Can suicide be justified for one who is a threat to humanity?

Question

I am working on vaccines for some of the most deadly viruses that God ever brought forth from hell. Thankfully, they have not yet found their way to human or primate populations.

Anyway, here's the problem:

There are days when I go to work and wonder what would happen if I screwed up the protocol, if I failed to pay attention to what I was doing, thus releasing the beast. The most destructive force in the history of life on this planet would be unleashed and man would finally know the totallity of hell on Earth.

I have sworn that if I failed my duty, I would first try to resolve the problem and protect the people of this Earth from near certain extinction. Once the problem was resolved, I would determine the aftermath. If there was a death toll consisting of innocent people, I would take my own life without hesitation.

Likewise, if I ever became infected with a certain one of the viruses, I would throw myself into an incinerater.

Is this suicide a moral plan?

Answer 1

It does nothing. Those that died are dead. Your death saves no one. And if you became infected and the result is death, just go ahead and get sick and die of it - the authorities will see that you get incinerated once you are dead.

I mean, we're not talking you commit suicide SO THAT others will live. We're talking you commit suicide so that you don't have to live with the thought that you screwed up and people died.

Deadly germs such as you describe are handled in labs that are designed to contain them in case of accident. A single person's screw up will not create a holocaust. And since nobody's perfect, and they know it, any such thing would be the fault of the people who insist on dealing with such things.

Answer 2

The welfare of the greater is more important that the death of one. The real moral choice begins with just because I can, should I. That should have been your first thought before you ever began. You face the same choice Oppenheimer did when the first atomic bomb was a success. Should you have done it. and what are the consequences.

A release, obviates the suicide because you may be the last best hope. Infection makes you a threat and suicide mandatory but as a test subject for a vaccine. If some of them are as lethal as you portray, then it is both the best and the worst. It kills you quickly but also doesn't allow you too transmit very far.

Answer 3

I would say that suicide would be nothing more than a attempt to avoid the responsibility of your actions. The BEST plan for you is to always pay the closest attention to your job and duties. Only in this way would you keep the rest of humanity safe from the beasts you have to deal with. Even if the very worse happened, you would still be clear of guilt within your own mind, as you will know that you did everything possible to keep these things contained.

Answer 4

i'm no longer effective if this can bypass lower than the category of 'philosophical'.. yet i opt for to seem at it this kind. Us as people, for sure went with the help of lots to also be the following in this Earth today. We stronger for a lengthy time period and likely brought about our poor moms a lot discomfort. earlier to that although.. we had to get our little fishy-lookin' selves into that egg. Now.. out of those million some abnormal different little sperm, WE made it in. WE were given contained in the egg. it would want to were another random one proper? Yeah, nicely it wasn't. And before someone is going committing suicide they ought to quite imagine about that. no longer contained in the comical way, yet in a extreme, thoughtful way. perhaps if another sperm entered the egg they could cherish their present of existence in the international. perhaps that that they had be one a lot less grateful man or woman in the international. So this 'man or woman' might want to guage that, and shoot for that style of body of ideas. because existence isn't meant to be thrown away, it is truly the different.

Answer 5

Suicides justified(;-) More on logic of suicides here-


To put it bluntly... anyone who commits suicide directly goes to hell (Naraka as we call it in Hinduism). There is no other remedy for one has transgressed the domain of God without his permission. We are never permitted to commit suicide and cut short the journey. Why?

In the cosmic system if we try to understand that it is our Atman the soul within that has taken the body and not otherwise... how can a Jiva (living being) leave the body on its own. We have committed a crime which even god, the Almighty Creator can never forgive. It is only and only dependent upon the Atman the soul within to manifest and leave the body dependent upon our Karma of the present and the past lives.

By cutting short the journey... do we mean we can get a more enlightening birth in the next manifestation? Never! For if we were traveling on point number 60 in the present life and for having committed suicide we are awarded a penalty of minus five then in the next birth we shall get a body only at a lower level that is number 55! Supposedly... the body of a Human being is achieved at number 58 then it is possible that having been born as a Human being we may revert back to the animal kingdom for we are short of three numbers and unless and until by performing the requisite Karma we gain three numbers in the cosmic system we shall not be given the body of a Human being until then. What a pity!


The body of a Human being is given by the grace of God, the Almighty Creator only after we have crossed over 7.3 million manifestations (right from the stage of an amoeba a single cell formation... the first in the series of the cosmic life and up to the stage of animals). It is only thereafter we are born as a Human being and in the Human form itself we have 1.1 million types of manifestations.

Human being is the highest stage one can achieve in the cosmic system... it is only as a Human being that one can realize God... gain enlightenment and finally salvation moksha. Never otherwise... even the gods and goddesses in heaven have to come down to mother earth to gain their release from the bondage of different manifestations.

We have two perfect examples in history of Gargi and Maitreyi... only two ladies in the history of Mankind who gained self realization what to talk of committing a suicide. God realization... in fact gaining enlightenment is not possible in normal circumstances in the female form... it is only when one is born as a man that one can realize God and gain salvation (moksha as we call it in Hinduism). Why so? More on suicides here- http://www.vijaykumar.org/articles_on_teen_suicides.html

Answer 6

Not a moral plan, just an attempt to escape the reality of your guilt.
Besides, if you got the virus and survived, chances are your blood could be the source of a vaccine to cure your hapless victims. Therefore, you would have a resposibility to keep yourself alive on the chance that your life could save others.

Answer 7

One failure to justify the innocent death of many does not a balance make as though one other than God would hold the balance of life in their understanding, yet in a moment the change from your hand to God can be. when the will of life be the will of God and not the will of humanity we will not live in fear of thee.

Answer 8

God bless you for your dedication to your work and your concern for humanity. This truly could be a moral dilemma and one I hope you'll only have to ponder. I don't have the answer, I just want to say thank you.

Answer 9

suicide is not t answer to any problem ... but in t particular sceneario i will say that suicide is t bst measure .... but it shuld not b ur primary goal .... u suld try u lvl bst to find a solution and even thn u r not abl to find one thn either u shuld stay isolated frm t world or may b suicide ... anyway frm ur noble thought i come to know tat u r a good person at heart ...... so good luck in ur life and i pray nothing of such sort hapns to ya ....

Answer 10

Better pray to God to protect you and keep those viruses where they belong.

Counter-question: what if one day, while pondering on one of these what-if questions, you fail to take all precautions and what you fear most happens?

Well, if you don't think prayer is useful (which it is for me, and prevents me from letting my thoughts wander off like that, and consequently helps me concentrate better), then you should at least considering some counseling or therapy, to ease these thoughts on you.