<<I don't know if I have explained what I'm trying to say here. I am not attacking you or anyone. I understand the fear of death very well, intimately. I also understand fairly well the lengths we go to to deny it.>> >colin
Thank you for your reply Colin. You have explained yourself clearly and intelligently and I have a better grasp of your views now. I agree with you, people should not be made to feel bad because they smoke. I support everybody's right to chose what they want to do or say as long as they do not affect the freedom of choice of others. No one should tell you not to smoke, as you say that is your business and yours alone. <<no matter what we do, we are going to die>> That is true. I have no fear of death. In fact the only thing I fear in life is ill health. <<don't eat butter, eat margerine.>> I don't eat butter or margerine, drink skimmed milk, don't smoke and drink alcohol infrequently but not because I think I will live longer. I have made the choice not to because I feel healthier. However I am not deluded into thinking I will necessarily live longer as a result. I may do, I may not. I may also be hit by a bus tomorrow. :) Those people who believe it when doctors say they won't get ill and die because they don't smoke are deluding themselves. << life should be lived to the full, each day enjoyed because none of us know if this day is our last and because we are damned lucky just to be alive. We do not have a right to health or to life. we are lucky if we have them.>> Well said. Life is not a right, it is a gift. <<my friend sean died of lung cancer at 25yrs of age. non smoker.>> I'm terribly sorry about that Colin. That is too young to die of anything. I'm not one of the anti-smoking lobby. Personally I cannot agree with people who have smoked for 30 years and then take the cigarette companies to court because they 'weren't told it was dangerous.' I remember watching an old Bette Davis film a few weeks ago. In those films everyone smoked. Revealingly when she offered the male lead a cigarette he said. "I shouldn't really, they are very bad for you, you know."...and this was in the 1940's.!! Anyway, I digress. If people wish to smoke that's fine. Everybody need a little 'Medicine' sometimes. My concern is for those who, due to peer pressure do not always recognize the dangers of starting i.e. children. The only way to educate them of the dangers is through advertising. I've enjoyed this discussion. Kevin. N.P. Eddie Reader - Medicine
