A look at the news - Loris S. Musumeci
Ten nights ago today, Mr. «O.» took his own life in the solitude of his home. He said he was «tired of living». Suicide is dark and dramatic. There is nothing more horrifying than to lose one's body, looking at it wrinkled and marked by a life that has never ceased. It's always the first time you die. Witnessing the last moment of existence, one's own existence, gives one the thrill of novelty, of greatness, of the end. The ultimate thrill: useless, forgotten, dead.
Mr. O. was, however, a victim. His hostile brothers, Bernard and Claude, as well as the unjust Geneva justice system, had opposed his desire to leave peacefully. Even though the Exit association had proposed the ideal solution: a joyful accompanied suicide. What was wrong with respecting the individual choice of a simple, normal man? We're constantly appealing to the most holy freedom to lead a happy life. But when it comes to breathing out the breath of pain and discomfort once and for all, freedom is no longer a consideration. Worse still, when such corruption has its tragic source in justice and the family. Here we see a second suicide, that of compassion.
The case, at the heart of the news, arouses the most passionate debate. Mr. O.'s death was scheduled for October 19 of this year. Mr. O. was in good health, but his two brothers refused to administer the poison, despite his wishes as expressed to Exit. They went all the way to court to fight the absurd situation. Their brother wanted to die, at the age of 82, because he was unable to get over the death of his partner two years ago. RTS also took an interest in the case, devoting a debate to it on October 26 in the television program Infrared. At the time, the court was in the middle of a discussion. Before a verdict could be passed, Mr. O. took his own life.
This Janus of indignation is two-faced. On the one hand, the Exit association accused the opponents of suicide of having killed the opportunity for a dignified and peaceful assisted death. On the other, Mr. O.'s two brothers have lodged an additional criminal complaint against Pierre Beck, the organization's vice-president, for incitement to suicide. In a L'Illustré November 2, that he was certain his patient was going to commit suicide anyway.
Who is responsible for such a situation? Mr. O., without a shadow of a doubt. He was the one who wanted to die, the one who committed suicide. But who's to blame? Exit, unfortunately. The devious organization has played into the hands of a weakling, again and again. It subsists on this, forgive it. Last April, the deceased, psychologically fragile due to his age and the loss of his girlfriend, sent Exit a letter asking for help and asking to die, and the kindly, oblivious doctors, including Mr. Beck, simply acquiesced. Obviously, if someone wants to die, we might as well help them! In the name of what? «compassion». By what right? «Freedom».
Shame. Exit's profound error in confusing life and death. Exit's extreme stupidity in attributing to death what is supposed to allow hope and the desire to live.
My cry is violent; my grief, bitter. But I can't afford any sentimentality. Although my guts are called into the matter, folly would be even more wrong than the administration of suicide. The outright condemnation of the people working for Exit would be unacceptable. They are committed and want to help the suffering. Their attitude is noble and praiseworthy. What I firmly accuse is the manner, clumsy and untrue to the core. For this reason, I offer my apologies to those who may be offended by this article. The fact remains that the duty to speak here takes precedence over the discretion of silence.
Without falling into the classic «pro-life» rhetoric that likes to sing at the top of its lungs that life is sacred, it's worth explaining the harm of suicide assistance.
We don't have the right to commit suicide. We're not free to do so. We can, however, and the sad evidence of this continues to roll in daily. Freedom is in the service of life. It serves happiness. If intelligence desires the true good, freedom realizes it. And true good is experienced, lived. It does not exist outside of life. To want to die is not to be free, because death, though natural, is not good. It's normal to die, but it's not right. Death is the deprivation of life, and therefore of good.
What about compassion? Its Latin etymology means «to suffer with». How can you just «suffer with» if you're offering to make the sufferer disappear? Suffering must be overcome, but living is an essential condition for this to be possible. In the name of compassion, we liquidate the sufferer. The fault lies in the level of value given to the life of the human being, because in reality, there is not even the possibility of making a value judgment about the person. As an «individual substance of a rational nature», according to Boethius' definition, the person is worth something in itself. He has a complete value because of the compound of spiritual soul and matter that he is. In this sense, there's no need to ask whether life is worth living or not. This is where human dignity, inviolable and intrinsic to the individual, comes into play. Life, which retains its value against all odds, is not like a condom to be discarded once the orgasm of a sweet youthful relationship has passed.
Exit is a nihilistic illusion.
This plea would be meaningless if it were not a tribute to Mr. O. and to all those who have torn themselves out of existence. True compassion, listening and unconditional love are the difficult answer to suicide.
May you, O my Queen Hope, abide in everyone, whatever the impasse or anguish. For without you, there is tragedy.
Write to the author : loris.musumeci@leregardlibre.com
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