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is suicide morally wrong?
May 29th, 2002
i thought i’m mostly over the stage contemplating life’s ambivalence all the time. but this thread has gotten me sentimental again. life’s so sad sometimes - no simple right or wrong can describe it. i typed this on that thread.
here’s an extreme case and it’s a true story. i wish i have the original version but i will try to describe this as best as i can.
ling is a doctor in china before the cultural revolution (CR) started. she has been awarded the best doctor in her community for many times. when the CR started in china, the red guards went to her house where she and her parents resided. the red guards dragged out her dad who was a famous painter and had his art works displayed in america. they found the receipt her father had from the american museum and called him a spy. they started beating him as well as her and her mom. they broke everything in the house and took them outside to the streets. marched them around with them wearing tall white paper hats with their names written under a red cross. with heavy banners hanging around their necks with very thin wires. after a day of torture, they were bruised and had blood all over their bodies. they were not allowed to eat. everything in their house had been destroyed. electricity and gas had been cut off. perhaps to prevent them from suiciding. it was very obvious tomorrow they would be dragged out for more humiliation and torture. at this time, they found a small knife which the red guards had left due to carelessness. all they wanted was to die and to break free from the torture they could not bear. ling is a doctor, she knows exactly where to cut would kill a person instantly. her mom said: how lucky we are to have a doctor daughter to help us to die.
is suicide morally wrong in this case?
