Question of the Week #2 – Life and Death
A few months ago at our local book study the subject of death came up. We are currently reading The Other Side of Virtue by Brendan Myers. We talked briefly about people having the ability to make our death something meaningful to us and also to choose how we die. A great example of someone deciding how to day comes in the epic poem Beowulf where the king goes to face a dragon at the end and tells his men that they are not to get involved and that he would die in this fight. He decided to step up and face his death in a noble fashion defending his people. Have we lost this option in the modern world?
As we get older now a days we might move in to a Seniors Care Home. From there we might move on to a Nursing home, and then in to a Palliative Care. No where along the line do we get a much say in what happens to us. Even in death the options are taking away from us since Euthanasia is illegal in most of the modern world and the dragons that we can go out to fight are few and far between.
As a pagan how do you feel about it? Should we have more control? Should we take more control over the last part of our life? Assuming that we should take control back how do we go about doing that? If as pagans we believe in Reincarnation should maybe Euthanasia not be an option for us since we believe that we will just come back again for another life anyways. Does that belief make it an easy out for us?
There are lots of things to consider on the subject of Euthanasia when it comes to religion and belief. Bat the subject around and see how you feel about it. Would you feel the same way if it wasn’t a choice being made for you by you but it was a choice made by a loved one? How does that scenario play out and change if you have to make the decision for someone else that isn’t able to offer their own input?
Enjoy the question and I look forward to reading the answers.
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Good topic for this time of year and fantastic blog prompt in general.
Lyon Mercaeant´s last blog ..Monday Already
[...] I would continue with the theme from last week. If you didn’t see last week’s question just click here to catch up. Samhain is in my opinion one of the most important holidays of the year. So many [...]
Now, I gotta say I have issues with this question. It implies we have no choice in the matter, when in fact we have all the choice in the world. It’s just the options that suck.
Now not counting those cut short by injury or illness, everyone has the same options
1 – Live a long life, healthy or no, which will probably end up in the system of heath care as noted above. People who tend to live to a ripe old age do eventually tend to give in to the pressures of society to follow that path. Granted some fight it off better than others. Choosing this option is basically letting time take you as it will.
2 – end it before the above happens. Granted, somewhat extremist, but a perfectly valid way to choose when to die on your own terms, in a way of your choosing. It really is too bad that society has vilified this way out.
As for making the choice for another – I have been extremely fortunate. I have never been in a position where I have had to make that call without the person’s input. My family is big on making sure you have a living will. So no matter what state one of us is in, the rest know what their wishes are. And we do all we can to ensure those wishes are followed. In the end, it’s the choice of person, and when they express their wishes, even through paper document, we have no right to interfere.
M