This is a recurring question, but as I am working on it right now, I would be interested to hear your views, even if you implicitly expressed them elsewhere.
--> commentary by C. Ben Mitchell
(C. Ben Mitchell is Senior Fellow at The Center for Bioethics and Human Dignity)
excerpts:
I:
II:I recall asking my aging grandmother if she would like to live forever. Her answer was an enthusiastic "no." She felt she had been here long enough, worked hard enough, and experienced enough of life’s troubles to bid a fond adieu to this world and its pains. And could you imagine how a Kosovar refugee might answer that question? Or a beggar in New Delhi? Or a dissident in communist China? Under those conditions one might want to see an end in sight that is nearer rather than farther away.
III:There are some not-so-lovely selfish reasons why people want to live forever. Do we really want serial killers and drug lords to live twice the normal human lifespan? Should we extend human life merely so individuals can participate longer in a consumer-driven marketplace full of computer shopping networks and television psychics?
The only legitimate reasons for wanting to live longer, it seems to me, would be if by so doing I could serve others better, reduce more suffering, and glorify God longer. Otherwise, my purpose for being here seems sadly self-serving and hollow.
[?] What do you think [?]