If I was in charge. . .



I was recently watching an episode of Law and Order which dealt with buying human organs on the black market. Stabler and Munch busted in on a doctor who transplanted these bought organs, and stopped the man just before performing an operation that would have saved a young boy's life. Of course, this led to a heated discussion involving lawful vs. moral, and right vs. correct which, as you might expect, no one really won. You might also suspect that I'm going to tell you my opinion on the matter. If so, you have chosen (dramatic pause) wisely.

If I was in charge, there would be no problems with ridiculously long waiting lists, people waiting years for an organ to come along. There would also be no problem with people trying to sell their kidneys to make money. Black market organs would be illegal, period, with harsh penalties for those who would buy and sell. I don't see it as a matter of concern, because organ donation would be mandatory. Anyone who dies is harvested of their usable organs and then given back to the family for burial.

Now, before you start screaming about personal liberties and religious freedoms, let's take a look at some of the viewpoints of various religious groups.

Groups that accept/encourage transplantation and donation:
  • Amish
  • Baha'i
  • Catholicism
  • Christian Church
  • Episcopal
  • Evangelical Covenant Church
  • Greek Orthodox
  • Islam
  • Judaism
  • Lutheran
  • Presbyterian
  • Seventh-Day Adventist
  • Unitarian Universalist
  • United Church of Christ
  • United Methodist

    Groups that are generally opposed to transplantation and donation:
  • Gypsies
  • Shinto

    Groups that feel transplantation and donation are individual decisions:
  • Ame & Ame Zion
  • Assembly of God
  • Baptist
  • Brethren
  • Buddhism
  • Christian Science
  • Hinduism
  • Independent Conservative Evangelical
  • Jehovah's Witnesses
  • Mennonite
  • Moravian
  • Mormon
  • Pentecostal
  • Quakers

    Now, Gypsies and Shinto combined have a global population somewhere between 7 and 10 million. As far as I can predict, my plan won't fall apart if some 0.15% of the world isn't taking part. As for any violation of personal choice, if you would take your internal organs to the grave for worm food rather than possibly prevent a child from living for years on a dialysis machine before dying a painful death, then you are an asshole, and don't deserve them.


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