---In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, <sharelong60@...> wrote:
Seraphita, I support gay marriage and I don't feel emotionally blackmailed by
the guy who's starving himself to death to protest it. IMO emotional blackmail
occurs when there is a personal relationship between the people involved.
To some degree, I agree with you. Emotional blackmail is the threat of
something, like saying you will commit suicide or, in this case, starve
yourself to death if someone doesn't comply with some demand you are making, or
change something that you want changed. It is a sort of brinkmanship in the
worst sense of the word but I can't say I would go so far as Seraphita in
saying they should be allowed to die. I don't think it is that simple and I
actually believe some causes are worth dying for, but not necessarily in that
way. Because to threaten to kill oneself if something doesn't change in the way
the threatener wants, is to put the onus on the one who doesn't change this
thing. To die fighting for a cause is different; one consciously undertakes
some action, without putting any onus or responsibility on others if one were
to die, in order to uphold a principal or belief one feels strongly about.
Presumably if they die upholding it they are not going to blame anyone else for
their choice to have put their life on the line.
In the US suffragettes jailed for their beliefs went on hunger strikes and were
force fed as a result. Would you say you support such action?
On Sunday, January 5, 2014 6:09 PM, "s3raphita@..." <s3raphita@...> wrote:
People who starve themselves to make a political point should be ignored and
allowed to die.
I detest people who use emotional blackmail to get their points across. We
were given the gift of rationality so let's use it. Give me reasons why
Position X is preferable to Position Y and I'll either agree with you or offer
counter-arguments. The only possible situation in which the threat of
self-starvation is (maybe) justified is one in which the state doesn't allow
people free expression of their views. That doesn't apply in the UK or USA.