The U.S. attorney general overstepped his bounds when he tried to stop the state of Oregon from implementing its 1997 physician-assisted suicide bill, the Supreme Court ruled Tuesday in a 6-3 decision. In 2001, Attorney General John Ashcroft issued a directive "that assisting suicide is not a 'legitimate medical purpose'... and that prescribing, dispensing, or administering federally controlled substances to assist suicide violates the CSA [Controlled Substances Act]." Using such drugs to assist with suicide could lead to "suspension or revocation" of a doctor's medical license, Ashcroft wrote. According to Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life, 46% of Americans support the right to assisted suicide while 45% oppose the
practice....
When Joni Eareckson Tada was interviewed as to what led her to write The Life and Death Dilemma, she replied that:
Twenty-eight years in a wheelchair has introduced me to the world of advocacy, and with it, thousands of people who were either sinking into or surfacing out of suicidal despair. While straining to cope with their own pain, people are learning that they're part of a confusing debate in society over medical issues ranging from physician-assisted suicide to rationed health care. Having observed the pain experienced by people and having participated in the public debate on issues such as euthanasia and health care, I'm convinced that the crisis has become the norm for our society. I wrote this to engage readers' hearts in what God has to say about their own crises.According to Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life, there was a Strong Public Support for Right to Die (Released: January 5, 2006). In the Summary of Findings,
- An overwhelming majority of the public supports laws that give patients the right to decide whether they want to be kept alive through medical treatment. And fully 70% say there are circumstances when patients should be allowed to die, while just 22% believe that doctors and nurses should always do everything possible to save a patient.
- Though Americans are broadly supportive of allowing patients and their families to decide whether medical treatment should be removed, the public is divided over laws that let doctors prescribe lethal doses of drugs to assist terminally ill patients end their lives.
By two-to-one (61%-30%) white evangelical Protestants oppose physician-assisted suicide laws; by nearly identical margins, white mainline Protestants and seculars approve of such laws. Catholics, on balance, oppose such laws (by 50%-40%).
Views on assisted suicide are also affected by the amount of thought given to end-of-life issues; 57% of those who have given a great deal of thought to these issues approve of legal assisted suicide, a view shared by only 35% of those who have given little or no thought to these matters.
While most people support the general idea of stopping medical treatment in some circumstances, fewer would personally ask their doctor to cut off treatment if they faced a terminal or debilitating illness. If facing an incurable illness and suffering a great deal of physical pain, 53% would opt to stop medical treatment, while 34% would tell their doctor to do everything possible to save their life.
To this, I think an important that need to be asked is do we have a Moral Right to End One's Own Life? What does ending one's own life reflect of one's beliefs? What are the implications to Christians? As Christians, we trust God as our Savoiur, we can come to Him when we are in distress. When suffering Christians end their own life, what are they tellling non-Christians? Joni Eareckson Tada was for twenty-eight years in a wheelchair (due to quadriplegics). Especially to those who love sports & outdoor activities, being immobile can be as good as being dead. However, Tada faces her pain bravely with the help of God. Not only bravely, she lived wonderfully fruitful lives. She is the founder and president of Joni and Friends, an organization accelerating Christian outreach in the disability community that numbers 550 million people worldwide. As Christians, what is our view on the moral right to end our own life? The survey showed that:
on this question are also strongly related to the respondent's religious beliefs, as well as to party and ideology. Fewer than half of white evangelical Protestants (42%) believe that an individual suffering a great deal of pain with no hope of improvement has a moral right to end their life, compared with 73% of white mainline Protestants. Most Catholics (60%) support the moral right to suicide under these circumstances, as do an overwhelming majority of seculars (78%). Similarly wide disparities are seen in terms of church attendance, with frequent attenders less supportive of such a right.
I think the findings "frequent attenders less supportive of such a right" says much about the importance of attending Church.
When we do not attend Church, or attend Church when we are free, or when we feel like it, or see worshipping God only as a seasonal activity(Christmas & Easter), when who sees worshipping God as a waste of time,I think we fail to see His Greatness. We have also deprive ourselves of the chance of learning His Greatness, the great truth that God loves us, that He will sustain us through our sufferings. When we do not attend Church, it also shows that we failed to see the importance of worshipping Him. we failed to see His Greatness. If God can create the world of His Word (ex nihilo, meaning out of nothing), He definitely can give us strength to live through our most difficult moments. When we do not attend Church, we are in a way saying that God is not worthy our worship. It shows how small, how limited, how powerless we have reduced our God to.
Dr. Charles Stanley once said that God is greater than our problems and is surely able to resolve them all. So cast all your cares upon Him because he cares for you. This reminds me of a hymn, "If you will only let God guide you" (Words:Georg Neumark,1641):
If you will only let God guide you, And hope in Him through all your ways,Whatever comes, He’ll stand beside you,To bear you through the evil days;Who trusts in God's unchanging loveBuilds on the Rock that cannot move. ... ... God hears the call of those in need,The souls that trust in Him indeed.
In in the Word of God, we can find much comfort. For example, as the psalmist writes, "He will be our Guide even to the end.","Psalm 48:14". Psalms 46.1 God is our refuge and strength, an ever – present help in trouble. Psalms 18:30 As for God, His way is perfect: The word of the Lord is tried: He is a buckler to all those that trust in Him.
Isaiah 55:8-9 (ESV):
For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the LORD. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.
Fanny Crosby, who lost her sight at six week of age through improper medical treatment by an inept doctor. She wrote thousands of hymns (over 8,000 Christian hymns!!) despite the handicapped she struggled with during her life. Her hymns revealed the triumph God gave her over a life of blindness. In her hymn "All the Way my Saviour leads me", she reminded us that God has never promised to keep us from hard places or obstacles in life. He has assured us, however, that he will go with us, guide each step, and give the necessary grace.
All the way my Savior leads me-
What have I to ask beside?
Can I doubt His tender mercy,
Who through life has been my guide?
Heavenly peace, divinest comfort,
Here by faith in Him to dwell!
For I know, whate'er befall me,
Jesus doeth all things well;
For I know, whate'er befall me,
Jesus doeth all things well.
This beloved hymn came to Fanny as a result of a prayer. Struggling financially, she desperately needed some money. As her usual custom, Fanny began to pray. A few minutes later, a gentleman offered her five dollars, the exact amount she needed. Later recalling the incident, she said, “I have no way of accounting for this except to believe that God put it into the heart of this good man to bring the money.” The poem she wrote afterward became “All The Way My Savior Leads Me.” As both a songwriter and a woman of faith, Fanny Crosby serves as an example to all. (Source: Hymn Stories)
In the 214th General Assembly of PC (USA), on "Christian and Reformed View of Human Life in Relation to the Practices of Euthanasia, Assisted Death, Assisted Suicide, Abortion, and Infanticide", I found the following:
Christianity has historically supported life and God's sovereignty over all aspects of life. But recently, most of the debate regarding euthanasia, assisted-suicide, abortion, and infanticide has been almost entirely conducted in a framework of cultural standards, issues of individual rights, and the legal precedents of the secular realm.
Although the church's witness to the world cannot be made in a vacuum devoid of contextual issues, we must remember that Reformed theology and orthodox Christianity have always sought to affect society and the culture by using the biblical framework to influence behavior and attitudes.
However, in seeking relevance, the church has begun to lose its significance, and in pursuing identification with the culture, it has begun to lose its uniqueness with Christ. We are not simply members of the culture. Instead, we are called to be different from culture as a light on a hill or salt that has not lost its saltiness.
In the Reformed theological tradition, the extent of God's command has been expressed in both the Westminster Shorter and the Larger Catechism.
In the Shorter Catechism, we have the following statements:
Q. 68 What is required in the Sixth commandment?
A. The Sixth commandment requireth all lawful endeavors to preserve our own life and the life of others.
Q. 69 What is forbidden in the Sixth Commandment?
A. The Sixth commandment forbiddeth the taking away of our life, or the life of our neighbor unjustly, or whatsoever tendeth thereunto.
In the Larger Catechism, we find these obligations considerably expanded, for there we read as follows:
Q. 135 What are the duties required in the Sixth Commandment?
A. The duties required in the Sixth Commandment are: all careful studies and lawful endeavors, to preserve the life of ourselves and others, by resisting all thoughts and purposes, subduing all passions and avoiding all occasions, temptations and practices which tend to the unjust taking away the life of any, by just defense thereof against violence; patient bearing of the hand of God, quietness of mind, cheerfulness of spirit, a sober use of meat, drink, physic, sleep, labor and recreation; by charitable thoughts, love, compassion, meekness, gentleness, kindness; peaceable, mild, courteous speeches and behavior, forbearance, readiness to be reconciled, patient bearing and forgiving of injuries, and requiting good for evil, comforting and succoring the distressed, and protecting and defending the innocent.
Q.136 What are the sins forbidden in the Sixth Commandment?
A. The sins forbidden in the Sixth Commandment are: all taking away from the life of ourselves or of others, except in the case of public justice lawful war, or necessary defense; the neglecting or withdrawing the lawful or necessary means of preservation of life, sinful anger, hatred, envy, desire of revenge, all excessive passions; distracting cares; immoderate use of mean, drink, labor and recreation; provoking words oppression quarreling, striking, wounding and whatsoever else tends to the destruction of the life of any.
I think The Shorter and the Larger Catechism is clear on the issue of Euthanasia (physician-assisted suicide/ mercy killing). Euthanasia involves suicide and/or murder. It is,therefore, contrary to God's Law.
How about death sentence? Exodus 22:2 (NIV) writes: "If a thief is caught breaking in and is struck so that he dies, the defender is not guilty of bloodshed." The authority to take a human life is given to individual men under only one circumstance: a defensive emergency. Nehemiah 4:14(NASB):
When I saw their fear, I rose and spoke to the nobles, the officials and the rest of the people: "Do not be afraid of them; remember the Lord who is great and awesome, and fight for your brothers, your sons, your daughters, your wives and your houses."
The civil government is given the authority to take human life in fulfilling its responsibilities for administering justice and national defense. (see also Romans 13:3-5) As Euthanasia falls under neither the categories of defensive emergency or administering justice and national defense, it should not be practised. Dr. John M. Frame in his book The Doctrine of the Christian Life (forthcoming) commented:
Liberal secularists tend to oppose killing in war and capital punishment, but to
accept abortion and euthanasia. Biblical ethics, in my view, teaches the
reverse. We must grant, of course that not all war and capital punishment is
just. (p. 669)
In Euthanasia: Not Our Burden to Bear, the author gives this helpful oberservation:
Often when we are tempted to take on more responsibility or authority than God gives, we fall into pragmatism to justify our actions. Pragmatism is an ethic that justifies means by expected ends. In other words, methods are judged by the results. ... ... Anytime we suggest that doing things as God instructs will not work, we are falling into pragmatism.
Often advocates of euthanasia are operating with just such a pragmatic ethic. We see a situation and come to the conclusion that this life is not worthy of existence. It seems the greater good would be served by the death of this person. Sometimes, we might even be right. Sometimes death is a great relief to the suffering. But it is simply not our responsibility to determine when that is the case, or to make it happen. God does not give us that burden. He reserves it for Himself.
Dr. John M. Frame in his book in his The Doctrine of the Christian Life (forthcoming) also rightly pointed out:
God sets no standards in Scripture for a “quality of life” that gives a person a right to life and an obligation to live. In current discussion, quality of life is in the eye of the beholder. It should not be made a standard of who shall live and who shall die. All children of Adam, made in God's image, have a right to life and an obligation to live as long as God allows.
So God’s command, “you shall not murder” applies to people who are suffering. We have seen that we have some freedom as to what medical care should be given to suffering patients. But we do not have the freedom to kill them. (p. 688)
Helpful website: PC (USA) on End of Life Issues
For more blogs, views & comments on this issue: Right Faith
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