On (12 Sep 06) Cindy Haglund wrote to George Pope...
 CH> When people say: "It's ONLY a dog" I want to scream! What does that
 CH> mean? ONLY ?? ONLY??????? ONLY?

I'd say it means, "Fellow people are of more importance than other
species, when it comes to a choice between the two."

 CH> Human beings in general seem to think they value all life, but theirs
 CH> is the most valuable.....

Your dog feels much the same way!

 CH> I realize this is to avoid hanky panky but then again it seems absurd!
 CH> You have to be put on a machine to keep you going until even that
 CH> fails? Even against your will? Why? Is that valuing life? I don't
 CH> think so! It's torturing the hell out of it.

There c;n be a middle ground, I think -- I don't want to have greedy
heirs signing me in on a DNR order, then choke on a meatball at dinner
ank  fall to the floor, gasping and waving for help, only to have the
nurse, ever-so-solicitously, put a pillow under my head while I
preventably expire ("comfort measures only") :P

I'd rather be on a machine too long than too short!

It'll keep my organs/etc. nice & fresh for when my brain DOES die, and
this will save many more lives and/or make them more worth living. . .

But allow me the dignity of every last chance at lift at all possible
either now, or in the next medical technology breakthrough which could
come while I'm ventilated/etc. . .

 CH> I read somewhere and I know you'll correct me and that is okay: but
 CH> there are SOME people who think Humans are MEANT to suffer because
 CH> suffering is what earns you a place in heaven.
 CH>
 CH> This is b.s. to me.... but um the view is there.

It is BS! Definitely!

Life is THIS life, for the living, to make the most of it we can, with
what we've received as our allotment of opportunities. . .

To sacrifice THIS life for the next is just plain foolishness, and I
know God agrees with this, too, because God made THIS life!

And let's say that this life is like a caterpillar and only the prelude
to becoming a butterfly(the REAL goal); even then, the better the life
the caterpillar has, the healthier the butterfly will be!

I was given THIS life -- I can look around and SEE this one -- I'm going
to appreciate the gift and enjoy it while I can in the short time
alloted to me!  The next life?  If it comes, great -- if not, I'll still
have done my best here & now!

Because I care,
|<+]::-)  (Cyberpope(the Bishop of ROM!))

--- PPoint 1.76