Friday 1 August 2014

Assisted dying

Genesis 22 9-10:
When they reached the place God had told him about, Abraham built an altar there and arranged the wood on it. He bound his son Isaac and laid him on the altar, on top of the wood. 10 Then he reached out his hand and took the knife to slay his son. 11 But the angel of the Lord called out to him from heaven, ‘Abraham! Abraham!’

I support euthanasia; I want it made very clear. I support not only the current assisted dying bill but I would support any bill that gives people the ability to end their lives and I do not believe this to be incompatible with my Christian faith.

I can hear the howls of objections about the sanctity of life which is expounded in scripture. God after all has; counted the very hairs on our heads, he has formed our hearts, adopted us as his children and even taken to the cross to suffer and die for our redemption. How can any self-respecting Christian not rejoice in the sanctity life?

Well this view is a false one. The crucifixion did not end mortal death; it ends the separation between God and man. Christ did not end mortal death he simply ended it being forever. God’s main focus is leading his people then all people back to him. It is not to ensure that everyone eked out there existence for as long as humanly possible regardless of suffering or pain.

 But murder is a sin, yes it is and life and I mean full human life full of both pain and sorrow and trial and tabulation but also joy, relief, victory and celebration is a gift from God. It is after redemption probably the best gift from God but we have corrupted it. God set a limit of human life and through medicine and in my mind overly intensive “care” we have enabled people to live to an age where the body is crumbling around them.

They are no longer theological prisoners of the flesh but Actual prisoners. At the moment such peoples are either forced to receive this “care” until there body collapse or they themselves or those around them starve them to death. I am sorry to use such blunt words but those who oppose my view accuse us of supporting murder, whilst they themselves support the withdraw of support (aka starvation) pretending this is some natural and God ordained method of killing someone.

Yes shooting someone so full of morphine so they die is killing them but so is denying someone food or water whilst you shoot them up with slightly lower levels of the same drug. We allow this and as far as I know there are few safeguards or informed consent of the sick person. What is so very odd is we do this and consider it; one natural and two to be a kindness. Both are untrue, assisted dying and doctors are already implicit in its administration. We have in short cross the Rubicon and build a motorway bridged.

I have chosen the passage from Genesis because at least Abraham was going to kill his son quickly because that was and is the merciful thing to do. I have not got time hear for a full argument merely to contrast what is with the ideal and then contrast what is with what I would have. Yes I would have people choosing to be killed and I am sure this is far from the ideal of God but I am sure that starving people to death without their consent is also far from His ideal and to me it is simple a question of mercy and I believe deeply that assisted suicide is more merciful then making and ideal of an empty pain filled life.


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