We could do with some dread and awe.
Why, it is asked, should assisting a suicide be illegal, when suicide itself is not? Well, why should suicide be legal? I am not suggesting that normal criminal prosecutions be brought often, if at all, against those who attempted suicide. But the law should state, and should at least from time to time make clear in practice, its disapproval of suicide, just as having adultery and desertion as grounds for divorce made clear the law's disapproval, even though they were not criminal offences, of adultery and desertion.
Recriminalising attempted suicide, and at least periodically giving effect to that change, most obviously under mental health legislation, would be a dreadful and awful thing to do. And we could do with some dread and awe.
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The view of organised religion (well not Buddhism) may be that suicide is a sin.
ReplyDeleteHowever one of the legitimate arguments for the awfulness of the USSR was that it didn't let its citizens leave. In the same way I believe that the right to suicide is a fundamental one & that without that choice life is less of a gift.
The State has an exceedingly important interest in promoting the sanctity of human life. Abolishing the State's official disapproval of suicide, even in cases of attempted suicide, reinforces the idea that the value of human life is subjective. It encourages people to think of life as existing on a sliding scale of quality and value, as opposed to the idea that life is always valuable.
ReplyDeleteI would think even many non-religious folks would be aghast at the idea of placing life on a sliding scale of value.
As, indeed, they are.
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