Death As Entertainment

The heretofore unknown band Hell on Earth (the band with a “heck” of a name) plans to include a suicide of a terminally ill patient at their next concert in St. Petersburg, FL. This report [linked via Joshua Hoover]said that although the St. Petersburg city council created a new law to stop such an event, the band’s leader says the show, also to be broadcast on the internet, will go on.

The band’s leader “said the point is to raise awareness that physician-assisted suicide should be legalized in Florida.” Yeah right. I’m sure everyone will be really sympathetic when they see someone do themselves in. Undoubtedly publicity for the band is the chief motivation behind such a stunt, and I doubt whether this will even happen. But it is rather eerie to think that someone would even contemplate such a thing. However in a culture that values personal comfort over life, it’s not all that surprising.