," AND A CRESCENT MOON

When the day comes, I want to be cremated and not buried. It’s more efficient and less expensive, and it sidesteps the myth of some sort of resurrection that drives the motivation of many of those who prefer burial.  Having said that, burials have one distinct advantage.  Cemeteries serve to remind us of our own mortality and, more to the point, of the opportunities we need to take advantage of during our one brief sojourn.