Thank you Ian for dealing with the topic; you may be interested in this:

http://www.abc.net.au/unleashed/4033162.html

'(Dan 12:2) And many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt.

(Dan 12:3) And those who are wise shall shine as the brightness of the sky; and those who turn many to righteousness shall shine as the stars forever and ever. '

(Mat 25:32) And all nations shall be gathered before Him. And He shall separate them from one another, as a shepherd divides the sheep from the goats.

(Mat 25:33) And indeed He shall set the sheep on His right hand, but the goats off the left.

(Mat 25:34) Then the King shall say to those on His right hand, Come, blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.

(Mat 25:35) For I was hungry, and you gave me food; I was thirsty, and you gave Me drink; I was a stranger, and you took Me in;

(Mat 25:36) I was naked, and you clothed Me; I was sick, and you visited Me; I was in prison, and you came to Me.

uly I say to you, Inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brothers, you have done it to Me.

(Mat 25:41) Then He also shall say to those on the left hand, Depart from Me, you cursed, into everlasting fire prepared for the Devil and his angels.

(Mat 25:42) For I was hungry, and you gave Me no food; I was thirsty, and you gave Me no drink;

(Mat 25:43) I was a stranger and you did not take Me in; I was naked, and you did not clothe Me; I was sick, and in prison, and you did not visit me.

An interesting article, and thank you for the courteous and genuine way in which you invite responses.

Personally, I have no problem with organ donation and would be happy for my organs to be used if they will help someone (though like Foyle, I suspect their quality might not be that great!). Once we are dead, we have no further use for the body. It is possible to treat a body respectfully and still harvest its organs – many of us anyway will have been through some pretty unpleasant and invasive processes prior to death.

I can understand Daffy Duck’s concerns if s/he believes a spirit attends the body after death, but that is not my own belief.

Alfred’s points about the cost of transplants, their effect of extending life and over-population would apply equally to many forms of medical intervention, not just transplants. Perhaps we should have a serious debate about when and whether we should continue to preserve life, but banning transplants would really resolve that issue.

We should respect people’s beliefs and wishes, so a potential donor’s wishes should be paramount, but personally I’d prefer an “opt out” system that presumes people are willing to donate unless they specify otherwise.

Runner

There is one glory of the sun, and another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars; indeed, star differs from star in glory. So it is with the resurrection of the dead. What is sown is perishable, what is raised is imperishable. It is sown in dishonour, it is raised in glory. It is sown in weakness, it is raised in power. It is sown a physical body, it is raised a spiritual body.

1 Corinthians 15:41-44

Rhian

There is one glory of the sun, and another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars; indeed, star differs from star in glory. So it is with the resurrection of the dead. What is sown is perishable, what is raised is imperishable. It is sown in dishonour, it is raised in glory. It is sown in weakness, it is raised in power. It is sown a physical body, it is raised a spiritual body.

1 Corinthians 15:41-44

No arguement with me on this one.

It is regretfully fully predictable that an article such as this will bring out the usual selective biblical tripe from Runner, and the baseless mystical twaddle espoused by Daffy Duck. There is not one shred of evidence for any of it. There is only body, and if upon my death any of my body parts are of use to anyone in extending or bettering their life, then they are welcome to them. This includes cannibalism, and also includes the right to donate my body parts if I wish to do so before my death - even if such a donation of itself results in my death. I would hope to reach a time in my life where I would willingly die if by doing so a child might live, and I believe that I should be allowed to make this choice.
Unlike Runner et al I have no fear of the state of death (although I do fear the actual process which is generally messy and painful) or any retribution from any imaginary god.

Good afternoon to you MR D. DUCK...

By the sound of your lengthy thread, you have an inherent fear of death ? The fear that at some point in time you'll die. And you worry not only when, but how, and will you suffer, during the actual process of dying ?

I'm old, and as the say '...the old 'must' die, the young 'may' die...' A simple play on words to be sure, though with an element of truth.

Before you leap through the computer and give me a 'kicking' for being so presumptuous even audacious, may I briefly explain. The last two years of service before I retired, I was given a 'kushy' job where life was far less demanding - There, I had the opportunity to witness (scrupulous close), the sequel of death.

A bloke who'd been there for many years (a man of an entirely different vocation, to that of mine), once told me, the more a person babbles on about their own death. Or talks incessantly of their own mortality. Forever, trying to think through, or rationale the many religious intricacies apropos their own death. To the point of actually examining the stages, process, even techniques associated with attempting to delay their (own) point of actually dying - These sad folk do in fact, have an implacable fear of the actual moment of their own death. The point of just 'slipping away', if you like ?

And the fear in these people is never more evident (according to this bloke), whenever they have the regrettable need to attend this establishment.

My advice to you D. DUCK, or to anyone else for that matter, is just forget about it ! It'll come to you, in fact to everyone. Quickly enough without excessively pondering upon; what'll happen, when it'll happen, and how it'll happen. None of us really knows, unless you go neck yourself or something ?