February 13, 2006

• I got into a conversation at work today about organ donation. We were
  talking about why some people choose to be organ donors and why some
  don’t. I had explained that for some people, its for religious
  reasons. For example, when my cousin lost his legs almost 30 years ago,
  they had his legs buried. I swear, I’m not making this up. The Catholic
  reasoning behind this is that “if you bury the missing body parts, they
  will be reunited in heaven with the body.” Yeah. Uh-huh, right. So,
  when he dies, he is going to roll up the stairway to heaven in his
  wheelchair and they are just going to say to him as he gets to the
  gates “welcome to heaven, you will be here for all eternity. Oh, and
  remember your legs, here they are, why don’t you just slide right back
  into them.” I mean, did they have a proper funeral for the legs,
  because without a proper funeral, can we expect them to go to heaven?
  Which brings up another point, were the legs baptized? Because, if
  somebody is not baptized, they go to hell, is it the same way for
  missing limbs? I just can’t even begin to picture them having a baptism
  and funeral for the legs on the same day. Are there Godparents for the
  legs? Are they the same people that would be pallbearers? Do the legs
  have a tombstone: HERE LIES PAUL’S LEGS, SOMEDAY THEY WILL BE REUNITED
  IN HEAVEN. Do people pray for the legs or buy flowers for the grave?
  And what about other body parts? According to some religions, if you
  donate your organs, when you get to heaven you will be minus those
  organs. See, when my mom died, I had them take her corneas, does this
  mean she is wandering through the afterlife not being able to see? How
  can she go from living an honorable life being able to see and then all
  of a sudden, POOF! you can’t see in heaven? And what about other
  organs, such as hearts, kidneys and such? I thought that the soul goes
  to heaven and the body is left behind? If this is the case, then people
  shouldn’t need their organs and therefore, donation should be ok. Since
  I’m a borderline atheist, I’m all for organ donation. I mean, carve me
  up like a Thanksgiving turkey and harvest my organs on the black market
  for all I care, I ain’t going to need any of them. Ok, so maybe not on
  the black market, but you get what I mean. The way I see it, if my
  heart, which I have not taken care of at all and quite frankly might be
  on its last thumps, can bring joy to somebody else for even a few days,
  have at it. And if somebody can find some sort of use for my eyes, more
  power to you. Think of how funny it would be if somebody took all of my
  organs and used them in their Halloween costume. Of course, I might put
  up at least a mild objection if I’m not done with them. But, see, its
  all about sharing. Hell, I really don’t care what you do with them. If
  you find out my liver is not quite up to par, feel free to feed it to
  your dog if he will eat it. It doesn’t make sense not to use them.
  Shit, when somebody dies, they don’t just throw away everything they
  own. They go through it and sort out the junk from the treasures. And
  some people even leave things in a will. Maybe thats what I will do. To
  my brother John, I leave my hair. To my brother Mark, I leave my brain.
  To my mother’s family, I will leave you what you most need, a heart,
  since most of you are cold, heartless bastards. See, this might be the
  way of the future.

  At least, it should be the way of the future, as far as organ donation
  goes. How can these religions even tell their followers not to donate
  organs? I thought religon was supposed to be all about life and love
  and giving. Why is it that they are all about being humane, against
  people dying (such as abortions and the Terri Schivo thing) but won’t
  give people another chance to live or improve the life of somebody? My
  mom always said not to throw away food because to waste food is a sin.
  By this reasoning, wasting good organs is a sin too. This is chance to
  give as much back to your fellow man as you can. Isn’t this what Jesus
  would do? Wouldn’t he want people to give organs? I just find it
  hypocritical to preach life and giving and being like Jesus and then
  not truly following through in the end. How can these people call
  themselves “Christians” if they are not willing to be more Christ like?
  The ultimate gift you can give somebody is the gift of life. Your
  organs which you have left behind can give somebody that gift. It can
  give somebody the chance at a semi normal life. If somebody is a
  Christian, they have to believe that the body is just a shell and the
  afterlife is all about the soul. The “shell” and everything inside of
  the “shell” shouldn’t matter. And if you are to be judged to get into
  heaven, you should have lived a worthy life, and part of that is
  giving to others and helping your fellow man. And that is what life and
  organ donation is all about. So, damn those religions for the hypocrisy
  that they sell, of which sometimes does not make the world a better
  place.

  • 11:09 pm
  • 4 Comments