printIN HIS OWN WORDS. Jack Kevorkian is a free man. And that makes him better than most: “The law can only stop a person from exercising a right”;”You cannot transgress a natural right”; “Religion puts your mind in a straitjacket”; “Maybe Michael Jackson craved [anesthetics] so much, the doctor administered them to keep him quiet. The patient got what he wanted”; “America is not the country you think it is. How free are you? You are as free as the law lets you be, and America is the greatest law factory in the world“; “We have a lot of traits of fascism in this country; Ayn Rand predicted it”; “Are we done as a country? We’re done as a free country, yes”; “Most people are enslaved sheep. They cry to the government, ‘Do something for me.'”
Bar one, I agree with all the aforementioned. Jack Kevorkian may be ideologically confused, but he is free and fiercely courageous.
Long Live Jack Kevorkian
America,Fascism,Government,Individual Rights,Justice,Law,libertarianism,Liberty,Natural Law,Religion,The State
““Religion puts your mind in a straitjacket””
Reading the Bible has stretched my mind. I won’t speak for religion, however.
However, his philosophy is profoundly SHALLOW. Example, a baby with a baboon heart does not cease to be precious because the body is a container/machine for the soul/spirit of man. The heart is probably just a pump.
Government school system are you proud?
Kevorkian was no doubt educated by you.
I am pleased though that he has libertarian beliefs, maybe because he has seen government up close through you.
Cool guy. I don’t know where he might be confused; I thought he made good sense. I’ve read the Bible numerous times, never found anything that would conflict with his opinions on death; but, then there is a lot in religion I don’t find Biblical. (Other statements he made, other than his questioning the existence of God, that is.) I intend to enjoy my material body as long as I can, but one of these days it’s going to be gone. That’s when I find out or don’t find out if the spirit survives. I have a ‘living will’ on file just in case I can’t say, “Pull da plug.” Death isn’t anything to fear, but sometimes the pain can be.
“I’ve read the Bible numerous times, never found anything that would conflict with his opinions on death; ” Robert Glisson
Concerning the death of Lazarus:
Jesus wept. John 11:35
Jack is a courageous man, who put his actions where his principles are and took the consequences like a real man.
And as far as basing law on religion goes, I’m with him all the way. We outlaw for our own mothers the same mercy we grant to a pet. In cases where the decision is made to pull the plug, the patient is usually allowed to die of dehydration or suffocation, a particularly cruel practice.
Not a nice way to treat the ‘container’ of your loved one.
Jack Korvikian is a courageous man in the same sense that Hi-jackers on 9-11 were courageous men — willing to die for what exactly? For the right to bring death upon the sick and weakest members of his community? For his inability to know what else to offer? Socrates drank the hemlock willingly because he was condemned to die by a corrupt jury of his peers. Christ went to his death willingly for what?
I think that courage has become such a scarce commodity that we sometimes think that anybody who stands up for any opinion has something that too many do not. Ilana is a thoughtful woman and what she sees in something is always for me, worth looking into and to be taken seriously.There are indeed too many who attempt to hang on too long. But Kevorkian is not talking about assisting friends or comforting a beloved family member in their last hours. He is talking about marketing death and that is always and everywhere a dangerous undertaking. Good for him for talking back to power,but shame on Dr. Death for being too willing to spread it.
“In cases where the decision is made to pull the plug, the patient is usually allowed to die of dehydration or suffocation, a particularly cruel practice.” John Danforth
I totally agree with respect to dehydration. Bastards! Didn’t they kill Baby Doe that way? If we are going to murder then let’s at least do it painlessly. Hypocritical bastards!!
[Remember Terri Schiavo.]
Not to be contentious but “Jesus wept” is a reflection of compassion, same as he wept over Jerusalem, but he cursed Capernaum, the same city where he established his Rabbinical school. Jesus died to enact a better covenant,the “Blood Covenant of Abraham as listed in Genesis 15, with the blood of man replacing that of animals” Saul asked a soldier to kill him with his own sword I believe. My point is that the Bible itself does not advocate either way. Personally I don’t think the Constitution does either and life and death is a matter between the individual and himself but if he/she asks a doctor, then it is between them and not a government lawyer.
I believe that the medical condition of an individual with regard to suicide is irrelevant. People have a right to end their lives, or they do not. It’s between them and their deity (or oblivion, if you prefer). If the government can prevent you from taking your life it means your life belongs to the government.
However, I do have a problem with putting a massive euthanasia industry into place. The state is ever encroaching on our lives, and a strapped government will be sorely tempted to rid itself of “useless eaters.” Might they start pushing you toward the place of happy release? It’s worrisome.
Mr. Glisson,
I thank you for your good comments but just wanted to add the Greek logic of the historical Jewish and Christian traditions on suicide. The medical technology of keeping men and women “alive” along with the encroaching reality of “a life worse than death” are complicators to be sure but the ancient principle is as follows: “To destroy a thing is to dispose of it as an absolute master and to act as one having full and independent dominion over it; but man does not possess this full and independent dominion over his life, since to be an owner one must be superior to his property. God has reserved to himself direct dominion over life; He is the owner of its substance and He has given man only the serviceable dominion, the right of use, with the charge of protecting and preserving the substance, that is, life itself.” Of course when we are killing people left and right in meaningless forms all over the world, dropping bombs and launching rockets from continents away, treating our neighbors like trash in our daily dealings, etc. or in more famous words “if we can’t understand the things we do see, it is even harder to grasp the things we cannot. But again I thank you for your contribution to the discussion and do not intend to start a quarrel on this difficult subject.
Robert-M.B. Moon. No insults felt here, hope I haven’t offended either. The sanctity of life is an important as well as emotional issue. I’ve never understood the Japanese acceptance of ritual suicide or why abortion advocates are so adamant about destroying life, either. It is just complicated I guess. Have a good weekend.