I’ve read a few articles the past couple weeks about the
death of Brittany Maynard, who took her own life in order to escape her
suffering. She had terminal brain cancer.
Let me start off by saying I pray God has mercy on her
through the merits of His son, who loved Brittany so much he died for her. I
pray we meet one day in the land of no pain and no goodbyes.
Some of these articles have been great, some have missed the
point, and others have been so far off they have condoned her ‘taking control
of her own life.’ How does one take control of something that they completely
give up on?
Taking control of your life is about MASTERING, not escaping
suffering. Far be it from whiney-old-me to judge how much pain she’s in (I get
a headache and demand all but morphine cos I’m ‘dying’), but I don’t see what
is glorious about condoning one euthanising themselves and escaping an
opportunity to show the world just *how precious* life is. I am not judging
her, for all I know she was in so much pain that she wasn’t thinking straight.
This post isn’t about judging her, it is about condemning the ideology that if
one wants to kill themselves, we should allow and even legalise it.
Yes, it’s easier to say these things from where I’m sitting,
an over-cynical, conservative keyboard warrior, but let’s look at euthanasia objectively.
Forget the fact that we are made in the image and likeness
of God and our lives are a gift. Forget that suffering is not the worst thing
that can happen to us (I won’t mention that I once heard it said that “suffering
for God is the only joy Heaven does not have.”) Forget that suffering is
salvific, forget – for goodness’ sake, if we must – that Jesus Christ Himself
suffered unimaginably, an innocent man, in order to show us how to suffer and
to show us that when we struggle, He is there with us. Please, let’s not bring
up that out of that suffering, out of the greatest act of Evil ever committed,
came our salvation – the greatest good.
Forget all the “God stuff.” It’s great, but I don’t think it
is essential to the euthanasia debate. I believe all moral issues can be argued
simply using logic. In other words, you don’t have to be a Christian to believe
euthanasia is wrong.
We’ve decided to forget the “God stuff” here. If I may, let’s
forget the ‘slippery slope’ too. Let’s forget that in countries where
euthanasia has been legalised there is a push for children as young as 8 or 12
to decide whether they want to live or die. Seems like a decision a pre-pubescent
only-just-reached-the-age-of-reason child can make, right? Let’s not mention
that where the euthanasia movement is strong, there has been a greater push for
eugenics, where *we* decide what kind of people should live or die or even be
conceived in the first place.
Let’s talk about what euthanasia is not: euthanasia is not compassion;
it is a way for us to tell people they are a burden. They are no longer ‘powerful,’
as the euthanasia advocates wish to have us believe, they are useless and weak.
They are ‘dragging us all down with them.’ Euthanasia is an attack on the
vulnerable, plain and simple. Healthy ‘strong’ people are not at risk, only the
most needy, fragile and defenceless are. Those that need protection and nurturing
will simply be told “if you want, you don’t have to do this anymore.” Then, we
are bombarded by statistics about how much money we would save if we didn’t
have to look after the disabled or the elderly. What a sad world we live in.
Even the Neanderthals had enough humanity in them to care for people and not
simply leave them behind when we decide they are too burdensome.
A poll taken in the Netherlands in 2010 found that almost
all of those living in nursing homes opposed euthanasia. Is this a shock? It
shouldn’t be. They have a lot to fear. What’s to stop a frustrated relative or
nurse convincing somebody they consider so burdensome they have the audacity to
*live* they are no longer needed? What is to stop one of these victims
submitting in what is nothing but a moment of weakness? Further, in countries
where it has been legalised, countless cases of euthanasia occurring without
the consent or request of patients should be enough evidence that this is a
force for evil.
Why should somebody be forced to justify their own existence,
especially at the most vulnerable time of their life? Rather than looking after
one another, we are feigning compassion by telling people their life is no
longer worth living.
C. Everett Koop, former surgeon general of the United
States, brings up another point of note: “It is very easy to slip into moral deception
in a discussion of euthanasia… Euthanasia opens up the opportunities at this
early stage of the game for almost inconceivable fraud, deception, and deceit.
Think of the burdensome elderly people, economically burdensome, whose rapid
demise could be looked upon as an economic blessing for their family. Think of
the temptation to hasten a legacy. Think of how easy, when there are ulterior
motives, to emphasize the surcease from suffering and anxiety that comes with
painless death.”
People speak of a ‘right to die,’ but what about the ‘right
not to be pressured to die?’ What about the right not to have it suggested to
you that we would all be better off, that life would be easier without you? The
"right to die" becomes an expectation to die, then a duty to die,
then euthanasia - outright murder.
Legalising euthanasia results in institutionalising the idea that a
person’s existence has pros and cons. The will to live is human; it is a sign
of that divine spark in all of us that makes us fight for good, for progress. To
annihilate that would be catastrophic in more ways than we can imagine.
Who knows though? Maybe Brittany’s decision will spark a debate.
Maybe the good that’ll come out of this evil is that people will talk about the
issue enough to realise that life is always worth living.
I had to refrain from mentioning that to know
of your impending death is a gift.
One can only pray for the opportunity to die in a state of grace.
