GIVEN the general tenor of Tuesday’s letters about assisted dying it would seem that their opinion is that no matter what, we should all have imposed on us “a duty to suffer” if terminally ill. To which I immediately think, to what end? To appease who and what? And to what purpose? Why should anyone have imposed on them from others an outright denial of their own autonomy to make their own decision when faced with a terminal and outrageously painful end (if that is the way it is shaping up)?
No, we should definitely have the free and autonomous choice to determine the nature of our own death for ourselves without their interference. If they don’t want to avail themselves of that choice, fine, I would uphold their right to do so. However, they should never deny to others the choice.
READ MORE: Scots back legalising assisted dying as new Holyrood bill published
And lest anyone think that I am totally lacking in a spiritual dimension, I would add that in my teenage years I had a near-death experience. Take if from me, your average minister, priest, imam or rabbi has no more conception of what God is like than the bacteria in your gut have appreciation of the nature of sunlight and the agriculture it upholds. The representatives of organised religion need to learn some much-needed humility and understand that God is nothing like the being that their black books would have us believe. It really is time that organised religion grew up and ditched the Bible black medievalism that bedevils all they do and that they have a want to force on everyone else.
Peter C
via thenational.scot
THE letter by Rhodri Griffiths on Tuesday was one of the most offensive I’ve seen printed in The National. Comparing the right to die – the desperate, last-resort pleading of people in agonising pain or suffering the humiliating loss of dignity and purpose as their body and mind collapse irretrievably – to cosmetic dentistry, hair transplants and botox injections says more about the writer’s pious self-righteousness than the moral case it purports to support.
READ MORE: Liam McArthur ‘absolutely convinced’ Assisted Dying Bill will pass at Holyrood
There is no compassion or understanding in claiming that assisted dying is “trendy” or “materialistic” or an example of “instant gratification”. If you pause to think about the stupidity of that claim, you can only come to the conclusion that the writer is driven by ideological dogmatism masquerading as the spirituality which he says is an essential component of society.
Dr David White
Galashiels
RHODRI Griffiths claims that euthanasia is “immoral, unnatural and unnecessary” and attempts to thwart nature. What’s considered “moral” is something on which opinions vary, and his is as good as any, but opposing euthanasia because it’s “unnatural” while promoting hospices is strange. Pain is a natural response to injury or illness, but hospice staff don’t just watch people suffer. Unnatural intervention and thwarting nature is sometimes considered a good thing. As for euthanasia being “unnecessary”, that’s something that only the person concerned can decide.
Mairead Mackechnie
Isle of Islay
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