THE ETHICS OF OUR TIME IV

PLEASE DON’T FEED THE.. http://www.woostercollective.com/humansa.jpg

BEING TESTED BEYOND ONE’S ABILITY TO ENDURE

There’s no doubt that some people can endure some amazing things. But ultimately we’re only flesh and blood, and we do break. Not all of us can endure amazing hardships all the time. That’s where Death comes in. But there are some things worse than death.

MENTAL ILLNESS

The adage “You will not be tested beyond your ability to endure” is often quoted by the religious out of context. The passage is: “No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it.” (1 Corinthians 10:13)

This passage doesn’t say we won’t be tested beyond our ability to endure, it says we won’t be TEMPTED beyond what we can bear. This life has other tests besides the temptation to break the ten commandments. There are some trials the human mind cannot bear, and it breaks. Mental illness is often caused by cruel trauma or extreme tragedy the mind simply can’t cope with. Perhaps the religious would feel a break with sanity is “a way out,” but to be institutionalized or otherwise imprisoned and/or to be unable to care for one’s own basic needs does not seem a very graceful “way out.”

It is worth noting that the mentally-ill may believe that God speaks to them. It is also worth noting that many of the religious claim that God speaks to them, too.

SUICIDE

It is often said of suicides that they should have had more consideration for their friends and families. But the fact that they committed suicide is a very clear message that they felt their friends and families could not or would not help them. When someone commits suicide because death is a better alternative than living, maybe we should ask ourselves what we did to make them think they couldn’t turn to us for help. How did they come to feel to so desperately alone, so completely without hope of any future happiness? To them, it seemed perfectly justified. This doesn’t happen when people feel loved – whether or not you loved them may be irrelevant to whether or not they felt loved. So “Shower the people you love with love” while ye may.

EUTHANASIA

When someone has died after a long illness, it’s common to hear the phrase, “At least the suffering is over,” and as trite as it may sound, that’s saying a lot! When someone we love is reduced by illness or injury to a state of non-awareness, or to a state of perpetual pain and suffering, how can we justify using extraordinary medical means to keep them alive? What is our justification for prolonging their suffering? If one is unconscious, you may think they experience something like dreaming, and wouldn’t that be nice, but what if it’s a nightmare? How long would you want that to go on? Is our own lack of personal courage worth more than their peace and dignity? Euthanasia is another of those ancient pastimes (like prostitution and abortion) which have always taken place, but are simply not spoken of. If one of my loved ones comes to be in this position, I hope I will have the personal courage to let them go, and vice versa.

WHAT IS SO GREAT ABOUT ENDURING?

We all must end. How much we suffer will not change this outcome. How long we suffer will not change it. How noble we are in the face of it will not it. Nothing we can do will change this outcome. Since there is no clear proof of what happens after death, it would be wrong to justify prolonging life in hope of some future, unknowable, possibly non-existent reward? This person is suffering NOW. In Biblical times it was probably rare for people to linger on in illness for very long (due to secondary infection if nothing else), and this topic simply didn't come up. "Thou Shall Not Kill" has nothing to do with this subject, and was never even dreamt of in Biblical philosophy.