Dan Griesenauer 5 – 20 – 06 Jr. Morality Mr. Scuito Morality Final Essay I believe that our discussions of the Just War Theory really helped me to grow morally this year. Before this class, I knew I always tried to follow pacifism, but I never really developed any kind of reason as to why I did. I guess I just always thought of it as the right thing to do and never thought any more of it. By being forced to look at the why of my choice of pacifism and by being allowed to discuss it with other people who believe in the same thing, I was able to get a greater understanding of my ideals that I strive for. Also, through our class discussions, I was able to see some of the major pros and cons of pacifism and some ideas that other students said which seemed a bit contradictory. I think Eric stated a very good view of pacifism that I can say I agree with for the most part. I agree with Eric when he said that it seems very difficult to be able to say that you follow Jesus and believe in his teachings while also saying that it’s ok to kill others. It seems a bit contradictory to me if someone calls themselves a Christian, and therefore believes he should follow the teachings of Christ, but says that they don’t need to follow one of his larger teachings to “love your enemy, and do good to those that hurt you.” Another important fact about pacifism that we discussed was the fact that there are tons of different kinds of pacifism, each with varying degrees of non-violence. My idea of pacifism is that, although a use of force is sometimes justifiable, though not very often (Such as certain cases of self-defense), killing is never permissible. Although I believe in pacifism, one thing that confuses me is my stance on medical ethics involving life-ending choices and being in a persistent vegetative state. Through our class discussions and my research paper on Terri Schaivo, I’ve found that I am for ending someone’s life if they have no hope of recovering from a vegetative state. I don’t believe that anyone would want to be left in a state where they can not respond to anything or anyone around them, and that it’s pointless to just leave someone in that helpless of a state. All they are doing when they’re kept alive on tubes is reminding the family that they are helpless to do anything to make the person better. I think it’s best to cut off tube feeding and respirators and allow what should have naturally happened to occur. I’m not saying you should get rid of and forget the person as soon as possible, but it just seems pointless to me to mourn over something that can’t be helped.