Reverend Conehead
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Note: I did not serve in the military. If I get some military terms or practice wrong, I request that you cut me some slack.
You're in command of a small unit abroad that must engage a dangerous enemy. For the most part you're happy with the troops under your command. They work hard, they're loyal, and they promptly obey your orders.
However, there's one soldier who concerns you, Private Burke. One day you overhear him talking. He says he hates Private Goldstein, and that he knew him in high school, and that Goldstein had stolen his girlfriend. He describes Goldstein with several derogatory slurs and says he hopes he gets blown up by an enemy's IED and then dies a horrible, painful, slow death. He then laughs, and says he put a dangerous scorpion in Private Goldstein's boot.
So you have the barracks inspected, and it turns out to be true. A scorpion is indeed in Private Goldstein's boot. It's a type of scorpion that would not have killed a person, but it would have seriously injured him and made him sick for several days. You have that danger eradicated, and then you call Private Burke into your office to reprimand him. You order him to no longer harass Private Goldstein. You order him to do a bunch of extra work, that's dirty, extremely difficult, and very undesirable. You tell him that Private Goldberg is his comrade in arms, and that he is to put any personal feelings aside and to work with him just like he would any other soldier. You tell him if he ever pulls any such stunt like that again, he'll be court martialed.
Private Burke obeys all your orders. He not only does all of the dirty work you assigned to him, he does a great job at it. From then on, he treats Private Goldstein with respect. There are no more incidents.
However, one day, Private Goldstein is hit by enemy fire and is taken to the medical unit. He's lost a lot of blood and needs a transfusion, or he'll die. His blood type is AB negative, which is the rarest type. A recent enemy bomb had destroyed all blood reserves, so the only chance to save him is from a transfusion from another soldier. Luckily, there is one other soldier whose type is AB negative: Private Burke. So the doctor calls him in and asks him to give the transfusion. Burke refuses. He says that Private Goldstein is the scumbag who stole the love of his life from him, Emily, and he'll never forgive him, and will therefore not consent to the transfusion. The doctor emphasizes that he'll die without it, and Private Burke simply shrugs his shoulders and says, “Then he'll die.” He says that, even if he's ordered to, he won't comply. They'll have to physically restrain him and force him to do it. He says, “Goldberg is a worthless piece of crap who deserves to die.”
You're made aware of the situation. You could order Private Burke to give the transfusion, though that would violate his right to bodily autonomy, and is an order which he will not obey. It would be an order to give up his blood without his consent. However, it would save Private Goldberg's life.
Do you order him to do the transfusion against his consent? The order will mean that you also have to order other soldiers to physically restrain him in order to force him to do it against his will.
Do you have him physically forced against his will to do the transfusion?
You're in command of a small unit abroad that must engage a dangerous enemy. For the most part you're happy with the troops under your command. They work hard, they're loyal, and they promptly obey your orders.
However, there's one soldier who concerns you, Private Burke. One day you overhear him talking. He says he hates Private Goldstein, and that he knew him in high school, and that Goldstein had stolen his girlfriend. He describes Goldstein with several derogatory slurs and says he hopes he gets blown up by an enemy's IED and then dies a horrible, painful, slow death. He then laughs, and says he put a dangerous scorpion in Private Goldstein's boot.
So you have the barracks inspected, and it turns out to be true. A scorpion is indeed in Private Goldstein's boot. It's a type of scorpion that would not have killed a person, but it would have seriously injured him and made him sick for several days. You have that danger eradicated, and then you call Private Burke into your office to reprimand him. You order him to no longer harass Private Goldstein. You order him to do a bunch of extra work, that's dirty, extremely difficult, and very undesirable. You tell him that Private Goldberg is his comrade in arms, and that he is to put any personal feelings aside and to work with him just like he would any other soldier. You tell him if he ever pulls any such stunt like that again, he'll be court martialed.
Private Burke obeys all your orders. He not only does all of the dirty work you assigned to him, he does a great job at it. From then on, he treats Private Goldstein with respect. There are no more incidents.
However, one day, Private Goldstein is hit by enemy fire and is taken to the medical unit. He's lost a lot of blood and needs a transfusion, or he'll die. His blood type is AB negative, which is the rarest type. A recent enemy bomb had destroyed all blood reserves, so the only chance to save him is from a transfusion from another soldier. Luckily, there is one other soldier whose type is AB negative: Private Burke. So the doctor calls him in and asks him to give the transfusion. Burke refuses. He says that Private Goldstein is the scumbag who stole the love of his life from him, Emily, and he'll never forgive him, and will therefore not consent to the transfusion. The doctor emphasizes that he'll die without it, and Private Burke simply shrugs his shoulders and says, “Then he'll die.” He says that, even if he's ordered to, he won't comply. They'll have to physically restrain him and force him to do it. He says, “Goldberg is a worthless piece of crap who deserves to die.”
You're made aware of the situation. You could order Private Burke to give the transfusion, though that would violate his right to bodily autonomy, and is an order which he will not obey. It would be an order to give up his blood without his consent. However, it would save Private Goldberg's life.
Do you order him to do the transfusion against his consent? The order will mean that you also have to order other soldiers to physically restrain him in order to force him to do it against his will.
Do you have him physically forced against his will to do the transfusion?
