Human Dignity and Bioethics

The Religious Character of Human Dignity | 401
Human beings rise (or sink) to the occasion.
Again: we can fine-tune a duty more accurately and with greater
subtlety than a right, because we are addressing those who will actively
deliver, not those who will passively receive. Another Talmudic
passage: “Rav Yonah said: It is not written, Happy is he who gives to
the poor, but Happy is he who considers the poor (Psalms 41:1)—that
is, he who ponders how to fulfill the command to help the poor”
(Talmud Yerushalmi). 5 This instruction tells would-be charity-givers
to think. It says, in effect, “We can and will give you detailed instructions,
but you must apply them thoughtfully, not by rote.” In
the language of rights we would have to say, “You are entitled to
have someone think about how to help you”—another implausiblesounding
right, impossible to enforce.
There are endless Talmudic instructions (based on Biblical verses)
that enjoin care for and kindness to the sick, young, old, unprotected.
But these are all subsumed in a general instruction that is
even more important: one must perform “acts of loving-kindness.”
“Shim’on the Just used to say, The universe stands on three things: on
Torah, on worship, and on acts of loving-kindness” (Mishnah Avos).
“Rav Elazar said: Giving charity is greater than all sacrifice…. But
acts of loving-kindness are greater than giving charity” (Sukkah 49b).
Such duties cannot possibly be rephrased in rights-language. (“You
are entitled to live in a world in which some people are duty-bound
to perform acts of loving-kindness”?)
In all these cases, rights-based language is opaque and passive and
sometimes impossible.
Let’s consider some modern cases. Terry Schiavo’s death was a
tragic watershed that will be discussed for years. (Briefly, Mrs. Schiavo
was either comatose or mostly but not entirely comatose, depending
on whom you believe; she was unable to feed herself; although
her parents pleaded for her life, legal authorities ordered that she be
starved to death.) I will consider just one aspect of the case: certain
elected officials tried to intervene on behalf of Mrs. Schiavo’s parents.
But polls suggested that the public regarded the case as none of its
business and wanted politicians to butt out.
Ordinarily, refusing to feed someone who can’t feed herself is
murder. And virtually all ethical systems require us to help the weak
and the sick, not starve them. There was plenty to argue about in this