"John D. Giorgis" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
>
>Surely a life at
>the utter mercy of a Hollywood producer is better than no life at all?
I disagree there.
I judge the quality of life for myself; you can pry my right to terminate my
own existence out of my cold, dead fingers. (Ummm... well, something like
that.) We are burdened with the responsibility of judging the quality of
life for our dependents - loved ones (e.g. patients on life support), pets
(euthanasia when sick), etc.
Saying arbitrarily that life is better than no life is akin to saying that
torture is an acceptable alternative to execution.
(And to reiterate my stance on this issue: if you cut off my arm, it's
human, but it's not a person. A zygote or embryo is also human, but is
extremely far from being a person. A bacteria, paramecium, slime-mold,
fertilized hen's egg, sponge or jellyfish is not human, and nowhere close to
being a person. A chimpanzee, dolphin, or elephant is not human, but is
pretty close to being a person. A 6-month-old human child is also pretty
close to being a person. I value life in terms of person-hood, not
human-hood.)
Joshua
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