A "Closet Believer" Comes Out; A (Closeted?) Atheist Dies Defiant

Two great men of our time:

Mikhail Gorbachev, on his knees at the tomb of St. Francis.  Ronald Reagan was right about him, it turns out.  (H/T:  reader_iam.)

"It was through St Francis that I arrived at the Church, so it was important that I came to visit his tomb," said Mr Gorbachev.

"I feel very emotional to be here at such an important place not only for the Catholic faith, but for all humanity."

What a touching choice of saint for this man in particular!

And Arthur C. Clarke's last wishes:

In observing his "90th orbit of the Sun" in December, Clarke expressed three birthday wishes: for ET to call, for man to kick his oil habit and for peace in Sri Lanka. He finished proof-reading the galleys of his latest novel "The Last Theorem" only days ago.

He is survived by his brother, who is travelling to Colombo for the funeral later this week. In his final instructions, Clarke explicitly requested a private, secular funeral, with "Absolutely no religious rites of any kind."

Fifty years from now, when his private papers are opened at his wish, any of us who are still around may learn some fascinating things about Clarke's spirituality and its link to his sexuality, which obituaries honored with a rather touching, old-fashioned discretion.  Actually his same-sex preference was no big secret, but no big deal either.

UPDATE:  Here's another post on Clarke at the factotem blog at Natural History.  It has some great links, and it ends with a pun that Ruth Anne, our official pun-dit, will envy.

Comments

[Khaki Elephant]

As a big fan of Arthur C. Clarke, I can only hope that when he died and came face to face with God, they both recognized what they were missing.

[amba]

Lovely thought. I hope so too.

[Cedric Katesby]

Which part of this do you not understand?

"He left written instructions that his funeral be strictly secular and had directed that "Absolutely no religious rites of any kind, relating to any religious faith, should be associated with my funeral"

http://www.randi.org/joom/swift/swift-march-21-2008.html

[Khaki Elephant]

Not a fan of Pascal's Wager I suspect.

[Cedric Katesby]

"I don't believe in God but I'm very interested in her."

Arthur C. Clarke
:)