This is one of those things that tend to come up quite often, especially when you’re getting into discussions on abortion and suicide, stuff of that nature. There are a lot of people, not just the religious although that tends to be where a lot of this comes from, who seem to think that their own personal discomfort at an idea somehow allows them to force those who engage in things they don’t like to stop.

And no, that’s not how any of this works.This popped up not too long ago on a Reddit forum where someone, I’m suspecting it was a theist as this was in an “ask an atheist” forum, who asked if atheists would stop someone they knew from trying to commit suicide.

100% of the atheists who responded said no. Your feelings don’t give you power over someone else’s life. If they no longer want to live, it’s their decision to make, not mine. It depends on the circumstances certainly, but so long as there is no detectable mental illness or short-term emotional distress involved, if someone wants to off themselves, it’s their life and they should have complete power over it.

It reminds me of the case of Brittany Maynard, who had terminal cancer and was facing a miserable existence until she died painfully. She didn’t want to live like that, but her case turned into a national spectacle because she wanted something a lot of people said she shouldn’t be able to do because it made them personally uncomfortable. Well screw those people.

Death with dignity is important. It’s why I have a living will that requires that should I either suffer permanent brain damage, or should my body ever be rendered inoperable and be kept alive only by machines, every plug you can find to pull, the doctors are required to pull. Hell, go down the hall and pull some more plugs if you can find any. I do not want to live under those conditions.

The reason I think it was a theist is because they made some complaints based solely on emotions and then simply stopped responding when no one reciprocated and that tends to be a pretty clear sign of what’s going on, but it really doesn’t matter if it was or not. Anyone of any persuasion who gets emotionally bothered by something someone else is doing, they do not have the right to stop them unless another individual is put in danger by those actions. It’s none of your business. None whatsoever.

I’m sorry to burst your emotional bubble, but you don’t get to redefine your terms to claim that anyone who even considers suicide, they must be mentally ill, thus they can’t be permitted to do so. It’s not your life nor your decision. The idea that anyone who doesn’t want what you want, who doesn’t fear death the way far too many do, that there has to be something wrong with them and they therefore must be beaten into submission until they comply, that is beyond sick.

But we live in a sick world these days, don’t we? It’s really a shame.