Brittany Maynard and the "right" to die.

She's brought the "right to die" argument onto the front burner for many folks. Paradoxically, by refusing to kill herself as originally planned she has become an asset for those of us who oppose suicide.

Who'd a thunk it?

May God forbid any one of us suffer from a long painful fatal illness, but IMHO there may be an obligation for such folks to live as long as reasonably possible so that others may actually benefit from their suffering.

I realize that last paragraph sounds like crap. Let me try to elaborate.

My three children all fall onto the autism spectrum. It sucks. I worry constantly about their future lives. Yet in dealing with them and their conditions I've had to change for the better. I've had to become more loving, patient, understanding and tougher in ways I'd not have ever conceived. It happens. Would the same have occurred if my three kids had all been "normal" (whatever in hell THAT is!)? I really can't say.

But their autism has forced me to grow.

So perhaps anyone with a condition like Miss Maynard's would unintentionally bring about similar changes in those close to her. Hell, I don't know. I'm just a fat old sub sailor with too much time on his hands and a computer to play with.

But I don't see anything positive about suicide. Period. It's just a bit too final for my tastes and denies any possibility of God's actions in our lives.

God's will be done, may He have mercy upon us all.

UPDATE: Evidently she's killed herself. May God have mercy on her soul.

Proponents of the "right to die" will undoubtedly cast her in a heroic role. Nuts. For some reason I'm reminded of the Gore Vidal novel, "Messiah" where the founder of a cult that glorifies death is killed off by his followers. Don't ask me why, its a thought that just drifted through my mind.

UPDATE 2: I realize now why that particular novel came to mind. In the final pages the founder of the cult changes his mind about dying. Since the perpetuation of the new religion depends on the founder's death, which provides a poster child for the cause, his followers very enthusiastically put him down. He becomes the face of the faith, similar to Christ on a crucifix.

In much the same manner the "right to die" crowd now have their poster child, i.e. a young, attractive, middle class white woman. Take away any of those attributes and the effectiveness of the PR campaign diminishes.

What is striking to me is the fact that just a few days ago Brittany Maynard had expressed a change of heart. How does one flip flop on such a serious decision; it isn't like she decided something trivial such as wearing the brown shoes instead of the black. I wonder if the advocates of euthanasia brought some pressure to bear on her? No, I don't think they actually put her down against her wishes. But I wonder if they began cajoling her to revert to the original pro-death stance she had. We'll probably never know.

In any event, the euthanasia crowd now has their poster child. Again, may God rest her soul.