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3 Comments:
My general reaction to similar inquiries:
While we may inadvertently make decisions about life and death at various points throughout our lives, who are we to decide which lives are no longer worth living, which degree of suffering is too much, or whose lives may not yet be touched by the life of a suffering patient?
We cannot see the future, but history is replete with examples of difficult situations giving way to incredible (miraculous?) opportunities for the revelation of the love of God for his children - in all situations.
When there is doubt, better to err on the side of the preservation of a life - created, loved and cared for by a merciful creator - even when our limited understanding may not yet understand why these tragic circumstances so doggedly attend our friends and loved ones.
When I feel all-knowing or capable of making judgments about others, I remember with humility the Apostle Paul's beautiful and poignant Romans 11 digression:
Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God!
How unsearchable his judgments,
and his paths beyond tracing out!
"Who has known the mind of the Lord?
Or who has been his counselor?"
"Who has ever given to God,
that God should repay him?"
For from him and through him and to him are all things.
To him be the glory forever! Amen.
Romans 11:33 (NIV)
I totally understand where you're coming from, prof.
At the same time, I feel a little morally squeamish towards the consistent life ethic camp. I don't actually believe that preservation of life is an unambiguous moral good. Yes, our lives are given and nurtured by a loving God, as you say. But our beliefs tell us that the portion of our lives here on earth are only a staging ground for the eternal life that we hope for. Why, then, must we have an ethic that consistently values the lesser at the expense of the greater?
That aside, I think there's also much to be said in praise of the Christian who refuses extensive life-prolonging medical treatment with little hope of success. Is it not better to accept and embrace your impending death, to do your part to diminish our culture's obsessive fear of death and suffering that brings with it so much evil? If life is a beautiful gift from God, isn't death as well?
So anyway, yes, I do think there are situations in which euthanizing babies could be a merciful and moral decision. Obviously, it should be a decision made prayerfully by the parents, but I think there are certainly circumstances (a number of examples given in the NYT article the Captain links to) in which it's the right thing to do.
To the "Bri" in Brilau-
Interesting rejoinder, and certainly one with substantial merit from a Christian perspective. It is always a good idea to remember that human life on Earth is a mere shadow compared to the glory of the eternal. However, your reflection fails to recognize two important distinctions:
1) Making the decision to terminate the life of another is infinitely more difficult than having in ones own mind the presence of the eternal. Deciding which infants should live in difficult situations and which should not is not a decision toward which an eternal perspective easily lends itself in clarification.
2) Similarly, while I am prone to agree with you as it regards Christians and their personal reflections, I don't see why your understanding would in anywise apply to the "unsaved" (however one might choose to parse that admittedly loaded phrase). Putting aside semantics, orthodox Christianity has always affirmed a different eternity for those who choose to reject Christ and his free offer of salvation. Because life on Earth seems to be our chance to make this eternal decision, your logic implies that instead of euthanization, preservation at all costs would be the answer. While this is not necessarily my personal view, this is the logical extension of your "eye toward the eternal."
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