Our responsibility to those at the end of their lives is just as great to those at the beginning.
There is no direct scripture about the end of life. However, Jesus said we must “love our neighbours as ourselves”. Therefore this emphasizes a Christian ethic – to lessen somebody’s suffering. This means that euthanasia is an option if it will help somebody to die properly and as painlessly as possible. However, it is not an option in the eyes of the Catholic Church because it is not protecting life. As you can see these are two differing points of view.
Joseph Coyle 11J
RE Coursework
Evidence that the unborn child has life is as follows. When Mary went to visit Elizabeth, Elizabeth said her baby jumped in her womb. This shows that not only is there life in an unborn child, but that the child is capable of responding to God not only in mind but in movement too.
Also Jesus suffered a painful death to lessen our suffering, so surely this means that if we euthanase a person who is suffering, then we have done what Jesus would have wanted us to do.
In conclusion, I think it okay for a family to “pull the plug” on a life support machine of a person who is suffering, but only if they are doing it out of love, not just for inheritance etc.
I also think it is right for an abortion to occur if either the mother’s life is at risk or the child will be seriously deformed.
Joseph Coyle 11JRE Coursework
Skill AO2
Faced with the issues of abortion and euthanasia, explain how a Christian would respond.
Christians believe different things about abortion and euthanasia, but most would say it is wrong and a moral evil.
Roman Catholics do not accept abortion in any circumstances, even if the mother’s life is at risk. These extreme beliefs base themselves on the fact that Christians believe that God has a “master plan”. Because of this “plan” Christians say that we should not meddle in it by murdering unborn children. Also to support this they would quote the 6th commandment: Do not kill.
Most other protestant Christians might accept abortion if there was a serious danger to the mother’s life or if the child was seriously deformed, and would not have a good quality of life. To counter this, PRO-LIFE organisations say “though the quality of life would be low, the child would at least have some sort of quality and therefore might find a special way to keep themselves happy”. In some circumstances protestant Christians might accept abortion if the family wasn’t able to give full attention to the newborn child (may already have a lot of children).
In view of the above situation Roman Catholic and protestant churches are encouraging children’s charities to build homes for orphaned children. They also think that other problems (poverty, bad housing area etc) should be dealt with by the government, not by abortion.
Many Christians (including the Roman Catholic Church) would say that euthanasia is by no means acceptable. They say this because they believe that life is holy (sanctity of life). Christians also follow the 10 commandments, the 6th of which is; do not kill.
A majority of Christians would say that in some instances euthanasia is an option if for example a person was biologically alive but in all other aspects dead, the family should have the power to switch off the life support machine. The family would say that to lessen somebody’s suffering is a Christian ethic “love your neighbour as you love yourself”. This basically means that you switch the machine off out of pure love for that person and that therefore should not be seen as a moral evil.
An argument against euthanasia is the fact that St Paul said in one of his letters “If we live, we live for the Lord. If we die, we die for the Lord. So that, alive or dead we belong to the Lord”. This statement emphasizes the fact that only God has the right to give and take life and we do not.
Joseph Coyle 11J
RE Coursework
Skill AO3
“What Christians believe about life is up to them. They should not try to make others accept their position”.
Would a Christian agree or disagree? Give reasons for your answer showing that you have thought about more than one point of view.
I think that Christians would accept that everyone has a right to their own point of view, whether it is for or against what everyone else believes. If this is the case, then I think Christians will not try to force their beliefs onto anyone else. It is very difficult to change a person’s way of thinking without attempting to brainwash them.
Christians feel very strongly about matters of life and death (abortion, euthanasia and capital punishment). It is obvious (and natural) for these Christians to try and get other people to support and believe their views. I think they should try to persuade people by making them aware of the facts and statistics (to try and change their opinions).
When abortion became legal, lots of Christians were worried and scared. They now fear that euthanasia will become legal as well.
Many true Christians who believe strongly in Jesus, would try and keep the commandments “Love your neighbour as yourself” and “Do not kill”. These two commandments have caused a lot of confusion in the Catholic Church because of their varied meanings.
It is obvious that they would try and get people to change their views.
So, I think all Christians would agree that they cannot force people to believe what they believe. However, they would think it a duty to persuade people that Christian thinking is seriously worth thinking about. Therefore they would do everything in their power to persuade people to follow them, but they would not force them.
