Murder: the deliberate taking of another human being’s life. In Exodus 20: 1 – 17 of the Bible, it says: “Thou shall not murder”. Murder is unjust whatever the matter and is clearly condoned in the Bible, so a Christian could clearly not agree with it. Not matter how much it is sugar coated, does this not mean that euthanasia is a form of murder?
In cases of active euthanasia, wherein a deliberate action sit taken to end someone’s life, a lethal injection or a drug overdose is used… which, controversially enough, is the same, most common method to execute criminals in parts of the world today where it is still legal to execute. There are two main differences to these cases: one chooses to die whereas the other doesn’t and one pays a price for their death whereas the other doesn’t. This form of execution is seen as the ultimate punishment (often because the criminal is seen as a large danger to society), supposedly painless, but still inflicted as some form of suffering through death. Something administered as a permanent punishment is also used as a permanent “pain reliever”. So, is active euthanasia really a loving, Christian response? That’s just another think to take into account.
That brings me onto my next point: why should you have to pay someone to take your life away? Your life should not have a price put on it, because life is precious, priceless and so much more valuable that a few thousand pounds. By paying someone to essentially kill you, you’re saying that your life’s worthless… which it isn’t. No-one should have to pay for their death. Active euthanasia, especially, lowers the respect of human life. It is illogical.
That’s enough of the negative. Just why can euthanasia be a loving, Christian response?
“The Lord will guide you continually …” () through life; it seems, that even through pain and suffering God will be there He will be there to watch over and look after you, even if you do not realise this… Pain and suffering is also considered to be a part of life that everyone is meant to endure at some point of their lives. Some Christians, also, believe that there is a meaning to pain and suffering. It is God testing you to help you.
How is euthanasia a loving, Christian response? Well, let’s find out.
It could easily be fought that euthanasia is selfish, because you would be leaving behind friends, family and relatives all for your benefit. To rid of your own pain, you would choose the path of death – and in doing so you w/could emotionally wound those around you because of your decision. Nevertheless, those thinking it is selfish could also be considered selfish as well – they wish not to let go and are only concerned about their own feelings, not the actual person who is considering euthanasia (or going to have it carried out). It is not very selfless to put your own feelings and welfare before someone else’s pain and suffering.
The wide majority of those who wish to go through “euthanasia” are terminally ill, horribly sick, or permanently disabled. These are the people who are going through a lot of suffering in their life and do not wish for the suffering to continue. These are the people who probably see no hope left for them. Should a Christian really stand by and watch the patient/sufferer continue to suffer and deteriorate in health? Serious illness takes away the quality of life and that ability to make your own choices, as it affects you in more ways than one, depending on the illness/disease. So, wouldn’t the kindest way not be to send them to sleep? Christianity is supposed to be about love, kindness and compassion, so wouldn’t euthanasia be just that? After all, it is meant to be a quick, humane, (mostly) painless death that would allow them to die with some dignity in tact. Not only that, but it may also ease the grief of their loved ones – friends or family, for example – who cannot bear to see a person they love go through so much suffering alone.
This is slightly venturing onto a completely different subject, but if terminally ill or seriously injured (domestic) animals can be put to sleep by vets (and often are). It is very often to put them out of their misery, so they don’t have to suffer any more. If this is seemingly morally acceptable and an option for domestic animals, why not humans too?
Now onto more specific forms of euthanasia… How can involuntary euthanasia not be euthanasia at all? Why is passive euthanasia justifiable?
Involuntary euthanasia is when others make the decision for someone’s life to be ended if the concerned is physically and mentally incapable of making the decision for themselves. This is somewhat legal in the UK; it highly involves cases with permanently comatose patients. What if a particular patient is declared completely brain dead, and that they will never wake up from their coma? The physical form/body of the patient is still fully functional, in the sense that it can perform the basic human needs, but nothing else – thus, the patient’s unresponsive figure could be seen as a “shell”. Without the technological life support there, even the physical form/body would cease to continue living. What then? In the Bible, there are many passages that hold the assumption that the spirit is in the mind. In , it says “A human's mortal spirit is in his mind. If the mind dies, the mortal spirit dies. Therefore, the person is dead (referenced; Jam. 2:26; )”. So, if the brain is dead, then can we assume that the mortal spirit dies too, meaning the soul can rejoin God (meaning, again, the person is theoretically dead)? Then again in James 2:26; Matt. 27:50, the verse states: “A person is dead when his mortal spirit ceases to life”, somewhat confirming the earlier assumption. The patient could be considered dead already, so “involuntary euthanasia” would not be applicable as it would simply be ceasing the artificial, technology support of a human body shell.
Passive euthanasia is another very grey area. With modern day technology, the definition of natural death instantly becomes a tricky subject. A natural death would be the equivalent of a death through natural means, presumably excluding preserved lives through medicine, treatment, life support machines, etc (those of which have never existed before these last few generations and definitely not in the Bible days). Surely, a natural death is not a sin, so withdrawing from a treatment (chemotherapy, for example) would not be deliberately taking your own life. The treatment could be absolutely useless to the patient, especially if they are terminally ill and have no chance of recovery (of course, nothing is impossible with God, but that is a completely different matter for a Christian), so there may be no point of carrying it on. There is still a chance for survival and, yes, eventually death… but what if that is the death/end God has planned? What if carrying on a useless treatment is simply strapping you down to Earth and not enabling your soul to reach eternal life? What about those who are suffering/dying already without treatment? The treatment c/would just be a benefit from modern day technology/science. Death is a part of life – it is inevitable and imminent - so accepting death is the next step to overcome/face in life. There is life after death, after all.
In conclusion, a Christian should disagree with euthanasia, because it is taking away a life that wasn’t yours to take away in the first place. Euthanasia is a deliberate action taken to kill somebody; in involuntary euthanasia, the person/patient does not even have a choice (though because they simply cannot make on) and may be even starved/dehydrated by having their artificial food/water supply cut off.
However, in all honesty, this is hypocritical and not very justified, because I am a person without experience in a real life situation as this. I have never been put in a situation wherein I am in so much suffering; do not feel I can go on with an unbearable amount of pain; or in a Permanent Vegetative State. I do not know how it feels like and I do not think I could ever possibly imagine how it must feel like to have to make such a difficult decision. Therefore, I do not feel as if it is my place to judge or condemn anyone at all for what they do. It is God’s place to judge and His solely, not mine. I think that this applies to all Christians elsewhere as well, because euthanasia is not directly stated in the Bible and times were very, very different back then in the time period of the Bible.
The only suicides in the Bible are committed by Judas Iscariot (one of Jesus’ former disciples who hung himself after his betrayal to Jesus) and Samuel (who “falls” onto his own sword when he begs the king to kill him but he doesn’t).
