# Which friend should die? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [March 15, 2003, 4:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-friend-should-die/161534 "2003-03-15T04:53:45Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 2\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![delphica](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e9a140/32.png) [@delphica](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/delphica)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2003, 10:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-friend-should-die/161534/21 "2003-03-15T22:58:13Z")
I’d go with the “refuse to choose.” I actually remember this being an excercise in religious education class – while waffling a little bit about “each person must make their own choice,” the general implication was that the “right answer” is to refuse. The bad guy is a murderer (or will be in a few moments) but you can/should refuse to be an active participant in murder. And then be a passive martyr, I suppose. 😉 With the dangling ropes – I’d try to grab the person on my right because I’m right-handed. I figure that would be my reflex anyway, to grab with my strong(er) hand. ---
**Author:** ![Nightime](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/e9c0ed/32.png) [@Nightime](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nightime)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2003, 11:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-friend-should-die/161534/22 "2003-03-15T23:11:11Z")
Choosing to save one of them would not make you an active participant in murder. You are choosing who to save, not who to kill. Basically, you are told that both your friends will die but you can save one if you want to. In this hypothetical situation, you should save one of them. However, this situation can probably never occur in reality because you could never completely trust someone, especially someone you already knew was evil. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-friend-should-die/161534.md?page=1)