MODERATION IN ALL THINGS, NOT

As our masthead proclaims, we are advocates of moderation in all things. However, there are a number of moral and ethical areas where moderate seems cowardly. From England comes the sad report of a 23 year old student athelete, a rugby player, who was so distraught after a paralyzing accident that he persuaded his parents to take him to the quintessential moderate country of Switzerland for the purpose of finding a legal, if not ethical, venue to assist the young man in ending his life. Switzerland is one of a handful of European countries were assisted suicide is legal. The others are the Netherlands, Belgium, and Luxembourg, all countries with lengthy histories of never taking sides in disputes.

Daniel James, an all star rugby player was injured when a “scrum”, that group hug thing the players do when restarting a play in rugby, collapsed on top of him, resulting in the young man being paralyzed from the chest down. As tragic is such an injury, James was by all reports an intelligent, well educated young man whose main was not physical but emotional and mental. Most people we know feel empathetic toward those people with illnesses or injuries that leave them in extreme physical pain or in a persistent vegetative state, even if they are ambivalent toward assisted suicide. As parents, we can appreciate the pain of young James’ parents. The serious injury or death of a child of any age is tragedy that is every parent’s worst nightmare.

We have had the unwanted experience of family members incapacitated by illness and the loss of a child before his time and it has left us with this belief. Life is not ours to take. We grew up in the company of wheelchair-bound family members and have a current family member who has been confined to her bed for over 20 years. It is true that we would prefer that these loved ones not be so challenged, but we love them and our lives would be diminished without them. There is no middle ground on this one nor any response, except this, Mr. and Mrs. James, we mourn your loss.