Paul Newman, RIP

I'm sure that there is much that can be said of Paul Newman, given the greatness of his career in cinema and philanthropy... but I'm not inclined to go on a tirade eulogizing him. Rather, I was thinking about a single line in one of his movies, Road to Perdition. Its the last line of the official trailer (posted below).

"There are only murderers in this room! Michael! Open your eyes! This is the life we chose, the life we lead. And there is only one guarantee: none of us will see heaven."
-Paul Newman as John Rooney

That's a pretty damn honest assessment. It seems to me more and more that people don't tailor their lifestyles to their morality, but rather their morality to their lifestyles. Its a lack of honesty, a tendency to bullshit ourselves into believing that we're good people and deserve to go to Heaven because we're too cowardly to acknowledge that what we do is often times... wrong.

"What's wrong with having sex outside of marriage?"
"Abortion is OK so long as it's not a late term thing."
"I'm not hurting anyone by doing 8 balls..."

That really is the chief thing that undermines the credibility and dignity of most people. The John Rooneys of the world are infinitely more respectable than the fools who lie themselves into a pathetic conception of sainthood. Though they may not live up to the standards they set for themselves... at least they have standards (where in reality the others don't).

Requiem aeternam dona ei, Domine, et lux perpetua luceat ei. Requiescat in pace. Amen.