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The Bible speaks clearly against these, yet it doesn’t give us, as far as I know, a clear statement if it is a sin before the Lord. It leaves us in a gray zone. When God 1 OFF necessarily speak about unintentional killing or letting someone die (with good intentions). 4 Therefore it is right to see both sides of the debate. The Favorable Position Is euthanasia Just a euphemism for murder or suicide? The Bible tells us a few cases of people who wanted to be given the “mercy death”.
These are for example Abominable Judges 9:54) and Saul (1 Samuel 31 :4), when they lost the battle and were in such a shameful position that to bear the mental suffering would be imaginable, asked to be killed by their own choice. The Bible does not tell us if it is right or wrong, but according to Drone, speaking about Saul and Abominable, he concludes that, “The important point is that none of these biblical figures receives censure: indeed, their suicides are scarcely commented on, leading one to conclude that in ancient Israel the act of suicide was regarded as something natural and heroic. 5 The Choice In our postmodern age, everybody desires the freedom to do whatever pleases or displeases him. It is called the freewill. From this standpoint, it is easy to understand this kind of thinking. If anybody decides to give an end to his life because of extremely suffering (physical or mental), it is his choice to do so. Nobody can stop him. There is also another choice. The one who concerns a close family member (spouse, or children, rarely parents) to allow the doctors to give the suffering person (unable to decide for herself) this last shot.
If a horse is very sick, people choose to kill the animal to end his suffering. Is this choice is applicable for humans to? The Quality of Life When a person is suffering because of a disease and it gets worse and worse in a ay that the person looses her entire independence, it gets very hard for her. The persons around cannot most of the time understand the emotional pain even without considering the physical pain. Pain killers work only to an extend. The quality of the person’s life is so messed up and this argument speaks for euthanasia. The Economic Cost and the Heavy Burden for the Family Hospitals and human resources are very expensive and the resources used for these persons are “misused” instead of curing other sick people. It gives less possibility to other patients. To keep a person that is not able to do anything anymore will be a heavy burden for the people around it. In The Past The Sick Person Would not Have Suffered because of no Medical Help Old and suffering people wait on their death bed for years, in the past, they would already be released of pain by dying.
Today, we use machines to keep persons alive as We have seen some favorable arguments, let us have a look at the other position. The Opponent’s Position The Choice Non Given to the Sick Person It is needless to say, that many times doctors have failed in their diagnosis, so that mom desperate cases actually recovered after a while. Their families were about to take decisions about the person’s life. Some even where Just under erroneous “wrong” drug stops, they recover and express their desire to live!
A Possible Cure Sometimes it is necessary to ask for a possible cure and start the treatment before taking such a decision. Patient under Pressure Sometimes it happens that this is the easiest way to get rid of a person, telling her that she is going to die anyway, putting a lot of pressure on her, so that the person decides to get the “mercy death”. A death can only be considered as such if the patient is mentally aware of the decision (and consequences for his family) and all other options.
Yet, who defines if this is the case? This death must still be agreed on for at least 2 persons are involved in this act, whether it is a sin or not, the one who desires the death and the one who is forced or decides to kill the person (doctors, family member, close friends… ). 7 Moral and Theological Reasons Our consciences are somehow not clear when we decide something in this direction, we feel most of the time that it is not the right thing to do.
Professional Vow Doctors in the past swore not to prescribe a deadly drug to any patient. Today it is not more the case in many nations. We said that there are arguments for both sides, yet it is very difficult to decide if it is right or wrong. We have a dilemma here as Joseph Fletcher writes in an article: “To prolong life is to violate the promise to relieve pain. To relieve the pain is to violate the promise to prolong and protect life. 8 The Bible gives us guidelines, and I believe that everybody has the right to live (and in some cases the right to die in ace), but as Christians it is our responsibility to accompany a dying process through it, preparing the person for eternal life, bringing to the person the good news of the resurrection for the believers in Christ (if they are not yet saved, helping them to know the Lord as personal Savior).
Of course, when faced with such a decision, I believe that we need to ask what the purpose of “letting someone die” really is. We need the leading of the Holy Spirit in order to take the right decision and the grace and courage of taking it. Prayer is most essential in these moments and a clear mind is necessary. Finally the decision remains with every individual and a person needs to agree on this before such situation comes.
As Christians we should be prepared to give an answer to this dilemma, even when there is no answer, except the prayer, which is the first answer.