Bioethics class visits neonatal facility (Culture of Death Alert!)

Princetonian ^ | November 15, 2004 | Elyse Graham

[NYer]

First there was abortion, then partial-birth abortion—which is essentially infanticide—and now full-blown infanticide.

[NYer]

Princeton “bioethics” professor Peter Singer

2. Euthanasia

Often disguised by the name "mercy killing," euthanasia also is a form of homicide. No person has a right to take his own life, and no one has the right to take the life of any innocent person.

In euthanasia, the ill or elderly are killed, by action or omission, out of a misplaced sense of compassion, but true compassion cannot include intentionally doing something intrinsically evil to another person (cf. EV 73).
EV John Paul II, Evangelium Vitae (The Gospel of Life)


Voter's Guide for Serious Catholics

Catholic Ping - please freepmail me if you want on/off this list

[NYer]

the first question came from Faruk Colakoglu '08. "Are [underdeveloped babies] children?" he asked.

Class of '08 - a freshman in an Ivy League College and he doesn't "know" whether underdeveloped babies are children!

Pathetic!

[ClearCase_guy]

At multiple points in this article, the students feel sadness or trepidation in dealing with these sick children. Yet (some of the students) can rationalize their way to depersonalizing the children. Nope. Their emotions are correct. They feel sad and hopeless because they see sick children suffering. They know that this is what they see. Yet they try to "get past that" and talk about "ethical decisions" in which the children are either not human or not really living at all. Fools.

[DBeers]

I did not catch it -is this Peter Singer a 'Catholic'?

[GBA]

I tend to agree with you: their initial reactions and emotions are valid. Philosophy tends to give them the means to rationalize away those emotions and see the situation without the emotions that make us human. To be overly emotional wouldn't be helpful and to be without emotion wouldn't be human. Being able to decide with both one's head and heart should be the result of a philosphy class, imho.

[SilentServiceCPOWife]

Singer also refuses to equate killing newborns with killing adults, saying newborns are not self-aware and therefore different from adult humans and animals worthy of protection.

It's ok to murder human infants, but it's not okay to kill an animal.

[SilentServiceCPOWife]

I also think that part of it is that they feel intimidated by Singer and want to please him. After all, he is THE Peter Singer. (If you could hear me say that, you would hear the scorn in my voice.) It's a shame that they are willing to give up their humanity for a grade.

[Restorer]

In discussion on the bus ride home, class member Nic Poulos '08 called Hiatt's distinction between active and passive euthanasia "semantics."

This is accurate, depending on your definition of "withdrawal of care." I consider not putting a person on intensive life support equipment to be a moral, though tragic, choice in some circumstances.

However, withdrawal of care is often used to mean not giving food or water. In my opinion, this is just plain murder, except that most murderers are decent enough to not kill their victims very, very slowly.

If you are going to kill a baby, at least have the common humanity to do it in a human way. You can go to jail for an extended period for starving a puppy to death.

[Bikers4Bush]

If I had walked in to find ghouls like that around my now 6 year old niece who was born very premature there'd have been a war.

[NYer]

I did not catch it -is this Peter Singer a 'Catholic'?

Not to the best of my knowledge. Just wanted to post his 'mug shot' for all to see. He's been pursuing this path of 'post birth' abortion, for several years now. Didn't realize that he was on the teaching staff at Rutgers.

[NYer]

Ping! (this may interest your list)

[AnAmericanMother]

I am ashamed and embarassed that my alma mater has given this ghoul a professorship and a bully pulpit to preach his gospel of death.

[ClearCase_guy]

Philip K. Dick had a wonderful short story (The Pre-persons) in which the yardstick of "self-awareness" had morphed into "understanding of higher math (algebra)".

If a child were well-behaved, it was safe, of course. But disobedient children could be turned in by their parents. They'd be given a math test, and if they didn't do well, they would be "eliminated".

Eventually, a High School Math Teacher climbs into the Child Collection Van and professes that he doesn't really understand algebra that well and asks them what they will do about it.

The point: all such yardsticks are arbitrary and wrong. Human life is sacred, and it is not hard to identify "human life". Only evil people pretend that it's an intellectual challenge.

[Osage Orange]

bttt...for later reading.

[madprof98]

Singer's has stirred much controversy with these views, with some groups labeling him a "baby-killer."

You mean, just because he wants to see babies killed . . . they're calling him NAMES! That is just so mean! Why, it's hate speech, pure and simple.

[NYer]

It's ok to murder human infants, but it's not okay to kill an animal.

Just did a quick Google search on him ... oh brother! From The International Vegetarian Union web site ...

Peter Singer is now a Professor at Princeton University, USA. He was formerly Professor of Philosophy and Director of the Centre for Human Bioethics at Monash University, Melbourne, Australia. He is the author of Animal Liberation, which can be considered the Bible of the animal rights movement. Recently, he has been instrumental in the formation of the The Great Ape Project, which seeks to extend personhood and legal rights to the Geat Apes.

FULL TEXT

[NYer]

If I had walked in to find ghouls like that around my now 6 year old niece who was born very premature there'd have been a war.

Imagine your niece, as a college student, attending his class! Hope she develops a strong right arm swing!

[kittymyrib]

Are there Christian medical schools whose graduating doctors would not murder "the least of these"? I don't want any of these moral midgets treating me or my family.

[SilentServiceCPOWife]

I often avoid reading things like that because I become so frustrated and angry. I sit and ask myself "How can people think like this?" over and over again and I can never find an answer. The only thing that can explain it is that they have no sense of right and wrong at all.