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Will the Circle Be Unbroken?
Here's a favorite song of mine. It is very old-fashioned -- classic bluegrass. My classmates and I were taught the song in college by a professor. Both versions have multiple musicians.
This is another version -- a medley:
In high school I wrote a paper on medical ethics, specifically euthanasia and physician-assisted suicide in our society today. A book that I read that helped me with my research was "First, Do No Harm" by Lisa Belkin. It recorded the lives of doctors and staff that dealt with a number of death related issues in a major metropolitan hospital in Houston, TX. It told a lot about the multiple levels of hospital staff that are involved when a person is put on and taken off of life support. This includes not only physicians and nurses but also business staff, chaplains, etc.
ReplyDeleteLast semester i took Christian Morality with Father Ketteler, and we spent much of the class talking about euthanasia and physician-assisted suicide. We also read many articles from the Catholic Conference of Kentucky about the immoralities of such medical practices. I still believe that there is a specific situation where such treatments may be beneficial, but it really is a fine line to walk down.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Dave last semester i took Bio-medical ethics and we discussed this in a fair amount of detail in regards to Physician- assisted suicide. I honestly have never felt comfortable talking about it in the first place because yes if a person is suffering from some chronic and incurable disease that causes them pain on a daily basis then maybe a treatment of this kind may be beneficial. Honestly is all completely dependent on the situation, but as dave has stated already its a fine line to walk across.
DeleteOff the top of my head, the movie "The Grey", which stars Liam Neeson in it, reflects on the issue of death and how to value one's life in the face of it, and in a sense, why an attempt to survive is worth it even in the face of inevitable death.
ReplyDeleteI agree, and it was a very good movie.
DeleteMetallica's "One" is a different perspective of someone who wishes to die.... a view of a wounded soldier who is blind, deaf, has no limbs, his thoughts are portrayed throughout the song.
ReplyDeleteWatching the movie "The Patriot" how it is about the revolutionary war, it portrays the will of the citizens to fight for their rights and freedom. They fight even when they are out numbered, and you even see old men who have been wounded do what they can to help. This shows that even when people are on the brink of death, or facing death, they can find enough courage to stand and fight, and in a way accept death.
ReplyDeleteI finally watched the finale of American Horror Story: Coven. And... SPOILER ALERT... Jessica Lange's character dies after being eaten up by cancer. She goes to her daughter and admits that she doesn't know how to die. And the daughter tells her that it's something she has to do alone... she has to accept all of the pain & the fear and then let it go. And once the mother does this, she dies. To me, it was really representative of the process. How patients are able to hold on for so long and through so much is simply astounding. But once they come to a place of acceptance and peace, they are able to let go. It kind of reminded me of one of the patients in the Frontline report we watched - the gentleman who refused to accept that he was dying. Then, once he was able to let go, he died in hospice shortly after.
ReplyDeleteKid Cudi's The Prayer is about someone who is prepared to die so they make sure they live life like they die tomorrow.
ReplyDeleteOn the topic of songs, Rise Against's song Rumors of My Demise Have Been Greatly Exaggerated (long title, I know) is very focused on worries about death and life, very in tune with concerns about the finite nature of our choices and decisions affected by death. Very existentialist.
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