(no subject)

[sophiaserpentia]

Some 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.

Comments

[yud.livejournal.com]

My only fear in posting comments to your entries is that I might inadvertantly reveal the vastness of my own ignorance on these matters. Though I was raised Christian and went to church every Sunday for 18 years of my life, I have never really studied it to the extent that you have. Which is the reason why I am so interested in reading your entries, so that I can learn more about the religion that I was raised to believe.

[azaz-al.livejournal.com]

I have no firm opinion on euthanasia myself because every case is so individual. That being said, I think or the Pope or anyone to try to make one standard for all families going through such horrible trauma and excruciating decision-making is very cruel.

Like paying a ransom.

[t-head.livejournal.com]

Let me offer you some morsels for thought.

In my country, kidnapping for ransom is in some urban areas, quite quotidian. There have been some very high-profile cases involving victims from all points of the socioeconomic spectrum, and most of them are not solved like in the movies. Most of the time the kidnappers win; Mexican law enforcement is basically learning as it goes.

So a Mexican researcher did a study on how kidnapping affects a family. He found out that, contrary to many adverse (even traumatic) experiences, kidnapping destroys a family like nothing else can. The reason for this is the ransom negotiation.

See, when the kidnappers put a ransom on a person, that person realizes that their life has a price. And when the rest of the family dithers and delays, they signal to the kidnapped that they don't think their life is worth that much. The family may have a dozen good reasons to not pay a ransom immediately, among those the lack of guarantees that the loved one will be returned once the ransom is paid.... but all that a person can do is think, "I know full well that paying this ransom would sink us into poverty, but my family would rather risk my life and have me simmer in this living hell of fear and doubt than to give up their lifestyle."

Hence a family is destroyed; once a price is set on a human life, no amount of rhetoric can make the human in question believe she is priceless. Once you pay the Danegeld, you never get rid of the Dane.

The parallels to the situation regarding vegetative persons are clear. And if the situation is morally equivalent, the only moral thing to do is pay, pay promptly and keep paying, even if the kidnapper wears green scrubs and wields a sthethoscope instead of a gun.

When the Holy Father demands that more resources be spent in learning how to heal people instead of euthanizing them, he is doing no more than calling for more and smarter police to deal with kidnappers.

[contentlove.livejournal.com]

Honey, say what you will: but you are so a pundit. Them's the breaks. Keep on writin'