Playing God?

12/10/2008 01:49:00 pm / The truth was spoken by Rich /

I must say something about this because it's a subject that I have opinions about. I could bang on about this for hours, but I won't as I won't be able to sleep this afternoon and later on this evening either and then I won't have enough energy for my main sleep tonight.

I'm in favour of assisted suicide in instances such as Craig Ewert's - the case that has sparked a temporary debate amongst Daily Mail readers which they'll soon forget about and begin whinging about something else that has nothing to do with them either.

Let's ignore the concern that the showing of this poor man's death, filmed in a suicide clinic in Switzerland might actually glorify suicide, that's just too absurd to give any credence to. The argument I'd like to focus on is the ubiquitous notion that's always raised in these kind of ethical dilemmas, that it's "playing God."

If you're still so parochial and stupid as to believe in God in the 21st century, that's up to you, but when you're imposing your sky fairy on everyone else, at least try and offer an argument that makes sense.

Let's assume for the sake of argument that God does exist. In this instance, the God we should all be worshiping and following, has determined that this man and many like him, ought to live out their lives in perpetual agony and robbed of their dignity and any sense of feeling whatsoever.

If you can still make an argument that a God capable of imposing that degree of suffering on anyone is still worth worshiping, then I'm not sure what kind of a person that makes you, but I am sure that your insistence that suicide is playing God is actually bullshit.

It's actually the antithesis of playing God. God's way would be for this man to live out his life in a constant state of pain and mental torture, what Craig Ewert wanted to do was end his suffering in a dignified way, assuage his pain and afford himself the dignity in his death that he was not afforded in his life. That is the opposite of "playing God."

What does it say about a society that would rather see a man tortured for the rest of his life than see an end to his suffering peacefully and that of his family, simply because the good book says so? Are the contradictory Chinese whispers in the Bible really more valuable than showing mercy to a person entombed in their own body?

What would be the consequences of upsetting God anyway? What more can he do to the man that he hasn't already done? Why didn't God intervene the moment Craig Ewert was asked to drink the solution that would end his life? If God has decreed that he and only he will decide when some one is to expire, then all suicide attempts ought to fail no?

If you can't see beyond the pages of your Bible that's unfortunate for you because you're denying yourself a richer existence and if you're ever unfortunate enough to be in this man's position, you'll be denying yourself a dignified ending too. Everyone is entitled to their beliefs, but not to impose them on someone else, particularly when that someone is experiencing suffering that is incomprehensible to anyone without first hand experience of it themselves.

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