Whatever
disagreements there are about right and wrong nobody can or should deny that
murder is wrong. Some forms of
Utilitarianism say that happiness and not persons matter and they need to be
answered
Either persons or their happiness come
first. But it is silly to say happiness
comes first because that would only be because it benefits a person so the
person comes first. In other words, the
person is an absolute value.
It cannot be right to allow anything that
will take away life unnecessarily. It is
wrong to kill anyone who is very suicidal for it would be wiser to let them
take the chance to improve their lives.
We should not risk our lives without need
and that is why we must forbid dangerous sports – like boxing – heavy drinking,
drug taking and heavy smoking. It is
obviously better to prolong life than to indulge in needless pleasure that will
shorten it. There are other pleasures.
War is wrong for nobody can predict where
it will all end or control what is done.
Rape and the wanton killing of civilians result. If the benefits of war are outweighed even by
one needless human death war is not lawful.
Capital punishment is not justice or deterrence for the sensible person
will not fear death. We condemn it too.
Let us took at the argument, “There is
nothing inherently sacred about life so the reason it is valuable is because it
needs to continue. When
extreme suffering removes that need it is not murder to end that life”. It is wrong to prevent people from having the
need by killing so their life should be respected for its sake.
Is it murder to knowingly let someone
die? You cannot murder unless you intend
to murder. So when it is the intention
alone that counts it is murder. Some say
it can’t be for you were not sure the person would die. But with most methods of killing you are not
sure anyway. We can murder by
omission. It is murder to hypnotise
someone to kill for you so it is murder to let nature kill a person for that is
the same as sending someone to do it.
Life being an absolute value implies that
capital punishment is wrong except when you are in the desert and killing a
killer is the only way to make sure they never kill again.
If
life is an absolute value then life should be good. That means that no matter what you do nothing
justifies anybody letting you suffer if they have the magical power to prevent
it. The dentist has to hurt us to save
us from worse hurt but a God does not.
Belief in God and its promotion is against human rights for it involves
saying that God is right to let us suffer though he has the power to stop it
which can only mean that human beings have no value. Religious people will say their belief in God
makes them value people more. But that
is not what the belief authorises and supports.