Worldtraveller
Veteran Member
I just posted this on FB this morning, and decided to peak in on this thread.
Watching S5, EP 16 of ST:TNG
This is the episode where Worf is injured, paralyzed, and because he's Klingon, decides that an honorable death by his own hand is preferable to living as a paraplegic.
I think the writers cheat the really difficult moral/ethical dilemma here by having a medical miracle that saves him and allows him to walk again.
Here goes.....
I have a different perspective on death, and suicide. I think our lives are our own, and if we feel that death is the best alternative that we, as a society, should learn to recognize, accept and honor that.
Some of that perspective comes from living in Okinawa, and a more than the usual study of Japanese culture and their views on Seppuku/Hari Kiri/suicide. Some of it is just my belief that if we don't ultimately own our own bodies and lives, then we are not truly ever free.
I don't think it should ever be the first choice, just because life is inconvenient, but I also don't think we get to judge other people's ideas of what they can, or think they can, handle in terms of life's difficulties.
I don't say this lightly. I have had four friends commit suicide. Two of them I was quite close with, and I won't pretend that it didn't suck. That's more than most people ever have to deal with, so I think my perspective is at least tempered by this experience and knowledge.
I also want to add a few things here to address US' strawmen. Like SoHy and EricH, and probably unlike US, I have been at someone's bedside as they passed peacefully. Several times, in fact. One of those was my best friend who committed suicide by shooting himself in the head, and only died a little over a week later after his family agreed to terminate life support. I sat by with my wife while her mom died, and 17 months later, her dad.
Writing this brought up some very painful (even after more than 20 years) memories, and I'm crying as I write this, but I stand by my convictions.
I am my own man, and my life is mine.
Watching S5, EP 16 of ST:TNG
This is the episode where Worf is injured, paralyzed, and because he's Klingon, decides that an honorable death by his own hand is preferable to living as a paraplegic.
I think the writers cheat the really difficult moral/ethical dilemma here by having a medical miracle that saves him and allows him to walk again.
Here goes.....
I have a different perspective on death, and suicide. I think our lives are our own, and if we feel that death is the best alternative that we, as a society, should learn to recognize, accept and honor that.
Some of that perspective comes from living in Okinawa, and a more than the usual study of Japanese culture and their views on Seppuku/Hari Kiri/suicide. Some of it is just my belief that if we don't ultimately own our own bodies and lives, then we are not truly ever free.
I don't think it should ever be the first choice, just because life is inconvenient, but I also don't think we get to judge other people's ideas of what they can, or think they can, handle in terms of life's difficulties.
I don't say this lightly. I have had four friends commit suicide. Two of them I was quite close with, and I won't pretend that it didn't suck. That's more than most people ever have to deal with, so I think my perspective is at least tempered by this experience and knowledge.
I also want to add a few things here to address US' strawmen. Like SoHy and EricH, and probably unlike US, I have been at someone's bedside as they passed peacefully. Several times, in fact. One of those was my best friend who committed suicide by shooting himself in the head, and only died a little over a week later after his family agreed to terminate life support. I sat by with my wife while her mom died, and 17 months later, her dad.
Writing this brought up some very painful (even after more than 20 years) memories, and I'm crying as I write this, but I stand by my convictions.
I am my own man, and my life is mine.