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Column on a national "death with dignity" (or if you prefer, euthanasia or assisted suicide) movement:
We’re in the middle of a revolution on death
2015 George Will column:
Affirming a right to die with dignity
Topic crosses a lot of lines: religious, personal freedom/libertarianism, etc. What role should government have in preventing or streamlining this process? If you've lost friends or loved ones to progressive, painful, terminal illnesses, it hits close to home.
A tough subject with very few definitive answers. As for a Christian, even less so. As our life is not our own to take. Some would argue, nor is it ours to overly try to extend. Still where to draw that line is between each of us and our Maker.
We've developed the technology to keep the body alive for sometimes near indefinite periods of time, but we haven't found the way to keep the spirit alive, or extend quality of life to the same degree.
The result is the ability to keep a body in a bed and alive, but sometimes confining the spirit within to misery.
To thwart God's Will by ending that misery one has to presume it's not thwarting His Will to run endless tubes into people and keep them alive if they can't eat and are either unconscious or barely aware. I'm not sure the good Lord intended people to suffer past the point of their body giving out simply b/c modern technology can sustain them but not let them really live.
I think you nailed it.Quote:
Originally Posted by CitizenBBN
Like kingcat said, I think you nailed it, sir.Quote:
Originally Posted by CitizenBBN
I have always been curious (although not studied) on the views of the very early church on medicines and surgery. I know until the 1700's the organized church took the view that all sickness, malformations, and physical injuries were the result of ones sin. (That was not the teaching of Christ but was a misinterpretation)
And that the blood was in no way to be transferred from one body to another. Neither in transplant or transfusion.
I do believe the Quakers were the first European Christians to practice medicine and minor surgeries.
But honestly, the mainstream Christian churches done more to halt medical and scientific advancement, and rather furthered great heresies and lies than any pagan throughout the middle ages.
But, God gave us all a measure of common sense, and then added a shared Spirit and direct line of communication that should teach us right from wrong in this area.
I feel the same as I do about abortion. It is an individuals choice within reason and the gov't has the right and responsibility to determine reason. A third trimester abortion is outide reason, as is suicide when an individual has a potential for recovery. But beyond that it is up to the individual and their beliefs