Among the more random thoughts that I've had the chance to ponder again this week is this question, "Could you pull the trigger?"
Context? Alright... it's not really essential, but ok. Suppose some nut has a gun pointed at you and you have reason to believe that he'll shoot you if you don't do something... you have a gun pointed at him or have access to a gun and a quick enough draw that you know (or at least strongly suspect) that you could shoot first, would you? Could you?
Some people tell me that they couldn't do it for themselves but they could for a friend, loved one or child. Others say they'd have to think about it or that it would require getting over a lot of emotions. Some people initially say "sure" and then end up following it up with a lot of conditions that would have to be
satisfied before they could do such a thing.
It's a fun question to think about in my mind simply because it's a fairly good indicator of how you respond to extreme situations and how you relate to others. Is it allowable to kill to save a life? Are you allowed to make such a decision? Could you make a decision to kill if given the means and the need?
And another fun question... what do you think my take on this is?
Posted by Vengeful Cynic at July 30, 2003 09:49 AM