MASH
If you’re not old enough or not a fan, there was a TV show in the 1970s titled “MASH.” MASH is an acronym for Mobile Army Surgical Hospital. (Those with military experience know the armed forces loves, loves, loves talking in acronyms). The show is set in a mobile hospital in Korea during the Korean War. The focus was on the surgeons, nurses and the commanding officer with additional supporting cast as needed. The show ran for 11 years, making it one of the longest-running TV shows, I believe.
Early on in the series, they had more actors and the episodes tended to be more comedic. As the series progressed, the episodes had fewer actors and tended to have more serious themes. This devotion compares two episodes, one from the early part of the run and one of the later episodes.
The main theme of both episodes was almost the same. The commanding officer of a group of infantry troops is wounded and comes to the MASH unit to be treated. Both commanders are very determined to succeed on the battlefield and because of their zeal, end up with a higher casualty rate than other commanders.
The first episode, which is more comedic, involved a minor thigh wound with the late Leslie Nielsen as the commander. The surgeons find out he has twice as many casualties, but only gains half the ground. They decide to gaslight (it’s a real word - look it up if you don’t know it) him and manipulate his command away from him. The whole episode involves such pranks as moving his things from one tent to another to get him to question his sanity and playing off his fears and preconceived notions that he brought to the situation with him (he was a college football star who joined the army and progressed to a rank of major). The episode ended with him being sent to a psychiatric hospital for observation and treatment, guaranteeing that his command would be taken away.
The other episode came much later in the series. Again, a commander (I didn’t consider the actor to be well-known) with zeal to succeed took chances that resulted in a higher casualty rate than his peers, and he didn’t gain much ground. This episode was sketchy on the details as compared to the earlier one, as it didn’t mention how much higher his casualty rate was or how much ground he did or didn’t capture.
But, the most significant aspect was the lack of agreement that the commander needed to have his command taken away. In the earlier episode, both main characters agreed. However, in the later episode only one of the main characters was determined to take his command away, while the other main character was trying to slow him down or stop him.
The pivot point of the later episode is when the surgeons invite the commander to the swamp (what they called their tent) for a drink of homemade moonshine. The first main character slipped a drug into the commander’s moonshine, which caused significant gastric distress. He then diagnosed the commander with appendicitis, which would require emergency surgery. The other main character suggested it might only be gastritis, which would not require emergency surgery. The effect was that if the commander had surgery, he’d have his command taken away during the two-week recovery period.
The focus was on the philosophical paradox of whether the end justifies the means. By this I mean, if the surgeon removed his appendix without cause, was that a lesser sin than if the commander continued to put his men at risk for gain?
There are many philosophical paradoxes we could consider. For example, if you had the chance to go back in time and murder Hitler, would you? But, other moral decisions are much, much harder to determine. There is a famous paradox called the trolley problem. In this problem, you have the opportunity to pull a lever and change the direction of a train. If you don’t pull the lever, five people will die by getting run over. If you pull the lever, the train will switch tracks and kill a child on the alternative track. What would you do?
“But we have this treasure in jars of clay, to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us. We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; always carrying in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our bodies. For we who live are always being given over to death for Jesus’ sake, so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh. So death is at work in us, but life in you. Since we have the same spirit of faith according to what has been written, “I believed, and so I spoke,” we also believe, and so we also speak, knowing that he who raised the Lord Jesus will raise us also with Jesus and bring us with you into his presence. For it is all for your sake, so that as grace extends to more and more people it may increase thanksgiving, to the glory of God. So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal.” - 2 Corinthians 4:7-18 ESV
I don’t have a good answer to the MASH episode paradox (or the Hitler paradox), much less the Trolley problem. I’ve decided to put my faith in God and his sovereign plan.
