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Murderers or saviors? This is the story of 4 people who have found themselves on the opposite side of the law after their group was accused of facilitating the death of a suffering patient.

The group, known as Final Exit Network, helps terminally ill and suffering patients to end their lives peacefully and with dignity. No physical assistance is provided, instead the patients are given group support and guidance on how to end their own lives as painlessly as possible.

I don't know these people nor have I any knowledge of their motives. All I know is that on the surface their work on suicide guidance is nothing but admirable. They have had the courage to defy cruel and sadistic laws and help people end their pain and suffering. If they have flouted the so-called divine (superstitious) laws, so be it.

The state should have no business meddling in people's lives and their private decisions, specifically those who are obviously in such great pain. Nor should they be punishing those who only give guidance on suicide. It's one thing to intercede when a jilted teenager wants to commit suicide on a whim. It's an entirely different matter when a terminally ill patient in great pain wants to die in peace and dignity.

A message to the anti-euthanasia crusaders: You want to live till your last breath, that's your decision and I respect that. I want to die on my own terms. Leave it at that and do something positive, like perhaps donate to a cause for curing cancer.

suicide,euthanasia,assisted suicide

For centuries religion has used various natural events and objects as proof of god. The Sun, the rain, storms, plants, and the stars have been essential tools in justifying the existence of god. But as science has progressed and has been able to provide answers for many tangible matters, religion has shifted its argument to the metaphysical, mainly the question of morality. The crux of the argument is that without an originator, morality could not have come to existence. In other words there is a supernatural force that guides us towards being moral and ethical, and that force is god.

Indeed science is currently impotent to link morality with molecules and atoms, but one can argue that morality is the result of accumulated human experiences and a need for perfection. Centuries of human development has taught people that societies can better function based on certain rules and one can sum up such rules as morality.

If god is responsible for morality, why would he dictate such behavior only in the last few millennium? And why is it that the rules of morality differ so much is various societies today? Many indigenous people around the world walk around with no clothes on. Polygamy is still widely practiced around the world. Stoning and severing limbs or heads happens in many places for even minor offences. Some consider these immoral, while others do not. And if god is the origin for everything, shouldn't he be considered as the originator of immorality as well? Isn't he the creator of Satan after all? Isn't god directly responsible for death and destruction and natural disasters and famine and disease?

It seems hard to believe that without god moral people would suddenly turn into rampaging criminals, that they would abruptly turn into thieves, rapists, and murderers. I think most of us try to be good because generations of built-up experiences have taught us that civility gives much more favorable returns than chaos and anarchy.

If morality is pre-programmed by a supreme being with no alternatives, then what value can be placed on forced virtue? And what good is morality if only practiced out of fear? To quote Albert Einstein, "If people are good only because they fear punishment, and hope for reward, then we are a sorry lot indeed."

god,religion,morality