The article by Lee Romney told the story of an 88-year-old Oakland, California, man—a World War II vet who’d “grown hard of hearing and become a bit paranoid”—who’d been caring for his 57-year-old daughter since she suffered a devastating brain injury 26 years ago. The man, William Knox Roberts, was stricken with lung and liver ailments and he sensed his end was near. Then who would protect his daughter, Marian? One night in August he fired a bullet into Marian and then turned the gun on himself.
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“Murder or mercy” reduces the complexities to either/or, and in the view of Dick Sobsey tips the scales in favor of mercy. Sobsey is director of a developmental disabilities center in Alberta, and he’s someone Romney talked to before writing her article—though he didn’t show up in it. I spotted Sobsey on Facebook calling the headline “dreadful” and observing: “Interesting how different it sounds if you just reverse it to ask ‘Mercy or Murder?’”
“If I ask is [Edward] Snowden a ‘hero or an traitor?’, I think it is different than asking is he a ‘traitor or hero?’ The first one suggests some people may think he is a hero but if you look closely you will realize he is a traitor. The second one suggests some people may think he is a traitor but if you look closely you will realize he is a hero.”
