I didn't intend to start such a firestorm. (smile)
Isaac Asimov was both Jewish and an atheist, so I don't think
that he was looking forward to heaven after dying.
The business about accepting death was somewhat of a personal
statement. (And I am 50, so you can't pin the young person accepting
death for an older person on me.)
I still think that Americans are too quick to sue when
honest "mistakes" are made. No one is perfect. And in this case,
the villantry is too wide-spread.
His doctor would have been wrong NOT to order a transfusion to save a
dying man.
There was no test for AIDS at that time. I blame the blood centers
for not making that fact known, but knowing that fact would not have
saved him.
Whoever donated was wrong to donate, but s/he might not have known of
the illness.
This isn't a case where an instrument was left in the patient's gut
by a drunk doctor.
--- In SciFiNoir_Lit@yahoogroups.com, "Carole McDonnell"
<[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
>
> I wasn't talking about acceptance of death actually.
>
> My point was specifically about whether Person A could say that
> Persom B would or should be pragmatic about the end of Person B's
> life.
>
> It's the "someone else" factor.
>
> As for wanting to die, I'm sure many people have accepted death.
And
> some have raged against the dying of the light. But I suspect that
> when someone has written many stories and probably wants to write
> many more, they would be a bit stressed to suddenly be told that
they
> really have lived a long life. Again it's the "someone else"
judging
> the worth of another person's life. And judging it by the year
factor.
>
> This is not about whether accepting the afterlife in a positive
> manner. I personally would like nothing better than to die and go
to
> heaven and be with Christ, but isn't that the point? That we cannot
> use ageism to say "well this person has lived a long life." So I've
> accepted the joys of after-death. It wasn't death I had the problem
> with but with people thinking that once a person -- productive or
not-
> - has reached a certain age, then life doesn't matter to them
> anymore. The young hate life sometimes -- as I often do. And the
old
> love it. Or they fear death and resent it when it comes. Age and
> should not be the decisive factor about whether one should sue in a
> wrongful death case. Nor for that matter should that other vague
> bugaboo "quality of life" be judged by someone else.
>
> We don't want a fascist world ruled by young people who think that
> old people should be rational and positively go gently into that
good
> night just because the old person is ...old. -C
>
>
> --- In SciFiNoir_Lit@yahoogroups.com, Nora <njem@> wrote:
> >
> > > No matter how long and productive one's life is, one doesn't
want
> to
> > > die. Life is always too short for those who have had productive
> lives.
> > > Now if he were a depressive and was in some ways always longing
> for
> > > death...now that's a different story. But you can't say that
> someone
> > > should be pragmatic about the length of his life when he's been
> given a
> > > death sentence.
> >
> > I'm not sure I agree with that, Carole. Not to debate theology
> with you --
> > you'd win hands-down =) -- but I see no reason why a person can't
> come to an
> > acceptance of death, or even a positive outlook on it,
particularly
> if they
> > believe there's something to look forward to afterward. Isn't
that
> the one
> > commonality of every faith -- that it provides some comfort for
the
> fear of
> > death? I feel no fear of death at this point in my life, and I'm
> only in my
> > thirties. I'm not suicidal; I want to enjoy my life while it
> lasts, and
> > accomplish quite a bit more along the way. I *am* afraid of
dying
> badly --
> > something very painful or humiliating (yes, I expect to retain
some
> vanity
> > even unto death =P) for example. But once the messy part is over
> with, I
> > have to admit I'm really curious to find out what comes after. I
> can't help
> > it. I'll never get into space or live half of the adventures
that
> I write
> > about in my novels, but death is the one great mystery we'll all
> get to
> > experience. If Asimov felt anything similar, then I see no
reason
> why he
> > would have been angry about his death even if it was hastened by
a
> mistake.
> >
> > (Now, if I get hit by a bus on my way home ya'll, somebody send
> this email
> > to my mama. =P)
> >
> > Nora
> >
>
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