This is topic Very Disturbing in forum The Christian News at Christian Message Boards.
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Posted by HisGrace (Member # 3438) on
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Within the past week a 78-yr. old man in a suburb of Ottawa decided to take his own life, because he was tired of the pain he suffered from a dehabilitating lung disease. He wasn't bed-ridden and wasn't in the last stages of dying.
What makes it disturbing is that he was treated as a hero for being so "brave." The Director of McGill Centre for Medicine Ethics and the Law commented. " We have to make our deaths mean something. And one way you can do that is to make it a heroic death. Heroic deaths leave legacies and so he becomes the hero in the campaign to legalize physician assisted suicide or euthenaisia or whatever." She declined interviews on TV, saying, "To the extent that the publicity in the media is reinforcing the heroic outcome of this, you've got a problem."
The whole journey was portrayed as a positive, dignified way for this man to die. He had his own wake and party at a local hotel with friends and family a day or so before. His manner of death with gas was described in graffic detail and made the procedure look so simple. He was in his easy chair surrrounded by his wife, son and 2 daughters.
From a local newspaper,"Physician-assisted, or any type of assisted-suicide is illegal in Canada,but attempted suicide was decrimilazied in 1972. By taking suicide out of the Criminal Code, lawmakers withrew the duty for police to interverne, even though they could called after the fact to investigate a sudden death. Since then, the reponsibility for dealing wtih suicidal people has fallen largely to social workers and health professionals."
This man wanted to draw attention to his belief that people should have the right to decide when they die, He sought publicity in order to send a message to the government to have the laws changed. He even gave a press conference. When asked about his spirituality he responded.. "Religion is for those who need it. I don't."
"Suicide experts have long warned that if other suicidal people, or those ambivalent about life and death, see positive outcomes from the attention suicidal behaviour receives in the press, they are more likely to imitate it. Experts say suicide contagion occurs when the number of stories about individual suicides increases or when a particular death becomes the focus of repeated reporting, or when coverage is sensationized and over simplified."
It is very disturbing that we have come to this point of making suicide look as a natural part of life. What kind of message is that sending to an over-distraught suidical person? I am also concerned that an abusive relative may pressure someone to take their own life if they are suffering undue pain, saying that it looks so simple. This case has taken away the stigma of suicide.
Posted by Study (Member # 3991) on
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His Grace this is really sad. This will open up a can of worms that the world is not ready for. The enemy name is written all over this.
Posted by HisGrace (Member # 3438) on
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quote:
Originally posted by Study:
The enemy name is written all over this.
Perfect analogy - heartbreaking
Posted by tenboom155 (Member # 4358) on
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I agree that it is outrageous. My sister asked me to kill her if she became bedridden and couldn't do it herself. I was so sad to here her say that. I love her so much, but I couldn't kill her even if she was in pain. We are getting older and think about things like that sometimes. I think she is past that now and praise God that she is.
She isn't sick but it was a hypothetical question--but she was serious.
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