15 September, 2009

If laying down your life for another is selfless. If 'greater love hath no man than this', then, is it rendered a selfish act if the person dying in the place of someone else wanted to end their own life anyway?
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4 comments:

Anonymous said...

"Greater love hath no man..." is about sacrifice. Its not sacrifice if you don't lose something important or meaningful to you. If you wanted to end your own life, then presumably it has no value to you, and thus isn't a sacrifice.

You could argue that its a nice bonus if you were going to take your own life and someone benefited from it, but its still your motivation that makes it selfish or not.

That said, I'm not sure how many genuinely want to end their own life. I have no facts or numbers to back it up, but I'd suspect most people that suicide do so out of despair, honestly believing they have no other options. So perhaps at the moment they choose to lay down their life for another its actually some sort of redemption, giving their life worth once more?

This all feels very academic though. Who can say what goes through a person's mind the moment before they die?

some girl said...

Interesting points...
It is all very academic, I feel like I should be in a philosophy class...
Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm.

some girl said...

What is the greatest love, then, for a person that doesn't value their life, or is suicidal? Is staying alive for someone else the greatest thing for them to do?

Anonymous said...

Can you really truly love (ie 1 Cor 13) if you're completely inwardly focused? And can you be suicidal and/or believe your life has no value without being consumed by self-pity and despair?