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The And Controversial Ethical Conflicts

Decent Essays

Fiat Voluntas Tua One of the most significant and controversial ethical conflicts in this novel occurs in the final section, probing the issue of suicide. A nuclear test has occurred and many people were badly injured by the blasts and radiation. Abbot Zerchi must decide how the church will respond to the affected people. A medical group called Green Star wishes to set up units in the abbey to treat the radiation victims. The church faces a problem because Green Star, in cases where radiation exposure is terminal, recommends that the person go to a mercy camp where euthanasia is administered. The law of the church defines this mercy killing as evil and Zerchi will not allow Green Star to use their courtyard if they will be recommending suicide (Miller 295). Religious and secular ethics are foiled here once again. The two men, Abbot Zerchi and Doctor Cors of Green Star, operate under different moral codes. Zerchi states that he is subject to another law, which forbids anyone on the church property to counsel anyone to do what the Church calls evil, referring to the mercy killings (Miller 295). They only evil Doctor Cors sees, in contrast, is pain (Miller 296). He believes that it is the society that determines whether an action is right or wrong (Miller 297). Doctor Cors exemplifies Singer’s theory well, in that he acts to remove as much suffering as possible and is bound to a moral code not given by a religious authority. Cors does not believe it is ethical that

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