Back to Rachel's Home PageIn this episode, Voyager accidentally releases a Q who had been imprisoned for attempting to commit suicide.
This is a thought-provoking episode that raises some sticky ethical questions about using suicide to end suffering. Tuvok has this to say about Vulcan practices regarding suicide:
"Why are you telling me this?"
"Because I want you to represent me at the hearing."
"Me? I have no legal expertise."
"But I need someone who understands Federation asylum practices. Besides, Vulcans approve of suicide."
"It is true that Vulcans who reach a certain infirmity with age do practice ritual suicides. Nevertheless, I fail to see how that fact would be meaningful in this circumstance."
--Tuvok and Q, Voy: "Deathwish"
Tuvok does agree to represent Q at the hearing to decide his request for asylum. He uses the arguement that while Q was once the preeminent philosopher of the Q continuum, all has been done and discussed, and there is nothing left to debate, condemning him to a life of intolerable suffering from which he wishes to be released.
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Rachel M. Thurston
surak@infinet.com