Comments on Secondhand Smoke: Your 24/7 Seminar on Bioethics and the Importance of Being Human: The Often Untold Truth About Dutch Euthanasia

Sorry Wesley, I don't see the difference. In that...

2007-04-03T15:21:00.000-07:00

Sorry Wesley, I don't see the difference. In that article, you wrote this statement:

Those we would kill, we must first dehumanize.

On its face, it seems that DP involves dehumanizing prisoners as they are killed.

Those excerpts from Dr. Keizer's book were truly d...

2007-04-03T13:56:00.000-07:00

Those excerpts from Dr. Keizer's book were truly disturbing.

Before 9/11 I was against the DP. I have wrestled ...

2007-04-03T09:20:00.000-07:00

Before 9/11 I was against the DP. I have wrestled with the issue afterwards.

But that issue isn't about intrinsic value of these prisoners as human beings, but the proper punishment for the worst behavior of criminals. For example, I would oppose using condemned prisoners as research subjects--a desire of Kevorkian, by the way.

"Those we would kill, we must first dehumanize—or ...

2007-04-03T06:36:00.000-07:00

"Those we would kill, we must first dehumanize—or at least, we must divorce ourselves from their humanity."

So Wesley, does this mean you are against the death penalty?

Similarly, wouldn't the death penalty be the first step on the slippery slope of all the evils you abhor?

This from a reader of the article: "It does not fo...

2007-04-02T17:02:00.000-07:00

This from a reader of the article: "It does not follow that one man's account of his apparent (assuming Mr. Smith's extracts are truly reflective of the whole book) practices indicts a whole movement."

Even under "choice" ideals, the guy clearly was am...

2007-04-02T17:00:00.000-07:00

Even under "choice" ideals, the guy clearly was ambivalent and the pressure from Keizer/vicar was in one direction.

Those quotataions from Keizer's book are horrifyin...

2007-04-02T16:52:00.000-07:00

Those quotataions from Keizer's book are horrifying. The one where he sends the guy to the vicar. Then the vicar tells him, "It's okay. He knows what has to be done. He knows what he wants." What "has to be done"? So the vicar has made the patient feel that what has to be done is that he has to die. Some vicar.

As a Christian, it's my position that these guys are seriously endangering their own souls, even if they don't think they have them. The vicar, especially.