Promoting the Culture of Death: Children being taught how to die

[Growler]

Thanks, guys - this is the first time I've ever really "written" it out, and I'm damned if it didn't kick my ass.

I'm of the mind that it is far better to create in kids a sense of the value of life, because the act of living is already so amazing. Death - is a part of life. My wife lost her mother at age 7 - right about the age that kids first are able to encompass the concept of death. Her little sister - age 4 - spent several hours in the house the day her mother died, trying to understand why Mommy wouldn't wake up for her.

And my wife is, aside from marrying me, a well-adjusted, functioning and happy member of society. Her sister has struggled with "problems" all her life, in contrast. I don't know that a more "death-friendly" (for lack of a better term) would have made a traumatic event like that any easier for both girls, or not. But I can imagine that a society wherein the concept of death is more socially managed and less the turf of the clergy/religious couldn't be all bad.

Death education is not "promoting a culture of death."

Randomizer said it all far better than I did, or could.

[Platapus]

Originally Posted by Randomizer

The issue with assisted suicide is that, in those jurisdictions where it is legal, only the means are provided, the actual act is entirely in the hands of the person committing suicide. The subject can back out at any time before the ultimate button push or triggering whatever means is being used. It is not homicide if you do the deed yourself.

Ironically, suicide is often the final act in gaining control of ones life; the ability to exit the world at the time and place and using the method of ones choice may seem huge to some.

At some point there is every possibility that my life will no longer be worth living due to certain health issues that are irrelevant here. I really like the idea that I can die by my own hand in the presence of my lovely wife before the man that she married is reduced to a mere shell. Far better to depart in a hospital or clinic, with all the "T's" crossed and "I's" dotted and surrounded by loved ones than taking the old Remington 870 into the deep woods with an magnum Special SSG up the spout; to be found perhaps months later by emergency personnel or volunteer searchers. As an active member of the latter group, I have helped recover enough human remains from successful wilderness suicides to know that I would really prefer to avoid inflicting that experiance on others. Other methods often messy or unpleasent also involve innocent bystanders or unwilling participants, first responders, police, firemen etc. With assisted suicide there should be nobody directly involved that does not want to be there.

Suicide may generally be considered a selfish act but assisted suicide in controlled conditions with reasonable legal and medical checks and balances can do much to assuage the grief of the survivors. Ultimately they are the ones who matter since once one has determined that suicide is the answer, all the interventions in the world won't prevent the act from being carried out.

I have already signed off my DNR and organ donor documentation. We all have to go sometime, and there might just be circumstances where it could be comforting to have a say in the where and when.

The article that the OP posted is heavy with unspoken religion but once god and churches are removed from the equation, the moral objections to assisted suicide tend to fall away.

That was a well thought out and well written post. No attacks, just a simple explanation.

You got a lot of nerve posting that type of stuff here on GT buddy

Take that logical, respectful, and non emotional thought process somewhere else pal!

[Platapus]

Originally Posted by Growler

Face it, death happens. Why not give people the ability and the freedom to face it on their terms?

It is not often I get emotional over people. But I am crying like a real man here. What a horrible thing to have to live through. And the way you described it. Wow.

I don't know whether to hate you for putting me through this or whether I should buy you a beer.

My parents are in their upper 70's and this is something I think about a lot.

I am glad you and your family had the strength to make such a horrible but noble decision.