Thanks for Inspiring a Post, Something Positive!

So, some good life news: I'm starting a temporary day job that will offer steady pay but still permit me to get decent parking spaces & not have to wake up with the chickens. Flexible hours & low stress are beautiful things, particularly when it's not YOUR business.

Just happened upon the latest Something Positive this morning. See an earlier post about me & my husband meeting the creator of this web comic at Wild Pig Con.

If you read his news item, he chooses not to share his views on assisted suicide. However, I realized I haven't shared mine & being as I'm not concerned w/the mutterings of the PC police I figure it's another thing I can rant on since I certainly have an opinion on it.

My thoughts on this topic are much like my views on abortion: if you haven't lived it, then you really have no right to comment. Another topic far too entwined with religion for everyone's own good.

I know what the law is but if I had my way, we would change that. I think it should be a private matter & a private decision between doctors, the dying patient and relevant family members (not Cousin Mabel, the fundamentalist busybody who protests at abortion clinics but children, parents, those who might be directly impacted by the person's death in a serious way). That way, if someone chose assisted suicide, it could be done humanely and with a minimal amount of mess, trauma, etc. At least doctors don't pull out guns & shoot the patient.

I don't think there's a one size fits all solution but if there is zero hope that I could recover (incurable ailment) or live a normal, functional existence, I would not want to be kept on life support for 20 years. I told my mother that if she had me end up like Terri Schiavo & fought w/my spouse over it, I would haunt her for eternity. I think most of us want to live but who knows how you'd feel if you were in chronic pain, couldn't do anything most people do now & had no quality of life at all? I certainly wouldn't want to spend my time on Earth not being able to have any kind of enjoyment.

Perhaps it helps to explain that when I hear "God is everywhere," I take that literally. I take that to mean God sees your circumstances, hears your thoughts, and understands human motivation or that you may not be in your right mind when you "sin." The God I believe in doesn't condemn & damn you to Hell with no opportunity to explain yourself. Otherwise, God's not everywhere or your conception of God is a complete & total dick. That's not MY conception of God, thanks.

I also feel like the anti crowd is a bit selfish. They don't really care about the sick person's happiness or quality of life; they just care about their own feelings if not political posturing, appeasing religious groups (including their own churches), getting benefits from the person being "alive", etc.

I can't really say what I'd do since I've not been there & I certainly wouldn't run around judging someone if they consider it or actually do it. Try being in that person's shoes before shooting off your mouth!

Perhaps if more people had empathy for others, we'd have fewer jerks causing problems and butting into everyone else's private business.