Dr. Death

Dr. Death: A harsh name for such an interesting individual. I grew up reading about this man, this doctor who has  ended the lives of so many, who has created a question which I believe did not exist before he began humanizing patients. How can one be denied death if, in fact, they prefer to die? At what point in our life does life become ours?

Euthanasia is a risqué subject. There's very little on TV that involves the subject, so naturally, the populous knows little. What they do know is that it is generally "wrong" in the public's eye. I find that interesting. I have no doubt that those feelings stem from religious ideals, after all, this great deity in the sky made us out of clay and we are all special and are of one body and soul in the lord's eyes. That's a great thought, but there are some flaws....for one, that "of one body" feeling doesn't really exist outside of clever political wording and church. As a society we group things based on how special we think they are. Think about how we survive in nationhood. For instance, we have classes (upper, middle and lower) that are generally used to separate the poor from the wealthy, we have types of healthcare coverage (basic, premium, elite) which dictate if we're going to survive longer than the next guy. We have lawmakers, ditch workers, police officers, criminals. Even in religion, you have leaders, sects, and movements all based on the superiority of ideals and separation. Are we to believe that we are equal in some great plan? Well, yes, it's expected and required for membership in certain places.

What is the right to life? Reader, do you feel you have that right? You pick out your own clothes in the mornings, you may choose to go to church, choose to play basketball or to write like I am writing now. We have free will or at least the perception of it, but can you choose to die? Of course, you may not want to die, but that is an inevitable thing. There is a concept of a natural death, but that therein is the sole reason we have gotten to know Dr. Death a little better.

Ask any home nurse if they'd trade life for a day with the patient attended to that is in ta devastating condition; chances are they won't be inclined to do so. Dr. Kevorkian spent a lot of his time talking to patients, understanding their fears and understanding their anguish. He wasn't "killing" people as some social outlets would have us believe. He was attending to a need; in this instance, that need was to die. Reading this, I'm sure it's odd: the right to die? We can kill ourselves, we call that suicide. It is apparently selfish in every instance and hurtful to a family situation. What if the family is consulted? Well, they could commit the individual and take away their primary self care rights, also known as the right to life.

We define life differently; Hindus believe that it is a circle and our Karma comes around to us in our death and based on our Karma, that determines what kind of life we will lead in our afterlife. Christians view life as a sacred work moving forward and they must instill their principals at all costs. Everyone has to face the fact that life is not defined by only us. There are a lot of influences in our day to day life that make us who we are. It is not simply our religion, our social interactions, or our knowledge of things: it can become any of those things eventually, but that's not really who we are. We can occupy our time praying or studying but that doesn't mean much without a clear idea and a will to do it. Yet, in turn, we find it difficult to justify death despite the fact that we already do it in how we learn or adapt.

Religion teaches death is a part of life and there are many things written and practiced that involve coping and overcoming death. Our legal system and religions take away the right to life. When we buy the cow...we get the milk so to speak.

So, I ask you, if you cannot walk, cannot breath without assistance, cannot think without pain, cannot exist without agony...is that life? and do we not have a right to an alternative? The greatest threat to personal freedom is the centralization of an institution whether it's government, religion...or just opinion.

Dr. Jack was made a demon for his work. Anyone could argue he did it to help or he did it to hurt, but only Jack knows why he did it. You cannot argue the fact that he had customers. You cannot argue the fact that some believe that "right" works both ways.