Theos-Talk Archives (January 1997 Message tl00399)

M. Poppins:
>TTT:
>>If it is true that all life must support itself by killing,
>then as humans, we have the choice to limit the extent of the
>killing we do.  Some of us uses Lysol and Raid, but will not
>eat meat.

>Just as various economic benefits can be gained at less cost,
>so can life be purchased at lower levels of killing.

(snip)

>In some societies, the elderly ill volunteer to die rather
>than be a burden.  "You can't put a price tag on human life"
>would only be true if money was unlimited.  What if treating
>one ill person stops us from treating 10 others?

This relates to an interesting article I read this morning regarding
apoptosis, in which a cell basically commits suicide if something is wrong
with itself, for the good of the whole life organism.  All animal cells have
built in it a program that causes it to self-destruct if it has been
infected, injured, or separated from other cells.  When this process fails,
the defective cell does not self-destruct, multiplies crazily, and becomes
either a tumor or cancer.  On the other hand, an opposite reaction could
occur, in which a cell is tricked into self-destructing (such as the T-cells
in HIV patients.  This elimination of T-cells open the patient to fatal
infections and diseases).  In fact, this self-destruct program is constantly
ready to act, and is stopped from doing so by having constant signals of
reassurance from tiny proteins, like a self-help group.  In the law of
cells, death is necessary for maintaining the life of the whole organism.

Since t/Theosophy, in my amateur knowledge of it, basically states that
monads goes from beyond molecular levels to beyond universal levels, I
wonder whether cellular suicide also applies to the dynamics of the human
community.  There will always be the big factor of compassion.  However,
along with that, is the question of the survival of the whole community, of
the whole planet.  This brings up several questions.  Is euthenasia
necessary?  Is the execution of dangerous criminals necessary? Is war
necessary?  Is disease necessary?

TTT