Two paths, two destinies

Life is like poker. Each of us is dealt a hand. It's then a question of how we'll play our hand. In principle, there are different ways to play the same hand. It's instructive, sometimes inspiring, sometimes sobering, sometimes edifying, sometimes ominous, to see how different people play the hand they were dealt. 

Burt Reynolds was a pop icon. I didn't know that much about Reynolds. You know about some people just through cultural osmosis. 

Deliverance was the only film I saw him in. He made several trashy but highly profitable films. He reportedly did a centerfold for Cosmopolitan. Had many affairs. Unlike Nick Nolte, Reynolds stayed trim, but age and illness hallowed out the Olympian physique. He was said to be more intelligent than the jarhead image he projected on screen. 

If you're an atheist, and you have what Reynolds had going for him, that's a reasonable way to play your hand. Utterly vacuous, but in a godless universe, every choice is equally vacuous. And vacuous hedonism is more rational than vacuous humanism. No doubt Richard Carrier secretly envies the lifestyle of Reynolds, but as a pure undiluted dork, Carrier can never emulate that lifestyle. 

It's interesting to compare how Reynolds played his hand with how Tim Tebow is playing his hand. Perhaps Tebow doesn't have the same rakish looks. Nevertheless, with a bit of tweaking, one can imagine Tebow play his hand the way Reynolds did or Reynolds play his hand the way Tebow does. Both were dealt a similar hand. But look at what they do with it. The contrast is striking.