Moral dilemma: would you kill this man?

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flyingfish

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Evil people capture you and another man and take you to a warehouse. They handcuff you to a wall and give you a gun. The put the other person in a machine, and connect him to the controls in such a way that as long as he is alive the machine is coming at you (for example, machine is operated by a sensor that detects his heartbeat).

If you do nothing, you will be killed. If you shoot the man the machine will stop operating and you will survive (and be let go to return to your life).

Would you shoot the man?

There are no other ways to stop the machine. So please don’t cheat. If you don’t want to respond to the dilemma, don’t. But don’t invent third options that don’t exist in what I am asking.
 
I would use the gun to shoot the power supply to the machine. We both live!
 
kage_ar said:
I would use the gun to shoot the power supply to the machine. We both live!
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It doesn’t work. There is one and only one way to stop the machine: shoot the man.

If you don’t want to respond to the dilemma presented, don’t. But please don’t respond to something that is not presented.
 
Knowing only the information you presented, I need to make a choice. Who’s life bears the most weight? If this were the president or some leader I thought could do more good than me, then I would die, albeit not gladly. However since I know nothing, all entities being equal, self preservation takes over and I shoot him.
 
flyingfish said:
It doesn’t work. There is one and only one way to stop the machine: shoot the man.

If you don’t want to respond to the dilemma presented, don’t. But please don’t respond to something that is not presented.
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What you present is something that is impossible, no such people killing machine exists.

If you have a gun, you can shoot anything.
 
Since it has been stated the only way to save myself is to kill the other man, I decided as follows:

I choose to sacrifice myself and die.
 
lynx said:
Knowing only the information you presented, I need to make a choice. Who’s life bears the most weight? If this were the president or some leader I thought could do more good than me, then I would die, albeit not gladly. However since I know nothing, all entities being equal, self preservation takes over and I shoot him.
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Assume you and the other man have the exact same value to society, family etc.
 
presidentjlh said:
Since it has been stated the only way to save myself is to kill the other man, I decided as follows:

I choose to sacrifice myself and die.
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For what it’s worth, I’m with the President. I’d lay down my life for the other guy as well. It’s the only noble solution given the situation you described.

I’d rather have a clean conscience and honor when I die than kill an innocent man.
 
Rascalking said:
For what it’s worth, I’m with the President. I’d lay down my life for the other guy as well. It’s the only noble solution given the situation you described.

I’d rather have a clean conscience and honor when I die than kill an innocent man.
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You are making me proud!
 
presidentjlh said:
Since it has been stated the only way to save myself is to kill the other man, I decided as follows:

I choose to sacrifice myself and die.
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This is the only truly honourable and Christian thing to do.
Luke 17:33:
Whoever seeks to preserve his life will lose it, but whoever loses it will save it.
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Given the parameters set…

Killing the other man is a completely self serving act. Value of life is not at issue, and given the situation one could hardly be called an impartial judge in this situation.

Pray for strength. Throw the gun a way so that no last second weakness overcomes you. Look to the Father, and make the sacrifice. This shouldn’t be a difficult decision for a Christian to make.
 
DeOppressoLiber said:
This shouldn’t be a difficult decision for a Christian to make.
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Bing! Bing! Bing! (Sounds of slot machines making lucky 7’s)

This isn’t a moral issue that you struggle with, hit the bottle, and pull your hair out thinking about. It’s pretty clear.
 
Rascalking said:
This isn’t a moral issue that you struggle with, hit the bottle, and pull your hair out thinking about. It’s pretty clear.
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Yeah, you’d think… But it looks like 33% of voters need to whip ot the Bible a little more often:(
 
I would like to hear more about this other man who is in the machine that is closing in on me. If I were to not shoot him and I were to die, would he end up dying anyway at the hands of these evil people shortly after me (just how evil are these people)?

If he were to be set free, I would sacrifice my own life for his and not shoot him.

If I were to know that he was to die right then and there shortly after I was to, I would hesitatingly shoot him.

I suspect the former is the case, but it is not entirely clear given the information in the OP.
 
fulbert4605 said:
I would like to hear more about this other man who is in the machine that is closing in on me. If I were to not shoot him and I were to die, would he end up dying anyway at the hands of these evil people shortly after me (just how evil are these people)?

If he were to be set free, I would sacrifice my own life for his and not shoot him.

If I were to know that he was to die right then and there shortly after I was to, I would hesitatingly shoot him.

I suspect the former is the case, but it is not entirely clear given the information in the OP.
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If you die then he walks away and returns to his life.
 
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