It is really sad to me to see that something so simple to comprehend... murder vs. suicide vs. natural demise... has to be debated in such lofty scientific and philosophical analysis as I see here.
It seems so easy to understand to me...
I have seen several family members through very painful end of life including hospice end of life situations and everyone understood right from wrong.
My Grandfather in pain from cancer and on his dying bed wanted to live... just a day more. He was in the most horrible pain and yet he wanted to LIVE!
I loved him more than my own life... he did so much for me, but I would NEVER have assisted in his death. To do so would have been an insult to all he had taught me.
Both he and my Grandmother were fearful of those who would have them ‘dispensed’ with. They expressed that fear often as they grew older.
Thank you for posting these good insights.
Sometimes our elders, who taught us all we know about courage and dignity, need help, themselves, in their hour of need, to “remember themselves,” so to speak.
My own father, who went unexpectedly and totally blind at age 70 because of a series of unsuccessful eye operations, became very morose and began thinking he was useless and just a damned burden to my mother and me. He talked vaguely about taking a whole bottle of his meds at once, or “walking out into traffic so you can collect the life insurance.”
Feeling shaken inside, I spoke to him rather sharply and sternly (as I had never done before and have never done since) that he had always been an example of strength in our family, and we still needed him to be a living example, to the younger ones, of how to man up and face life’s adversities.
He plucked up his courage and from then on in, he came through with flying colors.
We need to tell each other, “Your life is valuable! Just your being here makes a world of difference to me, to yourself, to the people around, and I daresay to God. He will call you soon enough.” As the Irish say of death, “It’ll wait.”
Bless you and yours.