A LONG HOLIDAY IN SWITZERLAND

paul croxson · A LONG HOLIDAY IN SWITZERLAND

I have just listened to one of the happiest stories that I have heard on the radio for many a year.
A Conductor aged 85 who had performed at the Royal Opera House and had been at the topt of his profession in the past had, with his Wife, gone to Switzerland (Dignitas) and their lives had been terminated together; she, presumably not wishing to see his pain continuing - he was almost blind and increangly deaf - and not wanting to live without him. That is 'LOVE' to me
My Wife and I often talk about this even though currently we are in rude health. I only hope that we can afford to do this and that there will be no interfering so and so's trying to impose their views on my life.
It would be even nicer if we did not have to go to Switzerland to do it. I can't stand flying. I prefer to leave that to the Angels.
If there anything in this story that is sad, it is the fact that the newspapers tell us so little about the courageous loving Wife. She was something in her own right having been, like my Wife, a ballet dancer and choreographer at the 'House'. She was also a TV producer of some repute and only 74. There! I've tried to correct the imbalance.

Gordon

One can understand, applaud even, the mutual love and courage that move people to shared suicide, while also acknowledging that it is to embark on a slippery slope whose end is not clear. The task facing society is to manage the slippery slope in a way that satisfies both private and public views of morality.

Some of the arguments against suicide I can answer to my own satisfaction, even if the answer is unlikely to command widespread support. For example, I do not hold that human life is in every case “sacred”, and that “we should not throw away what God has given us”. If life is indeed a gift to us, should we not be free to do with it what we wish, as with every other gift? I should add that I forfeited the right to regard life as sacred when I allowed myself to be conscripted into Her Majesty’s Armed Forces. To cling to life might seem a bit odd for those who as Christians believe (as I do) that death is the entry to a better life.

Against that I have to set a concern that once assisted suicide becomes more common, as it surely will, then big problems arise. Who will protect the vulnerable from unscrupulous relatives for example? Will it be available on the NHS? Or will it be a remedy for the rich only?

Some years ago I read Mary Warnock’s excellent little book “An intelligent person’s guide to ethics” which deals with this and other complex social issues. Time to get it out again, I think!

paul croxson

Gordon's descents from the Olympian heights of York are always worth the weight (wait).
Personally, despite frequent, even determined efforts to obtain a faith or acquire beliefs, I have failed and so don't have to cope with so many ethical dilemmas.
I don't like the word 'suicide' since it still smacks of 'killing'. I see it as terminating a voyage (for the lack of a better word) when it is no longer worth the candle; a bit like turning off a road when the scenery aint so interesting perhaps, and going home. Except that this metaphor (oops, I think I might mean 'simile') smacks of the possibility of there being a 'home' or after life to go to.
This is another concept that hasn't sat happily with me any more than Gordon's belief that some thing/being - call it what you may - meaning "God" actually has given Life. From the time we learned of a God, initially one of Vengeance from the Old Testament in my case, our concepts have had to change with the usual intellectual wriggles from those who earn a livelihood from the God business. Failure to have made a decent job of the human race cannot be excused (at least to me) by the claim that "God has given us free will". Square that, if you can, with the idea, concept that God is 'all powerful'. I certainly can't.
Seeing the scale of today's Universe from Hubble makes me wonder, 'who created God?'
I can relate, Gordon, to your problem with doing your National Service; I was in a similar dilemma having played around with the ideals of the Peace Pledge Union who wanted to school me to be a Conscientious Objector. Pure cowardice won and the joys of the I. Corps awaited me. I did not realise as a callow 18yr old that I would be classified as a 'Fellow Travellor' I had a similar dilemma when the Minister of the Congregational Church I was then attending supported the Suez invasion. Then, I did stand up and walk out and my returns to Church, ever since, have at best, been sporadic.

Gordon

Olympian heights, Paul? Nowhere in this part of York is above the 15 metre contour level. In fact, I have been seriously thinking of building an Ark, and would have done so if supplies of gopher-wood had been more plentiful.

G

paul croxson

Ee Lad, that comes as a bit of a surprise. I thought all Yorkshire was 'Oop Hill'. At least it is on my TV. I'll try leaning it over next time Emmerdale (is that in Yorkshire?) is on. They are so behind up there! They are still behaving and dressing as we smart-arse Southerners did in the 'Fifties'
Nofolk is a bit like that too if I recall; 'very flat', as Noel Coward famously announced*. The only difference being 'rain'. They don't have much of that, indeed, I am reliably informed that Jordan has a higher rainfall. You don't have to believe that, though, as it is a statistic and we all know about them.
*By the way, Dear Noel said it, or rather Gertie Lawrence did, in 'Private Lives'.
In case anyone else thinks that Gordon's idea is a good one. Don't bother to go to B & Q for your gopher wood. Sorry Dave, I'm not trying to put you out of work.They don't stock it. Indeed no one actually knows what it was anyway. Some suggest cypress (which I would not recommend for boatbuilding) and lastly - and this is SO useful to know - , gopher is only mentioned once in the entire Bible - Genesis 6:14 from memory, well Google - so there can't be that much demand for it, even in those days.

RonB

I meant to reply on the main theme of this topic but I was a bit slow and by the time I got around to it you guys had disappeared down a branch line (as usual).
To get back to the theme, my thoughts are very much in line with Gordon’s. I, too, as a practising Christian believe that life is precious and should not be taken or given up if that action can possibly be avoided. In spite of that belief, having had the experience of watching a loved one through a painful terminal illness I honestly don’t know how I would have reacted if there had been pleas for help to end the pain. Even so, I still have great reservations about a change of law regarding assisted suicide. As Gordon says, who would protect the vulnerable at the hands unscrupulous relatives, 'friends' or even doctors? (Shipman managed to get second signatures on death certificates). Also, to my mind, it’s only a short step from assisted suicide to voluntary euthanasia and another short step to euthanasia without the opt out.

RonB

I’ve saved my comments on the sub topic for a separate post. If you want to know the true story of Noah and the Ark, including the wood used, go to http://bandrooms.com/lyrics/harding/three The only trouble is, it’s written in Lanky and Yorkshire tykes and you saverners may not understand it.

paul croxson

I've managed to fight my way through despite the rotten link Ron and find that it is the magic thre ha'pence a foot from young Harding.
Don't tell anyone but my Wife comes from Lancashire and 'does' it at drunken parties and Masonics. I love it!
Thanks for the memory!

RonB

Glad you liked that ,Paul. I find most of that style of monologue interesting and amusing but can only really enjoy one or two in a ‘session’ – maybe because I’ve heard them all so many times. (Sam’s Medal and such like.) A writer I do really enjoy and come back to frequently is Robert Service. A memory that will stay with me a long time is of a friend ( a bit older than I ) donning a fur trapper’s hat and a big coat, dimming the lights and reciting in a Scottish-Canadian voice ‘The Cremation of Sam McGee’. We felt as if we were in the far north with him. Another moving piece, in a different way, is ‘The March of the Dead’. A lot of his work is on www.birdsnest.com-rservice.htm

Gordon

It's a sign of how quickly public opinion on assisted suicide is changing that today the Royal College of Nursing has announced that it is dropping its opposition to it after consultation with its members.

Gordon

paul croxson

The advantage of the monologue is that it is ideally suited to those who are tone deaf amongst us.Would it adapt to Karaoke , I wonder?
I had not realised that our Forum had such a wide range of readers. Once again we have influenced public opinion. As Mrs Thatcher (who her?) would say "we are punching above our weight"