(no subject)
Mar. 21st, 2004 09:07 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
sophiaserpentiaSome of you have rightly taken me to task for the sweeping and hasty comments I made yesterday about the Pope's pronouncement regarding the treatment of people in 'permanent vegetative states.'
I should perhaps clarify what I see as one purpose for this journal. I am not in any way pretending to be a pundit; I spell out my views as they occur to me, and though sometimes it bruises my ego I welcome feedback of all sorts. My ego needs to be bruised sometimes; it strengthens and hones the sharpness of my intellect, and of my compassion. So let me state explicitly, that no one need ever fear offending me simply by offering an opinion that differs from mine. Having friends who will rebuke me when I need to be rebuked is a blessing. I ask only that you be civil when doing so.
The nature of this medium, LiveJournal, is that it favors the recording of passing thoughts. It has been immensely useful to me in helping me to see the way my thoughts have evolved over the past two years. Even when I take the time to organize my thoughts before posting, my posts are still often quite raw, as they are works in progress. For me, who used to jealously hide rough drafts of everything until I was willing to let someone else peek, this has been a way of learning to open up, to see that I don't have to be considered an expounder of flawless wisdom.
I should perhaps clarify what I see as one purpose for this journal. I am not in any way pretending to be a pundit; I spell out my views as they occur to me, and though sometimes it bruises my ego I welcome feedback of all sorts. My ego needs to be bruised sometimes; it strengthens and hones the sharpness of my intellect, and of my compassion. So let me state explicitly, that no one need ever fear offending me simply by offering an opinion that differs from mine. Having friends who will rebuke me when I need to be rebuked is a blessing. I ask only that you be civil when doing so.
The nature of this medium, LiveJournal, is that it favors the recording of passing thoughts. It has been immensely useful to me in helping me to see the way my thoughts have evolved over the past two years. Even when I take the time to organize my thoughts before posting, my posts are still often quite raw, as they are works in progress. For me, who used to jealously hide rough drafts of everything until I was willing to let someone else peek, this has been a way of learning to open up, to see that I don't have to be considered an expounder of flawless wisdom.
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
Re: Like paying a ransom.
Date: 2004-03-22 05:06 am (UTC)The first, is that death is inevitable, while kidnapping is not. The second, is that catastrophic brain damage is not an intentional act of cruelty, while kidnapping is.
But the third and most important difference, for purposes of my argument, is that a family anticipates getting a kidnap victim back more or less as they were when they were taken, while someone who has suffered brain damage is most likely not going to return to the same kind of life they had before. Instead, that person, if he or she recovers to any level of consciousness, is probably going to return to a life with no privacy, constant dependency on others, and perhaps lots (and lots) of pain.
Now, while I have no doubt that the argument over whether to maintain a patient on life support can damage a family, the amount and kind of ethical culpability that comes with making such a decision is of a different sort than the ethical burden that comes with deciding whether or not to pay a kidnap ransom. The illness was not caused by the willful and malignant action of another person; it is something that simply happens to people. And, it is highly doubtful that, short of miraculous recovery, paying an exorbitant sum is going to restore the loved one to a level of life such as she or he had before.