While analyzing sources for my upcoming research paper, I stumbled upon the scholarly article “Samaritanism and Civil Disobedience” by Candice Delmas. In this article, Delmas argues that civil disobedience when it comes to rescuing others is reasonably expected; she says, “We each have a responsibility to help rescue others when this assistance is not unreasonably costly,” (1). This means that Delmas believes in reasonable lawbreaking for the greater good of others, which I completely agree with.
I think that as long as one isn’t actually sacrificing their own life (I understand that many laws are made to prevent this), humans actually have a moral obligation to save others, even if it is not legal. For example, even though it’s illegal to speed, plenty of people will go 80 in a 40 if someone is dying in the passenger seat. And while that is somewhat morbid, it is the truth; there are not many limits to this if the welfare of others is a mentality you have been raised with. I grew up with this mentality, and I would nearly give my life for someone else if I did not know the consequences of my death.
This also made me think about the owl. About a year ago, I was driving home from my friend’s house when I noticed an owl standing in the middle of the road. I am a very attentive driver and understand why someone would miss it late at night, so, I slowed down, turned my flashers on, and tried my best to keep other drivers from hitting it.
I pondered for a few moments what my options were; my parents are veterinarians, so I have grown up with a slightly higher than average compassion for animals that others may not understand. Instead of giving up and leaving, I knew that I had to at least make an effort to save this owl. Would I wrap it in a blanket, try to bring it to the sidewalk, and let it fly away? Would I stop my car in the middle of the street to keep other cars from hitting it? After the fact, my parents reassured me that the owl could have injured me, or a car could have done worse. I still blamed myself for not acting sooner, and I blamed the other drivers for not seeing it in the road when the streetlights were dim and the distraction of life kept their minds occupied.
This was a moral conflict that affected me for a long time. I tend to blame myself for things that I am not even a little bit at fault for, and it often negatively affects my mental health. By now I realize that this is where the limits of good samaritanism come into play; any action I could’ve taken to prevent that owl’s death would have posed a danger to my own life, and that is something I had to accept as not being worth it. The owl now rests in that spot forever, and I don’t think I will ever forget it.
Discussions with my boyfriend and parents after the incident calmed my grief because they convinced me that it was not worth risking anything more to save an owl. It frustrates me that certain lives are valued as more worthy than others, even when mine is the higher valued one; but I know that the hierarchy of life has been established for a reason. For now, I will keep telling the owl how sorry I am when I drive past the location of its death, and I continue to hope that one day I can save more animals to make up for what has been lost.
