X-Message-Number: 5963
Date:  Tue, 19 Mar 96 13:03:18 
From: Mike Perry <>
Subject: religion, suicice

The issue has been raised, in connection with the possibility of 
premortem cryonic suspension, of how society would treat or react to 
a religion-sanctioned practice of suicide, if it existed. One 
example of this (not the only one either) occurs in Jainism,
which is a religion native to 
India but has adherents around the world, including the U.S. Like 
many other religious movements, Jainism has a monastic tradition in 
addition to a lay membership. Quoting 
from a recent edition of the *Encyclopaedia Britannica*:

"The culmination of a monk's ascetic rigours is the act of 
*sallekhana*, in which a monk lies on one side on a bed of thorny 
grass and ceases to move or take food. This act of ritual starvation 
is the monk's ultimate act of nonattachment, in which he lets go of 
the body for the sake of his soul. The ascetic's prepatory rigours, 
which point to and culminate in this act, generally take 30 years or 
more. While it is a tenet of Jaina doctrine that no one can achieve 
liberation in this corrupt time, it is thought that the act of 
*sallekhana* still has value since it can improve a soul's spiritual 
situation in the next birth."

(I should add that the Jains do not consider this "sucide"--but
it would be so regarded by most legal jurisdictions. By 
comparison, we in cryonics would not consider premortem suspension 
"suicide" either, but current legal opinion sees it differently.)
I'm not sure whether *sallekhana* is practiced outside the homeland 
of India, but as far as I know it is accepted by the society of which 
it is part. And India was under British rule for a long time, under 
which another suicidal practice, suttee, or the burning of the wife 
following the death of the husband,was outlawed. Suttee (which 
actually was *not* always voluntary or suicide!), was permitted 
in Hinduism, the dominant religion in India, but is forbidden in 
Jainism. Jainism, moreover, is a minority movement claiming about 
7-10 million adherents, mostly in India, where the population is 
about 100 times that.

If there is a lesson for cryonics in this, it appears to be that any 
practice we engage in that is not likely to be offensive to society 
at large is not likely to get us into trouble with society at large. 
If "assisted suicide" is legalized, as seems to be happening, it 
would seem to be an indicator of a general acceptance of this 
practice in society, which would seem to give the green light to us 
to proceed when others can also do so.

A few religious zealots
may violently oppose it (including by literal acts of violence),
but would probably not target most of their fury toward our minority 
movement, and I think this would apply in spite of any publicity or 

visibility we receive. In fact, during my 9 years at Alcor I've seen very little
in the way of any direct physical threats, even though we might have 
expected some. (Animal research labs are sometimes targeted by 
bombers, for instance.) Among the likely reasons for this is that we are 
armed and prepared to meet such threats, *and* this fact was brought 
out in the publicity we received over the Dora Kent case. We, of 
course, must *stay* prepared for any contingencies, and the public
should remain aware of this--though we don't want to over-advertise it 
either. But with reasonable security measures, and a reasonable 
policy of informing the public, I think we will be able to safely 
offer what most of us want. Basically, we want to be suspended when, 
medically and biologically, it's time to be suspended, and not have 
to incur unnecessary pain or risk to our future reanimation.

Mike Perry, 


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