Sir, It is regrettable that the Right Rev Christopher Herbert (letter, Mar 13) should suppose that the debate about assisted dying involves the question whether faith and reason are incompatible. It does not. What it involves is the issue whether, by law, one who has no faith should be restrained by those who have faith from exercising the freedom to have assistance to end his or her life.
His point would be utterly valid if it were true that we can live as individuals in a vaccum. But we cannot. Today we allow one clever, wealthy individual to terminate his life, the next we collude in the decision to terminate granny as she is dribbling and of little use.
Rules can and will be abused. Such decisions affect who and what we are as a society. We already live in a society of death – abortion is a major sin- let us not add to it. You may not because it is wrong. Which is why suicide remains illegal even though prosecution is neve possible.
RPP [#1] writes: “His point would be utterly valid if it were true that we can live as individuals in a vaccum. But we cannot.”
I find it hard to see why that makes a difference. Maybe I’ve missed your point, RPP, but it seems to me that you’re arguing that the suicide deprives the world of the benefits of his continued life (whatever those benefits might be), and that such deprivation is wrong no matter what the suicide’s circumstances might be. In principle, that sounds to me like an argument for imposing on the dying an involuntary servitude to strangers.
I figure if someone commits suicide, that is between them and God. I will not judge since I can never know their circumstances or the pain they are suffering. But I will also never support legally assisted suicide – the state should never be party to allowing others to commit murder. To ask (or perhaps compel, if there is no conscience clause) a doctor to “legally” kill someone is a power just waiting to be abused and an act of absolute broken trust. So now we have both ends of the life spectrum susceptible to murder – the very young and the very old. It’s a scary world.