jimmypop
BANNED
onefastgear said:As a doctor, I have seen Lance's influence on patients confronted with a cancer diagnosis. Lying in the anaesthetic bay scared about what's going to confront them on the other side of the operation. They'll have read a Lance quote or even a book, and they hope. No way I'm taking that from them.
My grandfather overcame testicular cancer late in life. He was a casual fan of cycling before I ever got into the sport (thanks to GL's publicity during his TdF runs). He read one of the ghostwritten Armstrong books, and certainly looked to Armstrong for inspiration.
When my grandfather asked me point blank about Armstrong and doping (in mid-2007), I replied that all signs were pointing toward confirmation. With that, my grandfather tossed the book and never mentioned him again. He completed his chemo treatments with the realization that hope comes from within.
Is false hope equivalent with real hope? That's an individual decision. I'd like to think my grandfather made the correct and healthy decision to discontinue his use of a purveyor of false hope as a beacon for his own recovery.
I equate your rationalization with letting an individual practice homeopathy because it "does no harm". The tangible harm is that you're letting someone believe in fairy tales, and as a society we can do better than that.