It\u2019s already present in the terms: ethics is about \u2018being good\u2019, \u2018getting better\u2019. Medicine, the beloved art and science of \u2018making better\u2019, has always been involved in morality though in the last few centuries of Western cultural development, in a very hidden way. In times not so long gone, illness was explicitly seen as \u2018curse from God\u2019 (for the bad ones) or \u2018challenge by God\u2019 (for the good ones).<\/p>\n
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Of course, since the good ones could choose who were the good ones, they were always the good ones.<\/p>\n
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In a complete turnover, modern people have somehow become allergic to even a remote possibility of a connection between morality and health \/ illness. Saying for instance that someone is guilty of his cancer, is not only plainly wrong. It is also reacted against in an almost violent manner. Shimmering through this violence however lies an even heavier load, namely that of the feeling of guilt that is actually not gone at all. It is still there, weighing on a person\u2019s inner mind. People want to push guilt as far away as possible but in the end, it is still present in the center.<\/p>\n
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In depth, medicine and morality have not been dissociated, whereas it has been done superficially. This situation creates an enormous tension. People are guilt-ridden up to their bones, where this may well enhance the possibility of developing a bone cancer or leukemia. Indeed: a profound feeling of guilt is a sentiment that has scientifically been related to a heightened possibility of cancer.<\/p>\n
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It strikes me that simply and spontaneously getting better, even of a cancer, doesn\u2019t attract the attention it deserves, scientific or otherwise. Being cured in a \u2018heroic way\u2019 (such as by surgery + chemo + radiation) seems much more \u2018worthwhile\u2019 and simply \u2018better\u2019 than being cured \u2018just like that\u2019. Apparently, one shouldn\u2019t get better just like that. One should get better \u2018in the right way\u2019. This is: the way sanctioned by present-day authority. This is: materialistic medical science. Not submitting oneself to this authority is immediately suspect.<\/p>\n
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Even dying is supposed to be done \u2018in the right way\u2019, this is: after every possible medical attempt has been made to prolong life. If a dying person refuses this treatment, chances are that he is looked upon with more than a bit of suspicion. It is something \u2018not done\u2019. Relatives staying behind have to apologize themselves. The question is posed: was this indeed a moral death?<\/p>\n
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To me, here lies a huge responsibility for all of us. It concerns our deepest self, our \u2018soul\u2019. The responsibility is in accepting the very sense of responsibility in matters of health, without any feeling of guilt, neither in a superficial way nor in a deep way. This also means having a good contact with one\u2019s deeper self.<\/p>\n
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Responsibility lies in the relation of a person with himself and through this, with all other people in the world. Guilt leads to the annihilation of a person\u2019s responsibility, thereby also preventing his very capability of relating to others in a very deep way.<\/p>\n
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This is said by someone who knows that at first sight it looks very different.<\/p>\n
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