So im watching the movie Tears of the Sun and im wondering what your thoughts are on a situation that plays out in this movie. A military squad is sent to evacuate a doctor, a priest, and two nuns from a small camp in an African village. They have information that rebel forces are on the way to slaughter those in the camp. The doctor doesn't want to leave without the 70 some odd patients, and after some huffing and puffing the commander agrees to escort those who can walk on their own out with the doctor. At the last second, one of the nuns decides to stay behind with the other nun and the priest who never planned on leaving. She's allowed to stay, and later we see they all are slaughtered. Now, my question is about a bit of a different situation. Let's say that there is enough room for everyone to be evacuated, but the nun wants to remain behind because she feels god has told her to remain at this camp in case others show up who need help. Would you leave her, or force her to come with the others? Why?

Sorry for no paragraphs and any spelling errors, im on my phone atm.

Drag her away kicking and screaming. She ain't making ME feel guilty. What's she gonna do if people turn up needing help, anyway?

free will, lol

Of course I respecr her wishes. It is her life. I only object when the religious try to invade other people's lives.

I wouldn't risk the safety of others by wasting manpower on forcing people along.

If that wasn't a consideration needed in this hypothetical, I'd force them - people in such stressing situations don't always think clearly.

If that too was not a consideration needed in this hypothetical I'd force them and tell them they were free to commit suicide later in their lives.

Of course I would not force her.

As long as she injures no one else in the process, decisions about what happens to her are hers alone to make.

What if you knew for a fact she would be raped and murdered and no one else would be helped by her remaining behind?

This might be a dumb question because irl there would be no way to know this...

I still respect her wishes. I would make sure to impart that information to her though, of course.

hmmm, interesting. would you feel the same way about someone who isn't religious but thinks they're going to be able to defend themselves?

As put in the OP - well, heh, define 'respect'. In most cases, I won't prevent the person from staying, but without a very good reason I will think them an idiot for doing so (and if the reason offered is transparently idiotic, I might assume they're incapable and force them to leave - like tame said, they can finish the job later if death is their actual goal).

No question but she's being taken along with us - kicking and screaming, if need be.

Yes. I am very laissez-faire. I am an extremely strong proponent of allowing people the freedom to do whatever they want as long as it does not infringe on anybody else's rights. I would probably be an ACer if I knew more about it.

I'm forcing the nun to leave obviously. Would I let someone jump off a bridge because they thought god wanted them to? In this case it's basically the same question.

ok, last question? (i think) does this change if it's a family member or wife/girlfriend?

really good question.

No. If anything it would make me less likely to do anything. My family and friends would be the last people of whom I would want to deprive the right to make their own decisions.

EDIT: Sorry read your question wrong. Yes, I think you should respect their religious choice in this situation. If it's a family member, even the more so.

Should you respect a Muslim's decision to kill their daughter because it's their "religious decision"? Of course not. (The point is, just because it's their religious decision doesn't mean you have to respect it.)

In your example, you respect their decision because everyone should be able to choose what happens to themselves. If it puts someone else in harms way, it's an entirely different story.

Yeah, it's weird because you know for a fact one thing while she knows for a fact the other and both of you claim to have this knowledge by 'magic' basically.

I'd be very convincing for as long as I could stay. And then go.

I inform her and everybody about what's going to happen and let them make their own decision. The mission objective is a different story. I'd knock out and carry the person all the way to the chopper, if they were non-compliant.

Butcho's (revised) hypothetical includes foreknowledge of 100% certainty of their death. Do you still "let them die", so to speak?

fyp

You sure you read the situation correctly?

Yes. Whether or not they would actually be better off is irrelevant. Allowing people the right to make their own decisions necessitates allowing them to make mistakes, even if it costs them their lives.

Guess I misunderstood you if by "she believes in one thing" you meant that she believes more people will come. I thought you meant by "she believes one thing" you were referring to her religion. Nvm.

With this I flat-out disagree. Life and death (and serious injury) is where I draw the line with regards to allowing people, especially close people, to make their own (wrong) decisions and (possibly, hopefully) learn from their mistakes.

Are you honestly and seriously saying that if your own brother/son/best friend/lover/etc. sat in front of you with a chambered gun and decided to stick the barrel in their mouth and fire, you wouldn't even lift a finger to stop them because, hey, it's their right to their decision?

I get the impression that's not fully honest. Perhaps social experimentation would be the only way to get 100% of the truth here. There seems to be a huge disconnect with the way people think and say about these matters and what they're likely to actually do in the real situation.

If this is directed at me, I'm not talking specifically about the OP. I'm talking about this caveat: