Send Gilda our love, Gene

[Recursion]

[stopbush]

1. Wilder was a professed atheist who had no need for the fantasy of heaven

or an afterlife.

Your OP rather insults his deeply held perspective.

[Recursion]

2. He also called himself a Buddhist. And Jewish

What a bold statement you've made here. Thank you.

[stopbush]

4. See here:

[Recursion]

5. Great start. Now see his statements on Buddhism (nt)

[stopbush]

8. What statements?

The only statement I've ever seen is him calling himself a "Jewish-Budhist-Atheist."

Are there other statements?

[Orrex]

16. What difference do his statements make? No one cares what atheists think.

I am frankly fed up with it and see no reason to tolerate intrusive religious sentimentality or spiritualistic bullshit that blithely rolls right over the actual views of the deceased or the survivors of the deceased.

Every time someone dies, or survives an accident, or has a baby, or overcomes illness or whatever, there's a parade of proselytizers declaring it a miracle and thanking God for His mercy. Fuck that bullshit. I have no patience for it, and I see no reason to respect it. Fuck it.

For that matter, I also don't care to "accept it in the intended spirit," because "the intended spirit" is either the clear ignorance or a explicit disregard of my own views.

In the wake of tragedy or loss, ALL statements of sympathy and support must be tailored to accommodate the sensibilities of the victim or the bereaved. I wouldn't disrespect a religious person's mourning by lecturing them on the cold fact of our uncaring godless universe, and I expect them to afford me equivalent respect in turn.

[Piasladic]

21. Thank you

You said what I've been thinking these past few days. As an atheist myself, I think most of this he with with her in heaven crap is more for the religious living than the godless dead.

[hamsterjill]

19. In this same article, Wilder also immediately mentions Gilda.

He indicates to the writer that Gilda "is buried out there" indicating to the exterior of the property.

His current wife was his 4th wife. That's only pertinent in the real of the comments about "disrespecting Karen". There were obviously two other wives that existed.

My point is simply this: There is no denying that Gene loved Gilda. Argue the rest all you (and others) want, but that is enough for me. That love was a beautiful thing, and those of us old enough to remember seeing them together on our old fashioned TV's, remember the genuine care that they had for one another.

[CaliforniaPeggy]

3. There is no need for belief in an afterlife...

To believe that souls live after the body dies.

[elleng]

6. Right, Peg,

and of course in our memories.

[Recursion]

7. ^^ That (nt)

[stopbush]

9. How is that not an afterlife?

Last edited Mon Aug 29, 2016, 07:18 PM - Edit history (1)

And how is Wilder going to "send our love to" Gilda Radner - who died 27 years ago - if there's no afterlife?

Oh, I get it - souls are just floating around all the time. For reals. Yeah, I don't believe in ghosts.

[Flaxbee]

10. Do you really have to be belligerent and unkind?

It was a remembrance of Gilda, who died far too young.

I don't think anyone was forcing a belief down anyone's throat.

I'm not a believer, either. But if you read Wilder's statement - it was all about reciprocal kindness and respect (or lack thereof, if that's what you were after). Think about that.

[stopbush]

11. And what of Wilder's wife of the past 25 years?

Ever stop to think how unkind it is to her to suggest that Wilder was longing for Radner all those years, and that he was lucky to be reunited with Radner in death?

[Flaxbee]

12. oh please. yes, there is that.

but really - such umbrage over nothing.

But - perhaps for people who do believe in these things - what do second and third spouses think (if widowed/widowered)? That the last spouse before death is best? That there will be no fond remembrances or reminiscing if people are together in an afterlife?

[stopbush]

13. Oh, please. There's really no thought at all behind these

"he's now with his beloved Gilda" posts.

All they're really saying is "look at me! I know that they were married and that Gilda died very young." I would bet that few of these people had any idea that Wilder remarried. They think he spent the rest of his life in mourning. I'll bet even fewer realize that Gilda was his third wife, or that he married Karen Boyer only two years after Gilda died. Of his four wives, Karen was by far the one who was with him the longest. I'd guess that she was just as beloved as Gilda, even though she wasn't a celebrity.

"It was courageous how he stayed next to Gilda during her illness." Like most husbands desert their wives as soon as they get the diagnosis of cancer. Ridiculous.

Silly ambulance chasing of a celebrity.

[PassingFair]

14. Heaven must be polygamous/polyandrous/polyamorous...

If I believed in afterlives, I'd be terrified of re-marriage.

[Orrex]

15. Um... That's more or less the exact definition of an afterlife.

[steve2470]

17. sigh nt

[Kaleva]

18. He's sitting around that big camp fire in the sky...

with the rest of the Blazing Saddles cast who have passed on.

[Iggo]

20. ...LOL "PASSED"....