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Originally Posted by Angela  That's what I mean by a warped experience. Generating violence and withholding, although someone might think they're doing the world a favor, creates something in the world that doesn't work in a life I love. And frankly, I think that underneath the apparent desire to do the world a favor, there lies a self-interest that is much deeper than any altruistic feeling. Often I think people are powerless to see that there are options for letting go of feeling bad and generating feeling good, that their mental illness or physical pain is blinding them to.
You mention that it would be selfish to keep someone here despite their unending pain, and maybe you're right about that. I'm not advocating keeping someone here who doesn't want to be here. I do think, though, that a more universal atmosphere of 100% responsibility would result in more light being shed on alternatives, in a lot of cases, to this taking of one's life, alternatives that would generate something that works (for me!) better than what suicide generates. Of course each person must make their own choice, and I don't begrudge them that.
It's lovely that you are willing to generously allow people to make their own choices, Joely, and I would like to do that, too. And - I have a very strong preference for an environment in which suicide, and even the contemplation of suicide, would be very, very rare. |
Hey, thanks for the replies- I am really curious because you come at it from such a different point of view from me... what do you mean by violence and withholding? Violence to me is about imposition of your will against someone else's free will... so don't see how that makes much sense in the context of taking your own life... and if you're advocating personal responsibility doesn't it make sense that everyone's reaction to death is their own personal responsibility rather than the responsibility of the dead???
also where do you draw the line? People make decisions every day based on how much or little they care for their own physical life relative to other values... smoking and unhealthy eating, risky driving habits, extreme sports, risky job choices- firefighters, policemen, etc... taking part in protests despite possible reprisal, hunger strikes, getting on airplanes, living in disaster-prone regions, etc... really what is the difference- they're making decisions that shorten their lives- shouldn't they all be held equally responsible? would you tell family of a lung cancer victim that their loved one just should've been less selfish? the family of a 9/11 firefighter?
I can understand not wanting those who are close to you to die just out of selfishly wanting them around... and I can understand not wanting anyone to die as the only alternative to tremendous suffering because you would be opposed to the suffering... but why do you not want it to even be part of the environment, not even be contemplated?