A baby, young child (or even before birth, in the Roman Catholic view) needs adults to take responsibility, they are very dependent on the people around them. Young children are dependent on adults for everything, and adults should care for them.
At the end of their lives people may be old, and need special sorts of care. Or they may be at the end of their life because of a terminal illness.
Either way, Christians should support those who care for these people.
As I have already explained Christians believe that only God should be responsible for ending a life. Christians’ views on abortion (The termination of the life of a foetus) vary.
Many Christians, such as Roman Catholics and Evangelical Protestants believe that all forms of abortion are sinful and should not be allowed. They are the main organisers of groups such as LIFE and SPUC (society for the unborn child). These are anti abortion groups, which campaign for the rights of the foetus. They base their beliefs on certain Christian teachings such as, the sanctity of life and the belief that all life is precious and holy, and belongs to God, therefore only God has the right to end a pregnancy, the belief that life begins at the moment of conception, and that all humans have the same equal right to a life: “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart” Jeremiah 1:5.
Another belief is that the unborn child is created in the image of God and is one for whom Jesus, the Son of God died.
Protestants such as Anglicans and Methodists agree that abortion is wrong and evil. They believe that the concept of abortion goes against one of the 10 commandments: “You shall not murder”.
But they believe that Christians should always do what is the most loving thing under the circumstances.
They would allow abortion in circumstances such as if pregnancy was a result of rape, because they feel it would be necessary for the innocent person to recover.
They would also allow abortion where the foetus is severely handicapped, such that the birth would only give a life of great suffering, or an early death in some cases.
They would allow abortion where the life of the mother is threatened. Some would also allow a termination for social reasons, such as poverty and the effects on the rest of the family.
Christians who look at individual circumstances base their views on the following Christian teachings. Jesus told his followers to love their neighbour as themselves, and abortion may be the most loving thing.
The sanctity of life can be broken in other ways, not simply by abortion. Christianity is concerned with justice and it would be unjust to ban abortions because it would affect the poor more than the rich, because the rich would still be able to buy abortions. As we can see Christians hold similar views that abortion is sinful and wrong, but some believe that in certain circumstance, it is the lesser of the two evils. All Christians see babies as a gift from God.
All Christians agree that Euthanasia as such, is wrong. They believe life is a gift given by God, and only God can take life away. Human life is a gift from God and it is the duty of Christians to preserve life and to improve life.
Euthanasia is the action of inducing a quiet and easy death. The law in Britain does not allow anyone to end another person’s life either by giving drugs or by switching off a machine, even if the person requests it.
However many people feel that the law needs to be changed, they think this because, advances in medicine have led to people being kept alive when they would have previously have died, but their quality of life is appalling.
The development of life support machines has brought in a form of Euthanasia. If doctors and relatives feel that there is no chance of the individual recovering they can agree to have the machines switched off. It is claimed that the NHS cannot afford to keep people alive on life support machines for years, so that money could be used to save the life of someone else who has a chance of recovery.
Many people feel that a basic human right is to have control of your life. If you have the right to commit suicide, then you have to right to ask a doctor to assist your suicide if you are terminally ill and in pain. One example of this was seen recently when a British man who was suffering from a terminal illness, went to Switzerland for an assisted suicide, as the laws over there allow it.
It is the teaching of all the Christian churches that Euthanasia in the form of the deliberate killing of a person is a huge sin. However there are disagreements among Christians as to what to do about patients who are incurably ill and are only being kept alive by intrusive treatments, and patients who are brain dead.
The Roman Catholic Church teaches that Christians can never hasten death. Any action, which is intended to cause death to relieve suffering, is wrong. Catholics and most other Christians would regard this as Euthanasia, and wrong:
“If we live, we live to the Lord; and if we die, we die to the Lord. So whether we live or die we belong to the Lord” Romans 14:8
It is clear to see that most Christians hold similar views on Euthanasia. Where Christians differ, and say that Euthanasia is acceptable under certain circumstances, they might refer to Jesus not wanting people to suffer unnecessarily. Most Christians would rather look to organisations, which can help a person in the last stages of life, such as the hospice movement.
I think that all individuals should hold their own opinions and not just follow the beliefs that are suggested to them. I think that Christians should believe what they feel is right about life, and stick with their own beliefs. Others may say that to be a Christian you should follow Christian teachings. Individuals should not try to preach their beliefs to others, to try to persuade them round to their beliefs. However if someone believes in something, they do have the right to speak out and express their own opinions. In general religion can cause many arguments and divisions between communities, as Christian views differ. Christians may believe in a certain concept, due to something that they have experienced first hand. This belief may be difficult for others to believe, as it may not, have been experienced by them.
The concept of life holds many different beliefs, some of which may be quite unrealistic for some Christians to believe. One example of this is the belief that life begins at some definite point during pregnancy, when God implants the soul into the foetus, 90 days after conception for girls and 40 days for boys. Some people find this hard to believe, they put forward an argument of how do we know that the soul is implanted after those specific days. Yet some still believe this idea.
Christians believe that when someone dies it is God who has called them and he is the only person who has the power to end a life. However, a non-Christian who is going through the heartache of losing someone close to them, may not agree with this belief, and may think that there cannot possibly be a God to have let that happen. So they would find it very difficult to take on the belief that everyone dies for a reason.
I believe that everyone should be able to say how they, feel and what they believe in. But they should also allow others to decide what they want to believe in and not try to influence them, as it may offend them.
In reference to the original statement, I think that all individuals, Christian or non-Christian should believe what they feel is right about life, and should not try to make others accept their positions.
