Feature films on church and state

[AAsch at aol.com]

Understanding why the outcome of this Babylon 5 episode was a "disaster"  
actually teaches an important point about the free exercise clause, I think.  
Prof. Tushnet's analysis is almost purely utilitarian, noting that the outcome  
was death either way. But, making the outcome the same either way is actually  
instructive because it removes the utilitarian aspect. As the events of the  
episode unfold, the doctor violates his ethics as well as the personal autonomy 
 and dignity of his patient and the parents. One need not share the religious 
 beliefs of the fictional aliens to see the difference between the events in 
this  episode and death with dignity as a deontological disaster.
 
By this analysis, by the way, I don't mean to endorse any particular  
position on parents' religious rights to refuse lifesaving medical treatment for  
their children...
 
Allen Asch
Star Trek and Babylon 5 fan
 
 
In a message dated 8/12/2005 11:11:31 AM Pacific Standard Time,  
tushnet at law.georgetown.edu writes:

I read  the summary Rick directed us to, and I'm a bit puzzled.  The doctor  
intervened in a situation where (the summary says) "there are only two  
options--surgery or death."  As a result of the intervention, the alien  boy's 
physical life is preserved, but in the end his parents kill him because,  as they 
put it, "This was not our son. This was only a shell. There was  nothing to do 
but end the pain of the shell."  What I'm puzzled about is  why Rick describes 
this outcome as a disaster.  It turns out that the  (physical) outcome was 
death either way.  And that death resulted from  the parents' acting on their 
beliefs at least as much as from the surgeon's  intervention.  I suppose this 
might be described as a disaster if one  shared the parents' religious beliefs 
-- but, because they are entirely  fictional, I don't see how anyone could.  It 
would be different if some  obviously bad consequences occurred by means 
other than the parents'  choices.  One could describe the episode, as summarized, 
as about free  will and determinism, or about the bad consequences of 
religious  fanaticism.  (One thing it's not about is the bad consequences of  
government intervention, because the surgeon refuses to comply with the  government 
representative's direction not to perform the surgery.)

Rick  Duncan wrote:

_Here_ (http://www.oinc.net/B5/Enc/)  by the way is a very nice  summary of  
Babylon 5 "The Believers" episode.
 
Rick




 
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