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i am currently engaged in preparation for a week long formal debate in my religious ethics class which considers questions about the legality and morality of physician assisted suicide and oregon's 1994 death with dignity act.
in keeping with my promise to challenge myself and stay busy as much as possible this year (i'm experimenting with success outcomes - too much free time has proven to make me lethargic and delivering dazzling displays of academic mediocrity), i signed up as a support for the petitioners - that is, those who opposed legalized physician assisted suicide for competent terminally ill patients. i wanted to see if i could properly support something i do not believe in at all.
this morning, i wrote the following:
Similarly, in Washington, California, Michigan and Maine voters have rejected initiatives which would have similarly legalized physician assisted suicide in their respective states. Clearly the people of this country have demonstrated their feelings on the matter. That the state of Oregon, backed by the Supreme Court of the United States, has chosen to uphold this law flows against the current of popular public opinion of this country and undermines the authority and decision making capacity of the federal government. As all states are governed by the provisions of the Controlled Substances Act, Oregon has no authority to allow physician assisted suicide by way of lethal dosage.
now, i know this is for school. and i know i did this deliberately to better evaluate the scope of my capabilities. still, that paragraph (among others which are similarly shudder-inducing), will be presented to a professor i admire in pure black and white on a paper that has my name clearly affixed at the top.
basically, i feel like i walked into the oval office, took off my pants and said "good morning, sir. how would you like me to take it?"
following the conclusion of the debate next monday, i am sure things will have only gotten worse. i can only hope that oppressed minorities, terminally ill patients with low quality of life and the forefathers of this country can forgive me.
stay tuned. tomorrow, i'll be buying a girdle, embarking on the atkins diet, burning all my rock and roll records, and attending confession in order to ensure i'm properly absolved and capable of recieving our lord and savior jesus christ in communion on sunday morning.
Labels: Blog vomit
posted by lindsay at 10:01 ::
8 Comments:
As the daughter of a deceased lung cancer patient I certainly forgive you. Trying to find strengths in a view opposed to your personal view is a challenging and rewarding thing. I think you will be better educated on how you feel in general by doing so.
I would feel a little bit dirty too... Now on Sunday :) you will most definitely be the least offensive when receiving the body of Christ, no?
Word,
Nikki
Girdle, Atkins, communion: OK, so shall it be.
A gal's gotta do what a gal's gotta do, and I can respect it even if I don't understand it.
But when you take on the hallowed "I before E except after C" rule, and begin to write things like "recieving"... well then, little missy, you've gone too far.
This will not stand.
Oh no.
This Will Not Stand.
[validation word: fgnuq]
By 
Frank Charlemagne, at
8:18 PM
If you're interested in taking a different tack...
Should physician assisted suicide be legalized, unscrupulous relatives/others who stand to benefit could put pressure on the old/infirm/terminally ill in order to get them to consent. Kind of, "I'm tired of changing your diaper, grandma, and I'd really like my inheritance now. How about we just sign those papers?"*
Slippery slope, perhaps, but it is an argument for leaving the practice nominally illegal, whilst allowing medical professionals to continue to turn a blind eye. According to my sister-the-nurse, it isn't uncommon.
*Hi, I'm devil's advocate. Nice to meet you.
for anyone in the area who is incapable of practicing crossword fidelity, i have this to say:
concieve, recieve, decieve, bite me!
i'll be twirling my hair somewhere near washington street at appoximately 6:30 pm, tomorrow.
[verification word:wwapt - on SO MANY LEVELS]
I'll be sadly unable to perceive your conceit tomorrow... perhaps you'll allow me a raincheck receipt?
(I'm actually likely to be unshopped tomorrow - an alcohol debt was called in by a coworker...)
By Frank Charlemagne, at
1:12 AM
i'm pleased to report that i finished today's crossword.
in ink.
without a single mistake.
without a single hint from a single person.
not even you.
if you're not around on thursday, i will find you just to gloat. count on it.
Pssh. Tuesday puzzle.
(Are we really going to sit in the snow to smoke and do crosswords?)
[validation word: vahphh - pardon me!]
By Frank Charlemagne, at
9:39 PM
Well, going to church is always a good start. God can forgive anyone. Every once in awhile I like to play devil's advocate with some of my more uptight, even-more-Republican-than-me friends. If you can't look at both sides of an issue, how will you ever know what you believe.
By 
, at
10:19 PM