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Comment by troyjfarrell | Hacker News Reader

The perspective that "illness makes the life not worth living" is not universal. Indeed, it is utilitarian or epicurean perspectives that lead to this way of thinking. Many Christian perspectives (and, I expect those of many faiths) will hold that there is tremendous value in living and enduring discomfort and suffering.

It's worth noting that these faiths spur believers on toward helping the poor and disadvantaged.

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I didn't say that illness makes the life not worth living. I said an illness that makes the life not worth living. What that is is a very personal decision and should be an option that a person can have. Note that it is pretty easy to safeguard such a system from impulse decision that are often caused by mental illness.

> Many Christian perspectives (and, I expect those of many faiths) will hold that there is tremendous value in living and enduring discomfort and suffering.

This is such a toxic part of christianity that causes so much suffering worldwide.

Voluntary giving is no substitute for state programs that give a guaranteed safety net.

Suffering is a part of life.

Do you think it's better if people just die to avoid suffering rather than learn to live the best they can despite that pain?

Why do you say "causes"?

Agreed on the last point, but also having to beg others to get enough food/shelter to survive ... if you want that then you need to take a look at your ego.

A lot of people think this way, until they are forced to deal with the real and visceral physical suffering themselves.

Just look at Mother Theresa. She was refusing administration of painkillers to people dying in agonizing pain at her hospitals (hospices?), because she believed that experiencing suffering in this way was a part of being a true christian and virtuous person (yes, that was her actual stated reasoning). All of this was immediately cast aside as soon as she herself got debilitated with painful suffering due to illnesses, however.

I do believe there is value in suffering, but there are different kinds of suffering, and what’s being talked about here (physical) isn’t the kind that has much value.

Just for the record: I have a disability (blind), and from my point of view, there is one category of people that tends to behave completely inappropriately towards me, and those are "believers". I tend to avoid them whenever possible, because they tend to treat me in a very disrespectful way. They dont notice, because their faith has trained them to treat me with a certain patronising spin.

TL;DR: Not all "disadvantages people" actually want the protection of religious fanatics.

Is this: "people try to help me and I don't want them to"? Or something else?

(Genuine question; that's not a negative judgement.)

Thats part of it. Unwanted help is definitely an issue. However, it doesnt end there. The more religious a person is, the more they take their time to explain to me how bad they think my situation is. Patronisation, pittying, and a general attitude of looking down at me.

> Patronisation, pittying, and a general attitude of looking down at me.

Which is hard to square with the "it‘s god‘s will" bs…

As the saying goes, "please Lord, save me from your people"!

There might be value in living on and enduring, and you should be free to do that. What you should not be free to do is forcing others to suffer on if they don't find it valuable.

Current legal situation in most places is such a force, based on misguided claims of religions to universality.

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