Nobody Able to Die, III

There’s a difference, of course, between Jack letting out the Death Angel and someone committing suicide.

“And I guess you know, that Jack was one of the first ones to go.  But he had lived a long and happy life.”

Jack knew he’d be one of the first to go too, but—

1.     He did not in fact kill himself, or anyone else, but merely removed an impediment to death.  That is, his action was innocent in terms of double effect theory.

2.     The good effect at which Jack aimed was to restore the natural order of things which he had inadvertently disturbed; and this was a good thing.

3.     Natural death is, in fact, part of the natural order of things; it is (normally) a necessary step to the next life.

All three of those statements reflect, of course, a Catholic terminology and worldview.  What does Catholicism and an Appalachian folktale have in common that modernity has lost?

Holding onto life beyond measure and taking it before it is measured are opposite extremes, and have been considered so by many human cultures for many thousands of years.  How particular cultures define “measure” does, of course, admit of variation.  The fact that we now are confused about what the right measure for life might be in our society, and even whether there are measures at all beyond individual tolerance and desire is … interesting.