Christian faith does not condone euthanasia 29/09/2009 13:55

Christian faith does not condone euthanasia

Should Christians condone euthanasia?

By ROLAND CHIA

IN THE modern world dying has become a problem! The extraordinary advances in science and
technology have not only made it possible for doctors to alleviate pain but also to extend life.

The possibility of being maintained on life support for months and sometimes years has resulted in much
anxiety in both elderly and non-elderly patients. Patients and their families are increasingly involved in
medical decisions concerning the end of life. As a result, patients, physicians, the public, and policy
makers are faced with complex and difficult questions: Should the terminally ill patient be allowed to
die? Should the medical profession have the option of helping these patients to die?

The issue of euthanasia or physician-assisted-suicide is receiving renewed attention and interest in recent
years. The recent case of Terri Schiavo and the public debate it sparked shows quite clearly how clouded
the question of euthanasia can become. (For my comments please see, "A Life Deemed Useless: The
Terri Schiavo Case", Trumpet, May 2005, pp. 2, 8).

But renewed interest in this issue can also be attributed to the fact that in recent years a number of
European countries have legalised the practice of euthanasia. For instance, on April 10, 2001, the Dutch
Government approved the "Termination of Life on Request and Assisted Suicide (Review Procedures)
Act". And on May 28, 2002, Belgium passed an Act legalising euthanasia, which went into effect on
Sept 23, 2002.

What is euthanasia? Should Christians condone such a practice?

The American Medical Association's (AMA) Council on Ethical and Judicial Affairs has defined
euthanasia as:
… the act of bringing about the death of a hopelessly ill and suffering person in a relatively quick and
painless way for reasons of mercy. In this report, the term euthanasia will signify the medical
administration of a lethal agent to a patient for the purpose of relieving the patient's intolerable and
incurable suffering.

The Christian faith does not condone euthanasia because it maintains that human life is a gift of God and
has intrinsic and exceptional value. The Christian faith's rejection of euthanasia is also established upon

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Christian faith does not condone euthanasia 29/09/2009 13:55

the general prohibition against murder found in the sixth commandment in the Decalogue (Exodus
20:13).

According to the Christian faith, each human being is made in the image and likeness of God (Genesis
1:27) and given a special vocation. Thus each human being has a unique role to play in the drama of
salvation of the world. This emphasis has led some 20th century theologians like Karl Barth to argue that
the dignity of each individual person is profoundly related to his or her uniqueness.

God has given each person a unique role to play at this time, in this place and in this manner. And
although that role may not be glamorous, it is nonetheless special - it cannot be played by any other
person in all of history.

Furthermore, the Christian faith sees life as a "gift" or a "loan" from God. The implication of this is that
the individual is not simply a master but a beneficiary. More precisely, the individual is first a
beneficiary before he or she is a master. This means that the individual's life is not at his or her disposal,
but he or she must treat it with due care; and due care must mean that nothing should be done to harm or
destroy it. These insights have informed and shaped the Christian idea of the sacredness or the sanctity
of life, and correlatively its stringent prohibition against harming and destroying human life.

Supporters of euthanasia have presented two

arguments why to their mind the practice is not
morally unacceptable. The first appeals to the
principle of autonomy and self-determination: the
person requesting to be euthanised is exercising his
or her right to self-determination. This basic "right-
to-die" argument appears in its various permutations
in pro-euthanasia literature.

The problem with this argument is that if the "right-

to-die" is so fundamental, why restrict it only to
those who are terminally ill? Why not allow those who are in good health, but who feel that their lives
are not worth living, to euthanise themselves?

The second argument - to which some Christians may be more sympathetic - is that euthanasia provides
compassionate relief from suffering. That is why it is sometimes called "mercy killing". In response, we
argue that although suffering is to be resisted because it is not the expressed will of God, human beings
do not have the right to take a life in order to relief suffering. The central principle which governs
medical ethics is "maximise care", and not "minimise suffering". If it were the latter, then the elimination
of sufferers would indeed be justified. But the duty of the physician is "always to care, never to kill".

This wisdom, enshrined in the Hippocratic Oath, is embedded in the tradition of Western medicine for
many centuries and should serve as the moral compass for decisions concerning the end of life. Thus the
Declaration on Euthanasia of the World Health Organisation (Madrid, 1987) states that "euthanasia, or
the act of deliberately putting to an end to a patient's life, either at the request of the patient himself or at
the request of his relatives, is immoral".

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Christian faith does not condone euthanasia 29/09/2009 13:55

In similar vein, the Encyclical Evangelium vitae ("Gospel of Life") issued by Pope John Paul II
condemns euthanasia because it is a "grave violation of the law of God, since it is the deliberate and
morally unacceptable killing of a human person".

Dr Roland Chia is Dean of Postgraduate Studies and Lecturer in Historical and Systematic Theology at
Trinity Theological College. He worships at the Fairfield Preaching Point in Woodlands.

QUOTE:

SANCTITY OF LIFE

'The Christian faith sees life as a "gift" or a "loan" from God. The implication of this is that the
individual is not simply a master but a beneficiary … These insights have informed and shaped the
Christian idea of the sacredness or the sanctity of life, and correlatively its stringent prohibition
against harming and destroying human life.'

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