Modernity's Anchorless Journey

There is a great deal of talk about compassionate death. At the same time I hear people advocating respecting the wishes of the dying. These two approaches show me just how far our present generation has fallen from logical and sensible truths.

Instead of the terms Compassionate Death, the correct term is Compassionate Murder. Murder is the premature ending of a life, period. The word simply doesn't mean something else because some muddleheads placed a happy adjectives in front of it. It was called murder when Hitler did it, it was called that when Pol Pot did it, and it was called that when Serbs exterminated Muslims in the former Yugoslav republic.

The reason murdering the elderly or disabled is called compassionate is because some claim it is better for the family. Medical costs, and the burdening of family members is frequently cited in support of this rubbish. Let's break the concept of compassionate death down to its basic parts. It is merely murdering a living person because it is more convenient to kill them. By this definition, the value of human life, yours and mine, is determined by how much we are costing to keep alive,and how much we burden our loved ones. This utilitarian approach denies the splendor of each person. It also denies the natural law that tells each one of us that life should be preserved.

It also is guilty of changing the meaning of words out of convenience. It is no longer murder because it would benefit us to do away with an elderly person, so we call it compassionate. That definition of compassion is nonsensical. The barbarians are not at the gates, they are in the news rooms, classrooms, and bioethics committees. Be afraid, be very afraid.