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Beasts of Burden
It could never happen here. Genocide, ethnic cleansing, slavery, segregation, these are moral failings of lesser cultures. While we in the West may have once indulged in such behavior, we've evolved beyond such things. We're too civilized, too enlightened by reason to ever again succumb. Or so we like to think. Maybe we should think again. From the Netherlands, once the epitome of civilized tolerance, comes the revelation that one of the country's top hospitals, with the blessing of the Dutch judicial authorities, has been conducting a sort of medico-legal experiment in neonatal euthanasia. And at one of the most prestigious universities in our own civilized States, the man considered by some the most influential living philosopher, teaches that those neonates are less deserving of our concern than animals. At first glance, a few Dutch mercy killings and the academic musings of philosopher seem far removed from the crimes against humanity that occur in less "enlightened" corners of the world. The intent of the Dutch, after all, is to eliminate suffering, not to cause it. And philosopher/ethicist Peter Singer doesn't advocate genocide, slavery, or segregation -- he simply believes that our moral compass should be guided by utilitarian principles, not religious ones. But on further inspection, there is a commonality between the Dutch, the Princeton professor, the Sudanese, the Serbs, and everyone who would subjugate others. That commonality is the subjective judgment that some lives are less worthy than others. Posted by: tipper 2004-12-09 |
| http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=50821 |