Who Would You Save?

[Magicsilence]

One could turn it around. The drowning man was a rigid Catholic who was just thrown into a river by heretics because he would not deny the Catholic Church. You save him, he rediscovers sin and dies in inrepented mortal sin, and ends up damned for all eternity.

AND/OR You save the dog, who many years later saves a man from drowning who was in mortal sin who then repents and goes to heaven. Thus, you have two people in heaven, as opposed to none. Which was more objectively evil, letting a man lose his temporal life and saving his eternal life? Or, losing the dog who exists only temporarily?

Of course, we wouldnt know the state of the mans soul.

Personally, I have no duty to save the man. Do I? God told us to be ready at all times for death. Maybe by saving him im interfering with God’s plan.

But hey, i like to think outside the box.

 

[Karin]

Magicsilence:

One could turn it around. The drowning man was a rigid Catholic who was just thrown into a river by heretics because he would not deny the Catholic Church. You save him, he rediscovers sin and dies in inrepented mortal sin, and ends up damned for all eternity.

AND/OR You save the dog, who many years later saves a man from drowning who was in mortal sin who then repents and goes to heaven. Thus, you have two people in heaven, as opposed to none. Which was more objectively evil, letting a man lose his temporal life and saving his eternal life? Or, losing the dog who exists only temporarily?

Of course, we wouldnt know the state of the mans soul.

Personally, I have no duty to save the man. Do I? God told us to be ready at all times for death. Maybe by saving him im interfering with God’s plan.

But hey, i like to think outside the box.

Oh I like that…

 

[Karin]

kaymart:

The point is if you “can save”, which I believe, it hypothecical question, you have the ability to do so (good swimmer and healthy) and time only allowed for you and you alone to save the person or the dog. Of course its the person, I would save. By the time the recuse workers get there it could be to late. I would rather lose everything then lose my Soul by sitting there watching my fellow man die because I’m afraid he or his family might sue me.

Well to each there own I guess…I kind of like not living on the street, having a roof over our heads and clothes on our back and food in our stomachs…but heck what do I know?

 

[KatarinaTherese]

Magicsilence:

Personally, I have no duty to save the man. Do I? God told us to be ready at all times for death. Maybe by saving him im interfering with God’s plan.

But hey, i like to think outside the box.

Or, maybe it was part of God’s plan for you to be there while the man was drowning.

 

[kaymart]

Karin:

Well to each there own I guess…I kind of like not living on the street, having a roof over our heads and clothes on our back and food in our stomachs…but heck what do I know?

To each his own here too, I would rather live on the streets with a clean concience then to live nice and comfortable knowing my selfishness allowed a person to die. And using the excuse of someone might sue me, is selfish.

 

[LSK]

My little Roddy just died last week…lucky for the stranger.

No, not really…as much as I love my animals, I would try and save the person. And I tell you right now if it turned out that guy didn’t love dogs, I’d probably throw him back.

 

[migurl]

Why does everyone have to get so technical with this? It was a simple question, the human or the dog. This is what is wrong with the world today, people will sit around debating the politically correct thing to do and try to rationalize their decision instead of doing what we are supposed to do. If it were the human’s time to die, then we wouldn’t be able to save them. Did anyone consider how if we risked our lives to save a stranger, not only would we please God, but we could give that person the gift of faith.?

 

[LSK]

migurl:

Why does everyone have to get so technical with this? It was a simple question, the human or the dog. This is what is wrong with the world today, people will sit around debating the politically correct thing to do and try to rationalize their decision instead of doing what we are supposed to do. If it were the human’s time to die, then we wouldn’t be able to save them. Did anyone consider how if we risked our lives to save a stranger, not only would we please God, but we could give that person the gift of faith.?

ok, but if he doesn’t like dogs can I still throw him back?
I promise to go to confession afterwards…

 

[Catolico]

LSK:

My little Roddy just died last week…lucky for the stranger.

No, not really…as much as I love my animals, I would try and save the person.** And I tell you right now if it turned out that guy didn’t love dogs, I’d probably throw him back./**font]

I would probably do the same also

Seriously, sorry about your dog.

Oh yeah! I would try to save the stranger too

 

[mumto5]

Still trying to work out - why might you get sued?? I know Americans like to sue for everything they can but I just can’t see why you would get sued for rescuing the person?

 

[LSK]

mumto5:

Still trying to work out - why might you get sued?? I know Americans like to sue for everything they can but I just can’t see why you would get sued for rescuing the person?

Americans do like to sue…I can see it now…a lawsuit because the guy she was trying to save was trying to commit suicide, and because she saved him she interupted his plan and now his depression is worse so he has to go back to the hospital, but he cancelled his health insurance because he planned on being dead…so now he is going to sue because he has no health insurance…migurl is right…this gets too darn complicated…

one question - ask him if he likes dogs and if he answers wrong - back in the drink with 'em…

 

[kaymart]

mumto5:

Still trying to work out - why might you get sued?? I know Americans like to sue for everything they can but I just can’t see why you would get sued for rescuing the person?

This is such a problem here and why no one ever wants to get involved. It is a disgusting excuse to sit back and watch someone die even if you call 911, they take time to get there. Like I said, I would save the person, for I rather be sued and lose everything, then to have a guilty concience for the rest of my life because I stood by and did not help. Even if the person died afterwards, I know in my heart I did everything I could.

 

[Fidelis]

LSK:

Americans do like to sue…I can see it now…a lawsuit because the guy she was trying to save was trying to commit suicide, and because she saved him she interupted his plan and now his depression is worse so he has to go back to the hospital, but he cancelled his health insurance because he planned on being dead…so now he is going to sue because he has no health insurance…

I think y’all have watched one too many showings of *The Incredibles ! *

Anyway, after being gladdened to hear some of the answers (and appalled by others) as promised here, in part, is what Dennis Prager had to say about it:

Contemporary secular society has rendered human beings less significant than at any time in Western history.

First, the secular denial that human beings are created in God’s image has led to humans increasingly being equated with animals. That is why over the course of 30 years of asking high school seniors if they would first try to save their dog or a stranger, two-thirds have voted against the person. They either don’t know what they would do or actually vote for their dog. Many adults now vote similarly.

Why? There are two reasons. One is that with the denial of the authority of higher values such as biblical teachings, people increasingly make moral decisions on the basis of how they feel. And since probably all people feel more for their dog than they do for a stranger, many people without a moral instruction manual simply choose to do what they feel.

The other reason is that secular values provide no basis for elevating human worth over that of an animal. Judeo-Christian values posit that human beings, not animals, are created in God’s image and, therefore, human life is infinitely more sacred than animal life.

For those of you who are not familiar with Mr. Prager, he is an observant Jew with a daily radio show based in L.A. Here is a link to the entire article:

townhall.com/opinion/columns/dennisprager/2005/02/08/14464.html

Is this true? Have secular “values” made such inroads into the way we think of the value of human life that it even effects the thinking of self-described Christians? Do we give more credence to our emotions that to reason and morality? Where have we failed? What does this bode for the future?

 

[kaymart]

Mr. Prager’s article is powerful and so true. We have so de-valued human life. We are slowly but surely becoming the Culture of Death.

 

[Catolico]

Fidelis:

Is this true? Have secular “values” made such inroads into the way we think of the value of human life that it even effects the thinking of self-described Christians? Do we give more credence to our emotions that to reason and morality? Where have we failed? What does this bode for the future?

Wow Fidelis, I can´t believe 2/3 would save the dog That´s really very sad.

This thread reminded me of something I saw in the news a couple of weeks ago, here´s a link.

sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=2188462

No lawsuits in this case, even though the guy has A LOT of money. I think he´s Catholic too.
Of course there wasn´t a dog involved

 

[Karin]

mumto5:

Still trying to work out - why might you get sued?? I know Americans like to sue for everything they can but I just can’t see why you would get sued for rescuing the person?

Certain states have a law, NY as the example on the books that if you try to save someone and they die their families can sue you …something along the lines that the effort to save them was good but since you did not know what you where doing they died…hope that helps.

 

[Karin]

kaymart:

This is such a problem here and why no one ever wants to get involved. It is a disgusting excuse to sit back and watch someone die even if you call 911, they take time to get there. Like I said, I would save the person, for I rather be sued and lose everything, then to have a guilty concience for the rest of my life because I stood by and did not help. Even if the person died afterwards, I know in my heart I did everything I could.

First I would help…911 is the answer for me. Some poeple do not mind loosing everything…I am not one of them…I kinda like the roof over our heads, and our savings accounts and our sons college funds.

 

[Karin]

kaymart:

To each his own here too, I would rather live on the streets with a clean concience then to live nice and comfortable knowing my selfishness allowed a person to die. And using the excuse of someone might sue me, is selfish.

It is not selfish when I place my family above any other persons needs, IMO. My family comes first and foremost And I did (or I would ) do something I would call 911…my conscience is clear.

 

[mumto5]

Certain states have a law, NY as the example on the books that if you try to save someone and they die their families can sue you …something along the lines that the effort to save them was good but since you did not know what you where doing they died…hope that helps.

OK, thanks, that clears that up. Wow. That seems so wrong.

 

[Fidelis]

Certain states have a law, NY as the example on the books that if you try to save someone and they die their families can sue you …something along the lines that the effort to save them was good but since you did not know what you where doing they died…hope that helps.

You may be mistaken here:

Good Samaritan Act

“Any person who, in good faith, renders emergency medical care or assistance to an injured person at the scene of an accident or other emergency without the expectation of receiving or intending to receive compensation from such injured person for such service, shall not be liable in civil damages for any act or omission, not constituting gross negligence, in the course of such care or assistance.”

Help protect rescuers voluntarily helping a victim in distress from being successfully sued in tort (i.e. for wrongdoing).

Are designed to encourage people to help a stranger who needs assistance by reducing or eliminating the fear that, if they do so, they will suffer possible legal repercussions in the event that they inadvertently make a mistake in treating the victim.

Were primarily developed for first aid situations.

New York State Legal References

N.Y. Pub. Health Law §3000-a(McKinney 2000)(AED User Immunity)
N.Y. Pub. Health Law §3000-b(McKinney 2000)(AED Def.)
N.Y. Pub. Health Law §3013 (McKinney 2000)(Gen. Stat.)

Most states have something similar on the books.