cad (02/11/83)
To begin with, let me state, unequivocally, that I do not profess to possess any legal expertise (except that which one acquires dodging State Troopers on I-5) so my comments may be viewed as those of an informed, but nonetheless, possibly confused, layman. My premise is that persons or AI projects that engage in a frank and open discussion of suicides, and especially, methods of suicide, with the express avowed purpose of encouraging the "creative self-destruction of one's body" could, in fact, be bordering on illegality and criminal behavior. I don't say this lightly. If, for instance, some unfortunately distaught person actually helps themselves into the hereafter with information acquired from this newsgroup, a criminal investigation to follow would undoubtably conclude that submitters to this group had contributed in not insubstantial ways to the death of this lost soul. Culpability is easily established by scanning the past debates (all of which I have archived for just this purpose) from which can be observed a menacing pattern of daredevil baiting of individuals weakened by the stresses of life. I believe, if my religious observance of Hawaii 5-0 has taught me correctly, suicides that are caused by such circumstances are upgraded to cases of manslaughter or homicide. In a public forum, which USENET has evolved into, our responsibility is clear. Let us cast aside our childish fascination with self-destruction and change the name and purpose of this newsgroup. I propose we form net.suicide.hotline and strive to aid our fellow human beings cope with stress effectively, rather than giving them a shove off the nearest meta- physical cliff. Rise up ye Christians of Good Character and cease this deplorable activity. ---> Chuck A DeGaul <--- PS. Free the Suicide 23! PPS. Pray for ittvax!keaton - I fear his anguish imperils his existence.
jss (02/12/83)
culpability? Culpability? CULPABILITY? what ever became of "credit"? judith
kink (02/17/83)
I think that Mr. C. DeGaul's comments are a bit out of line. Suicide is a sensitive subject, but I believe that there is no crime in helping to create an informed public. Whether or not there is ever an "appropriate" time to commit suicide is debatable (though Mr. DeGaul probably doesn't agree). I have a related example: Suppose I had just inadvertantly inhaled a portion of my Big Mac. I am sitting in front of my terminal aspirating, and making funny faces. Further suppose that this food, lodged behind my epiglatus (sp ?) cannot be removed by the two conventional methods (compression of sternum or towel down throat) and that I will be dead in a few minutes unless I receive a tracheatomy. There is no doctor within 15 minutes reach. Now personally, I would prefer if the person sitting at the next terminal did a make-shift tracheatomy with his Bic pen and the straw in his Coke than that I die in Rochester, NY. Would he succeed?? Who knows? It depends on how much he knows. Would such a procedure be legal? I don't care. If a person is really in bad shape (ie. terminal cancer (no their Teleray doesn't keep dividing) with severe untreatable pain) then they should know the best (least painful, most effective, or most interesting) way of doing themselves in. If I, in a fit of instability, kill myself "needlessly," that's just too bad for me (and mine). Am I a cold-hearted orb??? Andy Papp (kink) seismo or allegra ! rochester ! kink
russ (02/18/83)
#R:cbosgd:-310700:kirk:25900002:000:147 kirk!russ Feb 15 13:18:00 1983 Suicide is another one of those God-given rights that the Christian fundamentalists want to do us out of. Russ Nelson ...hp-pcd!hp-cvd!russ
nyles (03/08/83)
#R:cbosgd:-310700:zinfandel:11700010:000:110 zinfandel!nyles Mar 4 10:53:00 1983 Why do we have to be Christians in order to help? Lord Morgon (decvax!sytek!zehntel!zinfandel!nyles)
jfw (03/10/83)
"Why do we have to be Christians to help?" Those of us who worship Cthulu are always happy to help a suicide...
cad (03/22/83)
To: John Woods, Lord Morgon, et al. Of course you have to be Christian to fathom suicide! No where else is it so rigorously proscribed. ---> Chuck A DeGaul <---