Writing a literature review paper
Good Lens Essay Topics
Sunday, August 23, 2020
Friday, August 21, 2020
Contrasting Fortinbras and Laertes with Hamlet Essay -- comparison com
à à â In William Shakespeare's catastrophe Hamlet, Laertes, Fortinbras and Hamlet wind up in comparative situations.â While Hamlet trusts that the ideal time will retaliate for his dad's passing, Laertes learns of his dad's demise and promptly needs retribution, and Fortinbras anticipates his opportunity to recover land that used to have a place with his father.â Laertes and Fortinbras approach achieving their wants uniquely in contrast to Hamlet.â While Hamlet acts gradually and cautiously, Laertes and Fortinbras look for their vengeance with scramble. In spite of the fact that Laertes and Fortinbras are minor characters, Shakespeare molds them so as to appear differently in relation to Hamlet.â Fortinbras and, to a more prominent degree, Laertes go about as foils to Hamlet regarding their thought processes in retribution, execution of their arrangements and conduct while completing their arrangements. à à â â â â â â â â â â Although each character plots to retaliate for his dad in the play, the thought processes of Laertes and Fortinbras vary enormously than that of Hamlet.â Fortinbras, who plans to remake his dad's realm, drives a huge number of men into fight, endeavoring to catch a little and useless bit of Poland. After his uncle cautioned him against assaulting Denmark.â The additional land will do little to profit Norway's flourishing, yet this crusade may cost 2,000 spirits and twenty thousand ducats (4.4.26) .à This shows pride is a driving element behind Fortinbras' arrangement since he is eager to put the lives of his comrades in danger for an insignificant gain.â Laertes, then again, is constrained to look for vengeance since he loses his dad and in the long run his sister.â The base of Laertes' retribution has all the earmarks of being the affection for his family since he announces that he will be vindicated/most throughly for [his] father (4.5... ...side Shakespeare. Ed. G. Blakemore Evans. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Co., 1974. à Mack, Maynard. The World of Hamlet. Yale Review. vol. 41 (1952) p. 502-23. Rpt. in Shakespeare: Modern Essays in Criticism. Fire up. ed. Ed. Leonard F. Dignitary. New York: Oxford University P., 1967. à Rosenberg, Marvin. Laertes: An Impulsive however Earnest Young Aristocrat. Readings on Hamlet. Ed. Wear Nardo. San Diego: Greenhaven Press, 1999. Rpt. from The Masks of Hamlet. Newark, NJ: Univ. of Delaware P., 1992. à Shakespeare, William. The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark. Massachusetts Institute of Technology. 1995. http://www.chemicool.com/Shakespeare/village/full.html à Ward and Trent, et al. The Cambridge History of English and American Literature. New York: G.P. Putnam's Sons, 1907-21; New York: Bartleby.com, 2000 http://www.bartleby.com/215/0816.html Ã
Sunday, July 12, 2020
Genre Kryptonite Books About Libraries
Genre Kryptonite Books About Libraries This is a guest post from Jonathan Streeter. Jonathan is a husband, the father of three young children, and an English teacher and tennis coach at his local Tampa high school. He blames his premature grey hair on all of the above and enjoys skiing, comic books and coffee. He has a B.A. in English from the University of South Florida, is pursuing a masterâs degree in English Education and his work, a contemporary look at the fairy tale rendered in Crayola, adorns the walls of his daughterâs room. He spends his spare time split between lamenting his lack of free time and reading under the guise of grading papers. A trait I share in common with many an amateur bibliophile, literature aficionado and yes, Iâll say it, nerds, is my appreciation of books about books. I guess that after coming to terms with the crushing fact that Iâll never get a chance to read everything, Iâve subconsciously settled for the next best thing, and instead of reading all of the classics, Iâve settled for reading about them. So, after happily devouring the usual culprits from Nicholas Basbanes, Harold Bloom, and Thomas C. Foster, I realized that even this Cliffs Notes-inspired attempt was doomed to fail. Each great novel seemed to beget a dozen books of analysis, commentary, and criticism. My shortcut through the library had become a meandering and often circuitous quest as I often found myself reading the original classics anyway. It was Anne Fadiman who provided the stimulus for my escape, and after reading her essay in Ex Libris on the heartbreak she experienced at having to combine her library with that of her equally literate husband, I stumbled upon an answer. Why read about the classics individually when instead I can read about them collectively? Why read books about books when I could read books about entire libraries? To set the record straight and hopefully prevent indictment from librarians and scholars of library science, I wasnât after historically accurate, non-fictional fare. Instead, I looked for books that embodied the emotional resonance of the library, work that conjured the same aesthetic of literary appreciation and devotional reverence to the classics that I had always hoped to garnish by reading about them in the first place. With this in mind here are some of the standouts: The Library at Night by Alberto Manguel From Alexandria to the internet, Alberto Manguel discusses libraries throughout the ages in a quest to distill the essence of the word down to its truest form. The depth of investigation presented by Manguel is unbelievable and often transcends the physical confines of the library to explore the lives of the people who created, tended and died for the cause, to contemplate imaginary libraries or to comment on oral libraries now lost forever. The Name of the Rose by Umberto Eco and Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon These two historical murder mysteries are similar in their use of hidden, labyrinthine libraries at the center of their equally intricate plotlines. Both describe books worth killing for in imagery-rich prose, and the former boasts a movie starring Sean Connery. Snow Crash by Neal Stephenson Although this feels like cheating, the virtual librarian that aids Hiro Protagonist in this science fiction epic deserves a nod on a list of this nature. Having millions of books in his âitsâ memory banks, he is more than capable of helping our hiro in his quest to understand and combat a âlinguistic virusâ that stems from the creation of civilazation and reaches forward all the way to a dystopian future that eerily resembles our own. Sign up to Unusual Suspects to receive news and recommendations for mystery/thriller readers. Thank you for signing up! Keep an eye on your inbox.
Wednesday, May 20, 2020
Essay on Why Marijuana Should Not be Legalized - 1595 Words
Legalization or decriminalization of marijuana is opposed by a vast majority of Americanââ¬â¢s and people around the world. Leaders in Marijuana prevention, education, treatment, and law enforcement adamantly oppose the substance, as do many political leaders. However, pro-drug advocacy groups, who support the use of illegal drugs, are making headlines. They are influencing decision making thru legislation and having a significant impact on the national policy debate here in the United States and in other countries. The National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML) is the oldest drug user lobby in the U.S. It has strong ties to the Libertarian party, the Drug Policy Foundation, and the American Civil Liberties Union.â⬠¦show more contentâ⬠¦However, in the early 1980s various states outlawed decriminalization despite marijuana activists having tired to not criminalize the use and possession of marijuana. Research has shown various physical effects of m arijuana on the body. Marijuana is considered to relieve pain, nausea, vomiting, and loss of appetite. But, its use does impair memory and cause depression. There are also many social effects of marijuana on society. Some of the social problems of not prohibiting the drug are that its use decreases productivity and cause uncontrollable aggression. Most importantly, marijuana has a large impact on motivation and is easily attainable. People can easily cross-state borders and manage to bring marijuana back to state of residence. All of the legal, physical and social aspects of not legalization marijuana can affect the society in a big manner based on moral grounds. The legal aspects or laws associated with the use and possession of marijuana is very controversial but not legalizing this drug holds good position on moral grounds. Some people view punishments as inappropriate and legalizing marijuana would send the wrong message to the public. On the other hand, many people p refer to maintain the status of decreasing the harm in society in an attempt to create a drug free America. Before the 1900s, marijuana wasShow MoreRelatedWhy Marijuana Should Be Legalized1014 Words à |à 5 Pagesreason that marijuana should be legal is that there is no good reason for it not to be legal. Some people ask why should marijuana be legalized? but we should ask Why should marijuana be illegal? From a philosophical point of view, individuals deserve the right to make choices for themselves. The government only has a right to limit those choices if the individuals actions endanger someone else. This does not apply to marijuana, since the individual who chooses to use marijuana does so accordingRead MoreWhy Marijuana Should be Legalized1510 Words à |à 7 Pages12 16 January 2015 Why Marijuana should be legalized Multiple studies have found that marijuana is less harmful than alcohol and tobacco yet somehow is still considered a schedule 1 drug along with other more extreme drugs such as heroin. Marijuana is the leaves and shredded flowers of hemp plant called Cannabis sativa which is usually a green or gray mixture. Marijuana can be not only smoked in the form a joint, blunt, bowl, bong, etc but can also be eaten. Uses of marijuana can be medically orRead MoreWhy Medical Marijuana Should Be Legalized1245 Words à |à 5 PagesWhy Medical Marijuana should be legalized all over all the United States. In todayââ¬â¢s society, debates regarding legalizing Medical Marijuana occur frequently. The discussions arise in almost every state. Both sides bring solid arguments; however, opponents of the approval are facing the fact, which is very hard to ignore. Medical Marijuana has proven to cure people with life-threatening diseases much more effectively than official treatments; to have second-to-none side effects; and to be aRead MoreWhy Marijuana Should Be Legalized Essay1605 Words à |à 7 PagesCannabis II. The History of Marijuana III. The Prohibition IV. Economic Benefits of Legalizing Marijuana V. The Medical Benefits of Marijuana VI. Marijuana vs. Alcohol and Tobacco VII. Marijuana Stimulates Creativity and Brain Cell Growth VIII. Conclusion Should marijuana be legalized for recreational and medical purposes? Thesis: Since marijuana is not harshly dangerous to oneââ¬â¢s health nor is it a hard narcotic, it should be legalized to promote a positive society. Read MoreWhy Marijuana Should be Legalized Essay622 Words à |à 3 Pagesyears ago and perhaps even more than 12,000 years ago. It is considered by many to be one of the most resourceful crops on earth. It can be used for industrial, medical, and recreational purposes. Rather than waging war on marijuana users, this resourceful crop should be legalized and utilized. nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;The cannabis sativa plant produces more protein, oil, and fiber than any other plant on earth. In fact, it can be used to produce more than 5,000 textile products ranging from ropeRead MoreWhy Marijuana Should Be Legalized Essay883 Words à |à 4 PagesWhy Marijuana Should Be Legalized Willie Nelson once said, ââ¬Å"I think people need to be educated to the fact that marijuana is not a drug. Marijuana is an herb and a flower. God put it here. If He put it here and He wants it to grow, what gives the government the right to say that God is wrong?â⬠Marijuana has been a plant for longer than any human has been alive. Civilizations have used marijuana for hundreds of years for hundreds of purposes. But ever since the 1970ââ¬â¢s when growing or havingRead MoreWhy Marijuana Should be Legalized Essay example1689 Words à |à 7 PagesDebate on why Marijuana should be legalized Marijuana is a public name for an illegal substance (drug) produced from the Cannabis (Cannabis sativa) plant. It is also called weed, ganja, grass, kaya and pot. The drug has many chemical compounds and in particular, it has THC (delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol) which is responsible for changing mind functions leading to alternations of cognition, mood, behavior, perception and consciousness. ââ¬Å"It is the most widely used illicit substance in the worldâ⬠(WorldRead MoreEssay about Why Marijuana Should Be Legalized1554 Words à |à 7 Pageserroneous. Early in the 1900s, a surge of Mexicans immigrated to the U.S., and the marijuana they brought with them was quickly associated with them. In the 1930s, tensions between white Americans and Mexican immigrants were heightened due to the Great Depression, and the use of marijuana was ultimately prohibited for the general public in 1937 with the Marijuana Tax Act (Marijuana Timeline). By the 1960s, marijuana became a symbol of count erculture, and the government stopped any research involvedRead MoreLegalization of medical marijuana at the federal law Essay1653 Words à |à 7 Pagesï » ¿ Why should marijuana be legalized? Marijuana can be argued for different reasons. In my case I will be arguing the medical purposes for legalizing marijuana. Marijuana has positive features, and how people prefer using marijuana. Marijuana helps individuals get through a variety of things that they suffer. Marijuana provides relief from pain, rather than other medications out there. Many individuals prefer marijuana over anything else to relax. An argument on why people using marijuana spendRead MoreLegalization Of Marijuan It Is A Criminal1470 Words à |à 6 Pagesago, CNN the world s most recognized news station. They were showing a story about how medical marijuana helped a three years old girl, who was suffering from a several epilepsy. From the story, this three year old girl could have a hundreds of seizures within a day. However, one day his father, who was a retired military, he made a research and found a good testimonies about how a medical marijuana helped these men, chi ldren, and women with the same condition as his daughter. Therefore, he decided
Wednesday, May 6, 2020
Homework Should Never Be Assigned to Students Essay
Imagine, sitting at your desk. Itââ¬â¢s 11:30 p.m., and the paper is peeling off your social studies poster. The numerous Spanish papers are spread across the messy floor. The research paper on George Washington is only half done. Your parents yell at you for being up way too late. Night after night, year after year, students deal with a tremendous amount of homework each night. Parents and children hope that homework, after studentsââ¬â¢ activities, will help children achieve academically. Yet, students spend hours on homework and find no academic achievement. Homework can cause a student to become stressed, or it can cause them to lose family time and sleep. A daily homework assignment is a non-beneficial way for students to be educated, and itâ⬠¦show more contentâ⬠¦Finally, some parents even agree that school is like a job. In other words, a teen will go to school for a seven hour workday, and then he or she will come home and work even longer. Generally, students ar e physically exhausted after their long day of work, and they would like to relax. However, homework ties them down like a job, and most days they have to work a ââ¬Å"double shiftââ¬â¢ to help them advance in their occupation as a student (Kohn). Teens should not have to think of school like a job. They have the rest of their lives to have a career. In short, homework can cause detrimental effects, such as stress, obesity, and motivation loss on a young students life. Second, an extensive amount of homework can decrease the amount of sleep a student receives. For instance, if a student stays up late then he or she will most likely be exhausted and will not pay attention during class. Students have a tendency not to start their homework until later in the evening after school activities or their jobs. Sometimes students do not finish their assignments until after midnight. (Suttor). Specifically, Craig Canapari, MD, came across a hardworking sixteen year old with sleep insomnia. He asked the patient what kept him from sleeping. The student said he was not finishing his homework until after midnight each night (Craig). The young teen is being deprived of the precious sleep he needs. Instead of a recommended nine hours ofShow MoreRelatedArgumentative Essay Homework1051 Words à |à 5 Pagesdebates on homework and to formulate policiesâ⬠(Letrendre 21). For over one hundred and fifty years students have been overwhelmed with homework. In the nin eteenth century, homework was not considered a problem and only high school students were given these out of school assignments. Today excess amount of homework are given to students, regardless of age. Author Kelly Wallace of ââ¬Å"Kids have three times too much homework, study finds; whatââ¬â¢s the cost?â⬠author Gerald K. LeTendre of ââ¬Å"Homework could haveRead MoreWhy Homework Should Not Be Assigned Essay1476 Words à |à 6 PagesHomework has dated back to the beginning of the American education system, and so has the debate of whether students should do homework or not. Over the years, there have been many different arguments as to why homework should or should not be assigned. Most of those arguments have almost always resulted in two main arguments, it takes too much time or it is a necessary supplement. Opinions on this subject has changed drastically over the years. This can be seen in the argument from Issues andRead MoreIs Homework a Burden or a Benefit?1 417 Words à |à 6 Pagesal Homework is Beneficial or Burden? Homework is defined as piece work done at home or an assignment given to students to be completed outside regular class work or preparatory reading or research for discussion. Homework is whether a burden or not that cannot be decided randomly. It may include the analysis of various factors that declares it as a burden and on the other hand a necessity. One of the factor, however is the teachers who assigns the homework as if the intensions are to burden studentsRead MoreA New Course Of Action998 Words à |à 4 Pagesfind out who you are. You never stop to think why your school is how it is. It is something just accepted by students, thinking the adults know what they are doing, and that it is in their best interest. Since starting public school in kindergarten through now, the rules and way things are done have changed very little. In stepping back and looking at the school system with a critical, but fresh view, the way the school systems are structured does not benefit students in the best way they couldRead MoreThe Effects Of Homework On Student Success1492 Words à |à 6 PagesAnother pro of homework is that it has been linked to higher student achievement. ââ¬Å"Duke University Professor Harris Cooper and his research team identified 35 studies that found a positive correlation between homework and achievement, but only after elementary schoolâ⬠(Fuglei). Younger students are less capable of fully reaping the benefits of homework because their study habits are not completely developed yet, among other reasons. However, older students have greatly benefited from homework when it comesRead MoreHow to Deal with the Stress of Getting an Education791 Words à |à 3 PagesYou wake up one day and have to face reality: you have dozens of places to be after school, your homework pile has been stacking up all week and is beginning to resemble a globular stack, and you have three major tests to study for. Everyone has experienced this to some degree at le ast once throughout their high school career. Thankfully, there are several ways to avoid this from occurring. The first step to prevent an immense amount of stress caused by school work is to purchase a planner of someRead MoreThe Negative Effects Of Homework1040 Words à |à 5 PagesFrom elementary school to college, students are assigned homework thorough out the year. At some point, some students put their health at risk to complete their homework and turn it in the next day. Teachers assign different quantities of homework throughout the day, but at the end of the night, homework from each class eventually becomes a massive load for a student, where the students struggle to finish it all night. Students lose sleep due to homework, and then they are unable to focus in classRead MoreA Day For A Student1371 Words à |à 6 PagesItââ¬â¢s a normal day for a student. They wake up at 7, eat breakfast, get ready for classes, and head to school. In homeroom, they start to talk to their friends while waiting for the morning announcements to come through the intercoms. Todayââ¬â¢s differen t though, the principal is the one doing the announcements instead of the main office secretaryââ¬â¢s. Everyone is listening intently to what the occasion is. ââ¬Å"Attention all students, after a meeting with the board of academic scholars, it has been decidedRead MoreThe Passion Of Reading And Writing1300 Words à |à 6 PagesThe Passion of Reading and Writing in College In the eyes of students, reading and writing seems to be a whole new world as they approach the semester in college. It seems as if students never worked with writing or reading in their years at high school. Should we consider college a new beginning in the lives of students? Is it a whole new world for them? Did high school really prepared students for college? To the eyes of everyone, education is a must to do in the lives of teenagers, but does itRead MoreArgumentative Essay : Pointless Argument912 Words à |à 4 Pagesthat she should use to finish her work. It takes her ten minutes to walk to class but she is running on no sleep; she needs twenty minutes to make it there on time. That gives her ten minutes to complete her argumentative essay for College Writing, enough time to pull all of her ideas together. However, she slowly gives up, and while rubbing her eyes and closing her laptop, she thinks to herself, ââ¬Å"Whatââ¬â¢s the point?â⬠Teachers and professors who cannot find better things to assign have assigned argumentative
Things You Should Know About Research Papers Writing Help
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Thursday, April 23, 2020
Speech on Euthanasia and Assisted Suicide free essay sample
There is one question which has haunted and shaped society for thousands of years. It underlies all human relationships. It underlies all ethical decisions. The question is: Am I my brothers keeper? The answering of that question has led, throughout history, to the righting of major injustices, like the abolition of the slave trade. But the usual answer to that archetypal question may be about to be rewritten in the United Kingdom. The answer yes is about to be replaced by the answer no. Let me put it another way: Can I be my brothers killer? For thousands of years the answer has been no; but in legal terms, in the UK, the answer yes is being seriously proposed: Yes, you may kill your brother in certain defined circumstances. When euthanasia was considered by a House of Lords Select Committee in 1993-4, it said this: societys prohibition of intentional killing [is] a prohibition which is the cornerstone of law and social relationships. We will write a custom essay sample on Speech on Euthanasia and Assisted Suicide or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page It protects each one of us impartially, embodying the belief that all are equal. Those are solemn and profound words. They are now under attack philosophically; listen to these words from Professor John Harris of Manchester University about our ability to make choices and the freedom to choose between competing conceptions of how to live: it is only by the exercise of autonomy that our lives become in any real sense our own. The ending of our lives determines lifes final shape and meaning, both for ourselves and in the eyes of others. When we are denied control of the end of our lives, we are denied autonomy. It is an appealing and seductive argument, and goes with the grain of our society: Its my life and I can do what I want with it or, if you prefer Frank Sinatras kitsch version: I did it my way. But a moments thought will reveal that, actually, the choices I make as an individual impinge on others that, ultimately, is why we have laws, to enable us to decide who has the priority or what is just. In the case of euthanasia, this Bill, proposed by Lord Joffe, if passed, would give any one of us the right (in given circumstances) to demand and require that another human being kills us. In the interests of fairness, I must also point out that in the assisted suicide part of the Bill, what I would have the right to demand and require is that someone should provide me with the means by which I could kill myself. The major question about the fundamental principle of the Bill, personal autonomy, is whether this is a philosophically and morally secure basis on which society can operate. I do not believe it is. A more nuanced version of the personal autonomy argument, and one which I strongly support, is to talk of principled autonomy in which: the rights of an individual always go hand in hand with the duty of the individual to other people. [Professor Robin Gill] It was a point which was made very powerfully by the Archbishop of Canterbury in an article (entitled Does a right to assisted death entail a responsibility on others to kill? ) in The Times on 20th January 2005. So: à · I believe the Bill is profoundly flawed because it strikes at the heart of the moral basis which prohibits intentional killing. à · I believe the Bill, as it stands, is profoundly flawed on philosophical grounds. At the 1998 Lambeth Conference, we spelt out what we described as five bedrock principles which should undergird all discussion of euthanasia. The principles are these: 1. Life is God-given and therefore has intrinsic sanctity, significance and worth. 2. Human beings are in relationship with the created order a relationship characterised by such words as respect, enjoyment and responsibility. 3. Human beings, while flawed by sin, nevertheless have the capacity to make free and responsible moral choices. Human meaning and purpose are found in our relationship with God, in the exercise of freedom, critical self-knowledge and in our relationships with one another and the wider community. 5. This life is not the sum total of human existence; we find our ultimate fulfilment in eternity with God, through Christ. à · You will see, if you compare those five bedrock principles with the Joffe Bill, that the Bill fails in a number of areas, not least because it does not even open the door a fraction of an inch to any concept that life might be derived from God or might move ultimately back to God. The next reason I am against this Bill is because its proponents say they want eventually to extend its range. Lord Joffe: We are starting off, this is a first stage â⬠¦ I believe that this Bill initially should be limited, although I would prefer it to be of wider application. I find that chilling, for a whole variety of obvious reasons. Allow me to give an example from the Netherlands. In the Netherlands (unlike Oregon) the medical profession makes no distinction between assisted suicide and euthanasia but, as Dr Johann Legemaate told us on the Select Committee: Many doctors prefer euthanasia for practical and clinical reasons. There are approximately 140,000 natural deaths in the Netherlands each year. Almost 10. 000 requests for euthanasia are made annually; about 3,500 actually receive euthanasia and approximately 300 are assisted suicides. Somewhere between 1 in 32 and 1 in 38 of all deaths in the Netherlands are now via euthanasia/assisted suicide. In addition, it is estimated that there are about 1,000 deaths per annum where doctors end a patients life without an explicit request; for example, those who are in a coma. I need to point out that the medical system in the Netherlands is very different from ours and that palliative care provision is a relatively new phenomenon. The figures from Holland, worry me greatly I need to add that in the Netherlands you do not have to be terminally ill to request help to die: We do not exclude â⬠¦ exceptional situations in which, for instance, somebody who is fifty-five and has a very severe but incurable mental illness which relates to a situation of hopeless and unbearable suffering, and asks for assisted suicide. The Swiss situation is very different. Euthanasia is not allowed under Swiss law but assisted suicide is, though you have to belong to one of the associations (for example Dignitas or Exit) in order to receive help with assisted suicide. If there were more time, I would tell you about my Swiss experience â⬠¦ So, I am against the Bill because the evidence I have seen in the Netherlands suggests that there really is a slippery slope, and as the proponents of the Bill want to extend its scope eventually, I think that its wiser to try to defeat it now. And in case you think the slippery slope is not slippery, allow me to bring to your attention some evidence I heard from an oncologist from Oregon who told a meeting I attended, that since the introduction of assisted suicide in Oregon, far more people now suffer from lack of palliative care in the terminal stages of their illness than did so before the legislation was introduced. Try this statistic: we were told that 60% of doctors in Oregon do not see Medicaid patients, that is, the poorest people of the state, yet Medicaid continues to pay for the poorest if they opt for assisted suicide. Or this: 75% of doctors in Oregon who prescribed lethal doses of barbiturates for those who wanted to commit suicide, were not present at the patients subsequent death. Now listen to my original question: Am I my brothers keeper? Tragically, in my view, the slippery slope has been notched up by a few degrees in the last couple of weeks by the British Medical Association who have taken, by a narrow majority of 53% in favour, the view that they should remain morally neutral on this issue and that it is: primarily a matter for Society and for Parliament. The notion of neutrality on such a subject is tragically misplaced. Are doctors not part of society? Are doctors neutral on subjects such as smoking? Will they not have to administer the lethal doses? Are they not the ones who will see their relationship with patients change? Will the conscience clauses proposed for doctors in the Joffe Bill be in practice any more significant than those in the Abortion Bill? Have they had any conversations with the Royal College of Nursing about their opposition to the Bill? Is it not alarming that some members of the Royal College of Physicians can talk about euthanasia or assisted dying as a therapeutic option? I find that Orwellian. Listen again to the question: Am I my brothers keeper? Its a question which should be engraved above the door of every hospital and every surgery in the land; and, of course, the BMA itself in the terrorist attacks in London, answered the question with a resounding Yes when they rushed from their Headquarters to assist the wounded and the dying ââ¬â and did so with enormous professionalism and compassion.. Of course, I am not arguing in favour of prolonged suffering; and I want to point out, to be fair, that many of those in favour of the Bill are proposing it on compassionate grounds. We all know, myself included, that one of the most terrible things that can happen to us, as human beings, is to watch someone we love go through suffering. It is agony. We want to soothe and cherish them, take away the pain. Our helplessness, if we cannot do so, is appalling; and if the one suffering is our own child, then anguish is piled on anguish. It is awful no other word will do. It is because many of us have suffered in this way that we can see, at first glance, the reasons why, if someone is suffering terribly with a terminal illness, we might consider euthanasia to be a desirable option. This is a huge and daunting ethical dilemma but it seems to me that what the Bill proposes is a sign of failure, a gesture of despair. We have the best palliative care system in the world, in the UK, but it is patchy and needs much greater resource. We have, too, within much of the medical profession, a massive desire to help, combined with a massive desire to control ââ¬â and thus, to acknowledge and deal with the inevitability of death, is an affront and is frequently avoided. Empty beds in hospices in the UK is evidence for this. What is needed is not what some are calling, in a horrible travesty of language, the therapeutic option of euthanasia or assisted suicide, but far greater resource ââ¬â for greater training in palliative care, a care which embraces body, mind and soul. I do not doubt for one second that this subject of euthanasia and assisted suicide is one of the most important questions facing our country. The answer that Parliament provides, if it votes in favour of the Bill, will shift human relationships, it will damage doctor-patient trust, it will make the vulnerable feel even more vulnerable. If we, as the Church of England, in concert with other Churches, do not try to shape and influence the debate, we shall have failed terribly. The question running through this entire subject, is the one asked by Cain after he had killed Abel: Am I my brothers keeper? I have to believe, because of Christ, that there is only one answer to that question ââ¬â and that is the answer Yes. And the answer yes precludes euthanasia and it precludes assisted suicide; but it also lays upon us a moral duty to ensure that palliative care, care for body, mind and soul, is available to everyone.
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