I don't know if anyone remembers me talking about suffering and how suffering is the same whether it is self-inflicted or not.
Obviously there should be some lines... and I am not someone who should ever decide... but I truly don't believe the general public should decide either.
If one person has lung cancer from smoking for 30 years, and another person has lung cancer just because their body malfunctioned... do they both deserve chemo/radiation to try and treat that cancer? Do they both deserve an organ transplant? Do they both deserve pain medications or numbing medications to help with the symptoms? Do they both deserve medical care and compassionate care? Do they both deserve support and understanding from their loved ones? Do they both have families and friends and jobs and have they had complex lives?
Do you have friends who smoke? Do you have friends who used to smoke? Does someone you LOVE smoke every few weeks with drinks? What if they have been trying to quit over and over and have worked their asses off but just can't seem to kick the habit?
What if one of them developed lung cancer?
Would you agree that your loved one deserves a life sentence for a bad habit - a mistake?
Would you sit back while the public shamed them endlessly for bringing it on themselves and that it is 'Darwinism'? That they should get no public funding, no sympathy, no compassion, no care, because of ONE really bad choice?
I just read a story about a man who lost an INSANE amount of weight. Previously he had been consuming 8000 calories a day. He was obese.
He worked as hard as anyone can work to lose that weight. Now he has so much loose skin that it is affecting his ability to function - it is affecting his physical and mental health and is preventing him from working.
In my opinion, he deserves excess skin removal surgery.
Now the questions:
Did he bring this on himself? Is this issue self-inflicted.
Yes.
Has he proven his dedication to maintaining better health?
Yes.
Do you know him personally? Is he a loved one of yours?
Yes/No.
ARE there people who love him.
YES.
Are there people who know him and care for him and believe that he is a HUMAN BEING who made a MISTAKE that hurt no one else but himself?
Yes.
Don't you wish that you received the benefit of the doubt for mistakes you have made?
Don't you want people fighting for your right to amend those mistakes?
Do you deserve a life sentence from every mistake that you have made??
I sure hope not. Because NONE OF US would ever make it out alive.