May 12, 2023 • 22 Iyar 5783 • Parshas BeHar (Lev 24-27) • The 37th Day of the Omer
The purpose of this בלוג is a full-bodied Friday night dinner table. Please share.
Happy anniversary shout-out to Lorne and Gina – 28 is the gematria of ַכֹח - may you keep goin' strong!
When Life is Un-Baron-Able?Happy anniversary shout-out to Lorne and Gina – 28 is the gematria of ַכֹח - may you keep goin' strong!
Thank you for the tremendous response to last week's big news!
Dovetailing on that, this is a wild guess: I'm going to go out on a limb and guess that most people reading this (or listening to it read at their Shabbat table) value their health?
I''m pretty sure the previous sentence applies to everyone I know.
At least I used to be pretty sure.
This week, however, I learned that there exists a psychological condition in which the person desires to be unhealthy.
Specifically, they desire to have a handicap.
Analogous - some say - to someone with a gender identity challenge, or someone who wishes they were of a different race, Body Integrity Identity Disorder (BIID) means that they really want to have their healthy leg amputated, or their spine severed so that they will be paraplegic, or their eyes blinded.
It sort of reminds one of Munchausen Syndrome (does anybody remember Baron Münchausen?), which involves faking a disease in order to garner sympathy.
But BIID is different - it's a sincere, earnest desire to live a handicapped lifestyle. (Maybe it's the parking benefit?)
Dovetailing on that, this is a wild guess: I'm going to go out on a limb and guess that most people reading this (or listening to it read at their Shabbat table) value their health?
I''m pretty sure the previous sentence applies to everyone I know.
At least I used to be pretty sure.
This week, however, I learned that there exists a psychological condition in which the person desires to be unhealthy.
Specifically, they desire to have a handicap.
Analogous - some say - to someone with a gender identity challenge, or someone who wishes they were of a different race, Body Integrity Identity Disorder (BIID) means that they really want to have their healthy leg amputated, or their spine severed so that they will be paraplegic, or their eyes blinded.
It sort of reminds one of Munchausen Syndrome (does anybody remember Baron Münchausen?), which involves faking a disease in order to garner sympathy.
But BIID is different - it's a sincere, earnest desire to live a handicapped lifestyle. (Maybe it's the parking benefit?)
This all leads to two questions for your table:
Do people with BIID have a moral right to inflict permanent damage to their bodies?
If they do have such a right, do others (surgeons for example) have a moral duty to assist them?
Shabbat Shalom
Do people with BIID have a moral right to inflict permanent damage to their bodies?
If they do have such a right, do others (surgeons for example) have a moral duty to assist them?
Shabbat Shalom
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