Turning morality on its head - Israel

Haaretz | By Rob Berman, Jacob Lavee

More than a hundred Israelis die needlessly each year because not enough people donate organs for transplant. Yet the same Israelis who refuse to donate organs are willing to take them when their lives depend on it. In an attempt to stop this social parasitism, the Knesset recently passed a law that gives priority in organ allocation to transplant candidates who are organ donor cardholders. The law is the epitome of fairness, representing the ethical principle of reciprocal altruism - those who try to help others will be helped themselves. Yet Rabbi Dr. David Shabtai, in a recent oped in Haaretz English Edition ("An immoral incentive," May 4, 2012 ), turned the moral aspect of this law on its head, and described it as "unfair" and an example of "religious discrimination."

Some Orthodox Jews do not accept that brain death constitutes death. They believe that a brain-dead body is a living human being so long as its heart is still beating, even if that's with the help of a ventilator. These religious people claim that to agree to have their organs removed when their heart is still beating would be like agreeing to be murdered. They just can't do it.

It is true that religiously observant people should not be punished for their convictions, but we believe they should be held accountable for their behavior. What kibbutz, for example, would allow a member to eat communal food if the member refuses to work?

Read more: http://www.haaretz.com/opinion/turning-morality-on-its-head-1.429645

{Register to be an organ,eye and tissue donor. To learn how, www.donatelife.net or www.organdonor.gov}