Friday, September 25, 2009

In a word, disturbing

Lately there's been some disturbing developments in the seemingly endless euthanasia debate. Apparently a Christian group in South Australia called Christians Supporting Choice for Voluntary Euthanasia has been formed for the express purpose of supporting euthanasia. Social commentator Bill Muehlenberg has been following this issue closely for a number of years, as have I, and brought this development to our attention.

He graciously posted my comment on his blog:

In the Netherlands, I remember reading that there have been cases where chronically or terminally ill people have been euthanased simply because their relatives did not want the inconvenience and disruption that having them in hospital for a prolonged period would cause to their lives. I speak from personal experience when I say that it would be truly appalling if this ever happened here.

While I may not necessarily agree with everything that Muehlenberg writes, on this issue I think he's absolutely right. He has articulated a constructive, Biblical and compassionate response to this highly emotive issue. I pray the day never comes when an Australian state or territory successfully introduces euthanasia laws.

8 comments:

J Curtis said...

Agreed. Muehlenberg seems pretty concise here.

J Curtis said...

Hey, Ross did you see this entry by Father Longenecker? Here's the link to the blog. I refer to the one from Sept. 24th.

Tracy said...

I appreciate the Muehlenberg post.

To be candid, a part of me sympathizes with the whole euthanasia thing. Through the years and working or volunteering in state hospitals, nursing homes with ventilator units, etc. But I always come back to the bottom line - God is God and I am not. It is not up to me to decide who lives and dies. Then there's the issue that, as a society, we would be opening the doors to a host of problems once we legalize euthanasia.

J Curtis said...

Tracy, I think you would agree that alot of these end of life issues could be avoided by using so-called "living wills". If we all sat down with our significant other and ironed out how we wanted it handled while we still have our faculties about us, then that would be better than just guessing someday. Agreed? Given your line of work, I'm sure you're all too familiar with it.

Ross said...

JD, Tracy, both of you raise some good points. Thanks for your comments and for visting my blog. I don't work in health care, but without going into the details, like Meuhlenberg, my opposition to euthanasia comes partially from life experiences.

J Curtis said...

Hey Ross, did my earlier post go through about Fr Dwight's blog entry? I'll resend if youre interested. It has to do with euthanasia and I didnt know if you were familiar with it.

Ross said...

Please resend if you can. That would be great.

J Curtis said...

Here's the link to his blog. Just scroll down to his entry from Sept. 24th.