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Category: Life
Is it wrong to take the life of one who takes the life of another? The death penalty has always baffled me...many who strongly support the right to life of the unborn often can't wait to kill those on death row.
Whether you believe life begins in the womb or when they take the first breath, you cannot be so hardhearted to realize that once born into the world they become part of the drama of everyone that lives. One life often touches another, sometimes in even the smallest ways, its ripple effects will reach you.
Is it right to force a poor family, a teenager, a rape victim to bring a child into the world, a child that may not have a loving home when it is born? is it fair to that child? Is it fair to the society which must pay for the care of such a youngster it did not create? Why is it many who believe in the right to life are also often strong objectors to welfare for the poor or health care for those in need? Why are they usually against birth control thinking it will stop sexual acts outside of marriage and the consequences that can follow?
Euthanasia is a very controversial topic. Should one have the right to die? I don't mean only if they are dying anyway, should one have the right to die if we are a nation that idealizes the right to live?
When life becomes unbearable, should it matter if it is mental or physical or social? One might say someone like Dana Plato committed suicide. Others might say it was an accident as she was used to mixing drugs and alcohol on a regular basis. Or perhaps she knew the dangers, but didn't care if it took her, but on that occasion it wasn't a deliberate attempt, just a roulette chance she often took.
Speculation of Michael Jackson's death is a drug related one. Given the circumstances of the media never cutting him a break, unfair accusations that stuck with him, and his own vulnerable nature, his life must have been quite hellish. Whether he used the drugs to deal with emotional or physical pain, he must have felt a need to just want the noise around him to stop. That is not necessarily a suicidal intention, but it can be, it is definitely a cry for help.
When I worked with hospice patients, the worst time I had was watching over someone whose family agreed to have the feeding tube removed. This was around the time when Dr Kevorkian was being arrested for helping a terminally ill patient kill himself. My patient had to wait 2 weeks to be free from his cancer-ridden body while he was in a coma, even if he were not in a coma he would have been a vegetable. Dr K's patient died in peace and comfort and in a relatively short time on his own terms.
Does the government really have the right to determine who should live and who should die? The boundary between life and death is subjective and a personal matter. In the US, we are guaranteed the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Does the government have the right to legalize the death penalty? What if one's liberty is always being breached, do they have the right to take their own life or the life of one breaching their liberty? What if one's pursuit of happiness comes in the form of death?
Then there is the spiritual argument - does one have the right to choose between life and death? Suppose one was meant to come into the world to end their life for a certain reason for those who believe there is a god who has a purpose? Suppose one's karma made death part of their re-entry into the world for those who believe in reincarnation? Or suppose life stops being a challenge worth living and there is no real consequence beyond the next three generations for your actions because there is nothing after life?
Makes you wonder, doesn't it?
1:35 AM
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