Controversy about the Controversy.

Vee is currently thinking about the euthanasia controversy, which is causing heated argument in several countries around the world as increasing numbers demand a legal right to be killed whilst opponents are equally insistent that the law absolutely forbid killing human beings who want to die.

In his reply to my comments on his initial clarification of terms, Vee made a comment that I thought was rather good:

Thank you for your comments. According to your comments, I think the controversial word is healing.
If that is right, I think healing in this term focus on mental conditions of patients, not physical condition.
But I still confuse some points: I think a form of healing is just a process in euthanasia, and euthanasia is more controversial than healing (bold added).
Euthanasia has turned out to be a most controversial issue for many conutries for a long time.

The text I've marked in bold seems to me to address an important issue, one that applies to all of these questions on controversial issues, and one that it might be very helpful to be clear about so as to avoid an answer that does not actually answer the question being asked. (This might be another good time to use the word not.)

What do you think? What is your response to the important point raised by Vee's thoughtful comment?

Why is matters
You can probably already see from the questions on the list that seemingly academic discussions on the meaning of words can have very practical consequences for people's lives. If you would like another example, from the generally not so exciting world of insurance, answer the following question:

• When terrorists flew planes into the two towers of New York's World Trade Centre on 9/11, 2001, how many events occurred in that attack, or attacks? 

Billions of dollars in insurance payouts hinged on the definition of the words event and occurrence. Like all of the other words that these essays ask you to define, we all use these common words all of the time, but can you give a solid definition of either term that will allow you to convincingly answer the insurance question?
How much would you pay out: $3.5 billion, or $7 billion? Both parties were sure that this difference was not a small matter.
For a bit more on this example of the importance of defining terms, see "What does it mean: II - a real and controversial example = 9/11 terrorism insurance" (Peter, 2011).

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References

Peter. (2011, March 14). What does it mean: II - a real and controversial example = 9/11 terrorism insurance. Class Blog - AEP at AUA. Retrieved January 31, 2011 from http://peteraep.blogspot.com/2011/03/what-does-it-mean-ii-real-and.html