Right to die?

Yes.

Yes, unless you’re gonna be a martyr for others to die, or say you commit suicide in a way that damages others physically (terrorism) or mentally (jumping in front of a car or train etc)
I guess that’s more the way we die, but I’m sure you see my point.

As always: depends. Your mental state should be taken into account. People may decide to commit suicide while they would later have regretted it had they been alive. Then again, there’s not really any stopping that ;-).

Actually, by the way I’ve learned it, your life is not for you to own. So, no, you must not be allowed to end your life whenever you like.

@archaeopteryx who owns your life then? Who’s in charge of you? Are you a robot?

Your life is yours to do what you want with it, as long as you don’t affect any non consenting person.

@cage

No, I’m not a robot, but I’m still a creature after all, and my creator is the one responsible for me. I am owned by my creator. And that creator is God.

Some people will tell me: “But hey, I’m an atheist!”
Ignoring the existence of God or denying it doesn’t make him nonexistent. It only means that you’re refusing to believe that he exists, which is your problem, not his.

@archaeopteryx I’m agnostic actually.

I don’t wanna raise a fuss, but why is your username a dinosaur? They don’t appear in the bible do they?

@cage

Well, it’s not a dinosaur, it’s an ancient bird.
And I’m not Christian, I’m Muslim. :-)

And, what’s wrong with being a fan of a bird? Birds and animals are also creatures of God, ya know. :)

@archaeopteryx
god doesn’t own you, you own you(you don’t own your kids).
How long you choose to live is totally up to you 10 years-110 years.

@archaeopteryx I do know that, but it came around in the period of dinosaurs. I’m just saying that religious texts make no hint to animals at that stage tis all.

@coffeenut

I didn’t get it.

@archaeopteryx I think @coffeenut was supposed to say “god doesn’t own you”, he was then saying you don;t own your kids, because you created your kids.

this is gonna be a long answer…

@cage , @coffeenut

To say that I create my kids is ridiculous, with all due respect.
Just because the father and mother had sex one night doesn’t at all mean that they have created their kids. They were only the reason, or in other words: the biological explanation of how did their kid come?

But the deeper secrets of creation is something that we’ll never know, and only God knows them. For example, the soul (spirit) doesn’t come from the parents having sex, it’s God who blows the soul into the embryo, at a certain level of its creation, to bring life to it. Do we know what a soul(spirit) is? No, we don’t and we’ll never know.

The Holy Quran verse says it clearly: ( 017:085 They ask thee concerning the Spirit. Say: “The Spirit is of the command of my Lord: of knowledge it is only a little that is communicated to you, (O men!)” )

This is a good explanation to what I’m trying to say.

@archaeopteryx yes, choosing to have a baby with your lover, then having intercourse then a sperm meeting an egg is totally ridiculous. I’m sure the vast majority will agree with you. Including modern science.
What is a spirit or soul? Does it even exist?

I think we should just agree to disagree because this is pointless.

@cage

You got me wrong. I didn’t mean that having sex in order to have a baby is ridiculous, I meant that a man and a woman having sex doesn’t mean that they are creating their baby. They are not creators, they are only the reason, the biological explanation of creation, but not the creation itself.

And yes, a spirit does exist, and it’s the only thing that keeps you alive.

@archaeopteryx no that’s your heart.
Like I said, we should agree to disagree because we’re clearly not going to resolve this.

@cage

And what keeps your heart beating? :)

coffee keeps my heart beating.

@coffeenut

:-)

Actually, coffee contains caffeine, and too much caffeine is bad for your heart.

I’d start reading here. Though the snarky answer is, of course, a pacemaker.

I think it is my right to end my life if I choose and I think it is no one else’s business. If anyone is opposed to it, then don’t do it, but don’t tell me I can’t either. Too many people are too intent on making the rest of the world see it as they do.

@archaeopteryx right, my medula oblongata keeps my heart going, and hormones and electrical impulses keep that going, they are also triggered by other hormonal, chemical and electrical impulses and stimuli presented to me within my body and out of it in the environment around me.
And just for the record @coffeenut was probably making a small joke, you don’t have to go and put a downer on it.

@cage

Great! Now that you mentioned that electrical impulses, why when someone’s heart stops beating and they attempt to get to start beating again, they use electrical shocks, but it doesn’t work everytime?

I mean, if the heart is only beating because of electrical impulses, then if it stops, all we need to do is use some electrical shocks to get to beat again. But electrical shock don’t always succeed, why is that?

@cage

Oh, and there’s also another thing just came to my mind.
You seem to know a lot about the biological explanation of how your body works and how your heart beats.. etc.

Can you tell me then how your brain works? I know what happens, there’s a great big huge amount of biochemical reactions that occur inside the brain each and every second accompanied with some electrical impulses, making our brain think and control the body. But that’s not what I’m talking about.

What I’m talking about is the process of thinking itself. What is a thought? How do all those biochemical reactions and electrical impulses generate pictures, sounds, smells, tastes, feeling, sensations… etc? And by the way some of those sensations might be ones that you’ve never ever experienced before, and your brain are building them up on its own, which is what we call imagination.

So, can you tell me what a thought is, other than being a result of a series of certain biological, physical and chemical procedures?

Great Question
I believe 100% we have the right to decide when we die.
@coffeenut what have you gotten your self into?

@archaeopteryx the reason that defibrillators sometimes don’t work is that, the heart has lost it’s electrical charge, or that the impulse does not reach the vagus nerve (in charge of the heart’s rate of beating).
I can’t tell you what a thought is (other than as you stated the chemical reactions) because (in the sense you’re talking about) it’s not biological, so thank you for complimenting me on my biological knowledge, but that’s not my field of expertise, it’s completely irrelevant :)

Anyway. Like I said AGES ago, we should just agree to disagree.

Archaeopteryx’s opposition to “right to die” appears to based on religious considerations exclusively. It is interesting to note that religious Christians would make an argument that is almost exactly the same as Arch’s despite coming from different religious traditions.

It is possible, however, to make an argument against “right to die” that is entirely secular, not depending at all on belief in or even the existence of God. The argument goes something like this:

A modern society has a substantial interest in promoting a culture in which human life is protected, even “sacred.” In societies that don’t value human life (or don’t value it highly), huge costs accrue to everyone in that society, diminishing the overall quality of a society-member’s life. Think, for example, of a hypothetical society in which random acts of violence against people generally go unpunished. Even if you, yourself, are not a direct victim of such an act, you life is still affected as you try to minimize your risk.

Allowing people to decide when human life ends, even their own, has an impact on how a culture views human life. Perhaps it is a small impact, but for something so important, shouldn’t we err on the side of caution, and instead of allowing people to actively end their lives, allow only passive measures (such as refusing medical help)?

I don’t necessarily subscribe to the argument presented above, but I do think its worth considering that there is a completely secular argument for outlawing suicide.

@Michael I don’t think anyone is like “approving” suicide. I wouldn’t ‘allow’ someone too. I think it is more to do as how you say passive measures.

To answer the original question, many people who wish to die exercise that right. Suicide happens all the time. Because it is my body and my
will, does that make it my
right? I guess, but I wouldn’t
want to see it glorified.
Very often, the people who want to die change their minds with time and treatment, so I wouldn’t want to go around proclaiming my right to die.
I must add that it can be a sticky situation because as soon as one more person becomes involved it is a crime, not a right.

yes, and we should be allowed to take our own life, as often as we wish

But wouldn’t that concept against christianity?

@mea05key not everyone is a Christian.

@cage , @nocaps

Actually with all due respect to everyone here, but when looking at this whole thing from another point of view, I’ve finally realized that this question is complete utter nonsense, and I just started to regret wasting my timeon all those fruitless arguments around such a silly question.

Because, have you ever heard of the police arresting a dead body of a man after he has already committed suicide?

I mean, if you really want to end your life, then why the hell are you so concerned about this being legal or not? Why don’t you just go add some cyanide to your coffee, take an overdose of heroin or even burn yourself or just jump of a cliff and die? By the time any creature on earth finds you, you’ll be dead and dry already. Oh and don’t worry, the police won’t waste their time taking your corpse into custody, they’ll just bury you where they find you.

So, come on guys, ask real questions, or quit wasting your time and the site’s bandwidth.

@archaeopteryx there are no stupid questions, only stupid answers.

@archaeopteryx, who made you the judge as to what questions can or cannot be posted on this site? No one did, so stop acting as one, I for one sure don’t appreciate your tone.

The reason this is important is that there are many laws that prohibit us from doing things that we should be allowed to do with our own bodies. Why do these exist? Because no one stands up to challenge them! As well, people do get arrested for attempting suicide, or for helping in another person’s death. Questioning laws and changing them when needed is one of the most critical points in a successful democracy. That’s why it’s important.

@archaeopteryx also, who said anything about laws?!?!? We’re talking about rights!
to be honest, I think you’ve realised you’re the minority and are resorting to “well this is a silly questions anyway” simply because you can’t produce a good argument.

@archaeopteryx also, I think a mod would have closed this thread if they were worried about bandwidth… you let them care about that mate.

“no offense” but this guy archaeopteryx is just poasting to annoy you guys/girls, don’t play his game.

@coffeenut it’s okay. I really enjoy a good heated discussion. That’s what fluther is useful for.
And from what I can see, he’s actually given in i.e. done the 5 year old thing and gone
“WELL THIS IS A STUPID QUESTION ANYWAY :’(”

I love responding to trolls. I find it greatly increases my abilities to deal with troublesome/dumb/idiotic people in real life. Sharpens my mind and wit, one could say.

@dynamicduo alright lets not get offensive. We’ll just settle he was in the wrong for telling us it was a silly question.
I mean tbh I did give him plenty of opportunities to leave it (lets agree to disagree…) because as my girlfriend and @richardhenry will tell you. I love pwnin n00bs in conversations, real life or online.

Also there is a very real, practical, public policy question around “right to die” issues. Of course, no one is arrested after they commit suicide, but states could, if they chose, allow doctors to assist someone who wanted to die. Currently, this practice is specifically outlawed in most states (Oregon, at one point, did allow a measure of doctor assistance to someone who wished to die, under certain circumstances…I’m not sure if the law is still on the books there). So-called “physician assisted suicide,” is a very real policy option, and therefor very much worth of discussion and debate.

Based on my beliefs, I would have to say that the right to die must be left to the creator- but that goes to say that your “time” is predetermined and cannot be changed by man. Consider all of the failed suicides… at least the ones in which the attempt was reasonable. Just too coincidental, if you ask me. If you ask me – there are no coincidences. ;-)

@dynamicduo: “Your life is yours to do what you want with it, as long as you don’t affect any non consenting person.”
This is fine reasoning, but effectively, one cannot take even their own life without affecting some non-consenting person… take the parents, or co-workers, friends, etc…

@archaeopteryx , @cage: This is great debate. Awesome responses!
@archaeopteryx – as for your question about dinosaurs being in the bible- yes, of course they are; (Gen 1) “God made the wild animals according to their kinds, the livestock according to their kinds, and all the creatures that move along the ground according to their kinds”.

Yes, if we have a right to live surely we also have a right to die?