Would you sacrifice yourself for...?

Originally posted by whodey
Its the same logic that dictates that aborting the unborn is justifiable due to lack of development. Throw out the notion of love for the unborn and substitute skewed logic in regards to how the unborn has value to ME/MYSELF/and I.

Are you saying it is immoral for me to love myself more than my infant?

Originally posted by TheSkipper
Are you saying it is immoral for me to love myself more than my infant?

That is for you to decide. Morality is relative for many people. However, for me I would feel immoral if I chose to love myself above my child and I base my morality upon my faith. This question reminds me of Christ when he said that a man has no greater love than to lay down his life for his friends. Do you think he would have been immoral had he not done so for us?

Originally posted by Starrman
Yeah, because something as ethereal and transient as love is clearly the best reason for doing things...

And would'nt it be a better world if it were so.

Originally posted by whodey
That is for you to decide. Morality is relative for many people. However, for me I would feel immoral if I chose to love myself above my child and I base my morality upon my faith. This question reminds me of Christ when he said that a man has no greater love than to lay down his life for his friends. Do you think he would have been immoral had he not done so for us?

Okay, I can dig it. However, I'm talking about an infant here, I do not have a typical relationship with him/her...I'm sure I love him/her but not like I love my firends, my wife, my sister etc. (of course, this is speculative since I don't have kids)

I should mention that after sacrificing my infant to save my own skin I'm sure I would feel horribly guilty, but I can't shake the feeling I would have made the "right" decision...or at least the one that made the most sense.

Also, I'm not opposed to somebody simply making the mor eillogical decision and sacrificing themselves for their infant, thats fine...noble even. I just don;t think it is as obvious a chice as most parents make it out to be. (again, likely a product of my not having a child myself, I suppose).

Originally posted by Nemesio
What about a scenario in which a complete adult stranger were in the
room with you? Would you sacrifice him/her or yourself?

Nemesio

I would sacrifice the stranger...no question.

Originally posted by TheSkipper
Not exactly, for every argument that can be made that suggests my infant will grow up to be happy and good a counter argument can be made that suggests my infant will be a miserable a$$.

The same could be said for the rest of your life. Maybe your life will be horrible. Might as well die now right?

Originally posted by AThousandYoung
The same could be said for the rest of your life. Maybe your life will be horrible. Might as well die now right?

I still have people that depend on me and value beyond my mere existence, and I have that NOW not just the potential to have it.

A bird in the hand...as they say.

Originally posted by whodey
That is for you to decide. Morality is relative for many people. However, for me I would feel immoral if I chose to love myself above my child and I base my morality upon my faith. This question reminds me of Christ when he said that a man has no greater love than to lay down his life for his friends. Do you think he would have been immoral had he not done so for us?

Interesting. Do you define morality through your religion or do you define is as what the individual intuitively feels?

Originally posted by ThinkOfOne
One can still think of it in terms of "logical values", however what changes are the weights one places on given values. Most don't see themselves as self-centered because they can run through their values logically to come up with an answer. What they fail to see is that the weights that they've placed on their values lean heavily toward their own point ...[text shortened]... ntered. It's up to the individual to gain sufficient understanding to not remain so.

There are many people I would give my own life to save I don;t understand why i must be considered self-centered just because (from my current perspective) my infant would not be one of them.

Originally posted by TheSkipper
I still have people that depend on me and value beyond my mere existence, and I have that NOW not just the potential to have it.

A bird in the hand...as they say.

I suppose you shouldn't have children then. You don't want to squander your precious resources on some infant, right?

Originally posted by AThousandYoung
I suppose you shouldn't have children then. You don't want to squander your precious resources on some infant, right?

I'm really not a big jerk, really, but it is how I feel.

The decision to not have kids has already been made, maybe the two decisions are not unrelated.

Originally posted by AThousandYoung
Not only will the child have all those same social connections when he gets to your age, he will have all the years before then to contribute to society, live, love and be happy. Imagine your infant to be you plus all the years you've already lived. Thus the infant is more valuable.

The child will be even more likely to grow up as a noble, good person if he knew his father gave his life for him.

Very logical !

Originally posted by TheSkipper
....... I don;t understand why i must be considered self-centered just because (from my current perspective) my infant would not be one of them.

..... oooooh boy .....

Originally posted by TheSkipper
I would sacrifice the stranger...no question.

Why would that be "logical " ? ... suppose the stranger is an "Einstein".

Originally posted by TheSkipper
I'm really not a big jerk, really, but it is how I feel.

The decision to not have kids has already been made, maybe the two decisions are not unrelated.

Consider us a mirror and not sitting in judgement over you. If you don't like what you see then at least see the need for change. 🙂