Tuesday, March 29, 2005
Just thinkin...
It's been a while since I've actually given enough of a crap about anything to actually sit here and write anything. Clinical depression is a biotch, dude. But I've been sitting here reading fanfiction and listening to Into the Mystic on Live 365 and my brain actually decided to go for a spin.
And one must always follow where one's brain leads, so here I go.
Euthanasia.
Main Entry: eu·tha·na·sia
Pronunciation: "yü-th&-'nA-zh(E-)&
Function: noun
Etymology: Greek, easy death, from euthanatos, from eu- + thanatos death -- more at THANATOS
: the act or practice of killing or permitting the death of hopelessly sick or injured individuals (as persons or domestic animals) in a relatively painless way for reasons of mercy
- eu·tha·na·sic /-zik, -sik/ adjective
Credit to Mirriam-WebsterThere have been two instances of this brought up in the societal conscience recently, one fictional and one quite real. I'm referring, of course, to Million Dollar Baby and the Terri Schiavo case.
Let's look at these two situations. In Million Dollar Baby, Hillary Swank plays a girl who pulls herself up from a "miserable" existance to what she considers to be success through boxing. In the end, she is crippled and chooses euthanasia rather than continue in a "frozen" state.
Terri Schiavo, through a botched heart procedure, lost her front brain functions. She is, for all intents and purposes, a vegetable. The responses to stimuli she is having are purely autonomic. But because she didn't make a living will she can't choose euthanasia. Her husband has expressed that that would have been her wish and is acting on her behalf to try and let her "die with dignity" as the supporters call it.
So we have a woman who has full usage of her frontal cortex but no usage of her body feeling she and her life are completely worthless because she can't move her body. Then we have a woman who has no usage of her frontal cortex but her body is unaffected who's life we are being told is worth hours of media coverage, several legislative and higher court reviews and a speech by the pResident* of the US. *(c) Joel. :D
Million Dollar Baby won an Oscar for Best Picture. Clint Eastwood was rewarded for telling us that if you're physically disabled your life is worthless. Terri Schiavo's husband is being castigated for trying to fullfill what he felt his wife's wishes would be, to discard the physical shell once the soul/mentality inside was gone.
What does this say about our society? That the base, the physical, the meat we're packaged in is more important than the mind, the intellect, the soul of who we are?
[Geek Alert] In Star Trek mythology, when a Klingon dies, those near him render a battle cry as his soul passes into the next realm. After which the husk is discarded. In the Andorian culture, they aren't allowed to be recussitated. Once the soul passes to the Great Mother it should never return.
[/Geek Alert]In the vast majority of Judeo/Xtian religions there is a soul that travels to it's reward (heaven, hell, whatever) after death. The body is left here to rot, to be worm food as John so eloquently put it in the New Testament. The same can be said for Egyptian, Norse, and quite a few Pagan religions, including Wicca. We believe in reincarnation with our eventual destination being Summerland.
So WHY is this happening? Why is it wonderful that Hillary Swank offed herself but parapalegics are laying down on the ground next to their wheelchairs to protest for Terri Schiavo? Why weren't they laying down in front of the movie theaters or sprawled out on the Red Carpet on Oscar night? Robert David Hall, the actor who plays Dr. Robbins on CSI, is actually a double amputee. When he twists that leg up to tinker with it, it's not special effects. This is what he had to say on the subject:
"I love Clint Eastwood's work. I would love to act in a Clint Eastwood film. That being said, I have many friends with disabilities who are deeply concerned that two Academy Award-nominated films put forth this idea that the noble choice is to kill yourself if you become disabled. I disagree with that," says Hall, National Chairman of the Performers with Disabilities Caucus for SAG, AFTRA and Equity. "I think somebody has to say: Even if you are severely disabled, life is still worth living."
I think what ticks me off the most is the mixed message this sends. That one is ok and the other isn't. That one is a gross outrage and one is a noble life choice. And the emphasis that this whole thing places on the importance of the physical over the mental/spiritual. The physical is only ever meant to be temporary, if it weren't, there wouldn't be entropy. Eventually the universe will collapse back in on itself again. None of this will be here. But the mind/spirit transcends.
Ok, if you're an Atheist, (Ben) then that arguement is moot. I would love to hear an atheists position on this whole thing, actually. I'm curious. So if there are any atheists out there reading this, please respond.
Thanks.
Peace.
posted by Kimber
at 3:08 PM ::
~#~
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