Suggested Discussion Outline

[johnkarls]

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SUGGESTED DISCUSSION OUTLINE - Assisted Suicide

A. Definitions

A-1. Suicide
A-2. Euthanasia
A-3. Assisted Suicide
A-4. Rejection of Life Support

B. Legality Of Assisted Suicide

B-1. Statute – Oregon & Washington State
B-2. Court Decision – Montana
B-3. Narrow Defeat – 11/7/2012 Ballot Initiative – Massachusetts
B-4. Belgium, The Netherlands, Luxembourg, Switzerland

C. History

C-1. Extremely prevalent in the early Christian church to avoid persecution – both on an individual basis and on a mass-suicide basis
C-2. First Christian to denounce suicide as a sin = St. Augustine in the 4th century for practical (vs. theological) reasons = ending the pervasive culture of suicide now that the Roman Emperor Constantine had outlawed persecution of Christians in 313 AD via the Edict of Milan
C-3. First Christian to denounce suicide as a sin on allegedly-theological grounds = St. Thomas Aquinas in the 13th century
C-3-a. Aquinas’ theological basis was that suicide violates God’s will
C-3-b. The logical conclusion of Aquinas’ assertion is that God wills all evil in the world, not just pain
C-4. The Roman Catholic Church still views suicide as a Cardinal (unforgivable) Sin, even though Christ said that there is only one unforgivable sin which is blaspheming the Holy Ghost

D. Theology

D-1. Judaism’s Ten Commandments (which are 10 of the 613 laws of Judaism)
D-1-a. One of the 10 = Thou Shalt Not Murder (the correct translation from the original Hebrew, since the Jewish Bible, aka the Christian Old Testament, is riddled with many stories about how God ordered the Israelites to destroy groups of people & even entire nations)
D-1-b. Therefore apparently OK in Oregon - Washington - Montana - Belgium - The Netherlands - Luxembourg - Switzerland
D-2. Christianity’s Two Commandments [per Christ (Luke 10:25-37) inheriting "eternal life" only requires loving God with all your heart/soul/strength/mind and loving your neighbor as yourself -- whereupon follows immediately the Parable of the Good Samaritan in response to the follow-up question of the definition of "neighbor"]
D-2-a. Accordingly, assisted suicide OK if the Christian would want his neighbor to help the Christian commit suicide if “the shoe were on the other foot”
D-2-b. However, many Protestant denominations follow the Roman Catholic Church in making Christ out to be a liar vis-à-vis only Two Commandments
D-3. Many of the world’s other great religions feature The Golden Rule (aka, love thy neighbor as thyself)

E. Societal Attitudes

E-1. Anyone who attempts suicide is insane >>> de facto “one chance at suicide” policy
E-2. Shakespeare illustrates that there are many rational reasons for committing suicide such as avoiding public humiliation
E-3. Famous modern-day suicides to avoid public humiliation
E-3-a. Case Study No. 1 – the British nurse who recently committed suicide after being duped by an Australian newspaper to release information about the medical condition of the pregnancy of the wife of Prince William (Kate, Duchess of Cambridge)
E-3-b. Case Study No. 2 – the recent rape victim in India who recently committed suicide amidst the national scandal over another victim in India who died after gang rape on a public bus

F. Suicide Methods

F-1. Shooting
F-2. Stabbing
F-3. Carbon monoxide (the classic running motor in an enclosed garage)
F-4. Helium (the subject of the Frontline/PBS documentary which is our focus)

G. U.S. Constitutional Issues

G-1. Equal Protection of the Law – since wealthy citizens are free to travel to jurisdictions where assisted suicide is legal, whereas America’s poor are faced with the unhappy choice of violating the law or suffering!!!
G-2. Establishment of Religion – if it is unconstitutional to have a nativity scene on public property during the Christmas season, why is the Roman Catholic view of suicide enshrined in our criminal law???

H. Criteria For Permitting Suicide

H-1. Remaining life expectancy (fewer than 183 days per the Oregon statute)
H-2. Pain? (not required by the Oregon or Washington State statutes)
H-3. Other motives? (quality of life, avoiding public humiliation, chronic illness that is not terminal, rational depression for whatever reason, etc.)
H-4. Safeguards? (against greedy relatives or governmental euthanasia)

I. Sensitivity In Deciding Whether To Take Action

I-1. Assisted suicide is viewed as the next great Civil Rights campaign by its proponents
I-2. However, since the wealthy can travel to permissive jurisdictions, it is primarily a practical problem only for the nation’s poor
I-3. Accordingly, shouldn’t our role be supportive rather than advocative, since we wouldn’t want to appear to be proposing a policy which might be perceived by the poor as euthanasia of their class???

[solutions]

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Hara-Kiri became well known in American culture during World War II.

Historically, it was a ritual suicide performed by Japanese Samurai warriors for reasons of honor. It might be committed by the Samurai on his own initiative or decreed by a superior.

Literally, “hara” means belly and “kiri” means cutting. The ritual comprises disembowelment performed by plunging a sword or knife into the abdomen followed by a slicing motion from left to right.

As we have studied in the past, the abysmal treatment of American POW’s by Japan during World War II (we have referenced many books on the subject such as Bataan Death March) was a product of Japanese culture. Japan had never signed the Geneva Accords governing POW treatment because Japanese culture did not contemplate the possibility of POW’s!!! After all, the honorable thing to do rather than be captured was to commit hara-kiri!!! So why should American POW’s who, by definition, are dishonorable, expect to be fed and housed???

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For anyone who saw the Met’s worldwide theatercast this afternoon of Hector Berlioz’ Les Troyens, it is a reminder of a famous mass suicide!!!

Les Troyens (The Trojans) is based on the first six books of Virgil’s epic poem, The Aeneid, which tells the story of the fall of Troy as a result of the famous Trojan-Horse ploy of the Greeks, the escape of the Trojan men to Carthage (modern-day Tunis) where they are welcomed by (and simultaneously save) Queen Dido, and their eventual departure for Italy to found Rome and the Roman Empire.

When Troy falls but before the Trojan men who save the Trojan Citadel make their escape for Carthage, the Trojan women who are trapped in a different part of Troy, commit mass suicide rather than become slaves of the Greek warriors!!!

[solutions]

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What was I thinking??? Posting thoughts about Samurai committing Hara-Kiri and Trojan women committing mass suicide to avoid being enslaved by the Greeks who tumbled out of the famous Trojan Horse??? And ignoring what is perhaps the most pressing problem involving suicide on today's international stage!!!

Suicide bombers.

What motivates them???

As we have studied many times in the past, the Western perception of Islamic martyrs being motivated by the dream of 72 virgins awaiting them in heaven is laughable!!!

As we have studied many times in the past, there are several problems contributing to the prevalence of Islamic martyrs!!!

First, Islam contains a fearsome concept of Hell and a truly-fearsome concept of a Judgment Day on which each Muslim will be prosecuted by Avenging Angels!!!

Second, Islam contains the belief that instead of "moldering in the grave" for years if not centuries while awaiting the fearsome Judgment Day, every Islamic Martyr AND 72 OF HER/HIS CLOSEST FRIENDS/RELATIVES WILL, UPON DEATH, BY-PASS THE GRAVE AND JUDGMENT DAY, AND PROCEED DIRECTLY AND IMMEDIATELY TO PARADISE!!!

Which, of course, is why the relatives of martyrs are typically seen in newsreel footage as rejoicing rather than mourning!!!

Third, unlike say the Roman Catholic Church which can enforce orthodoxy, any Islamic cleric can issue a fatwā (religious decree) which might, for example, require followers to assassinate someone (for example, Salmon Rushdie or occupants of NYC's World Trade Center) or might, for example, require followers to engage in Jihad (Holy War) against a group of people.

And any Muslim who dies obeying a fatwā is ipso facto a martyr!!!

And, yes, there have been many recent Muslim martyrs who were female!!! [And it would be fatuous to assume they were all Lesbians and, therefore, motivated by the dream of 72 female virgins!!!]