Euthanasia is the active ending of an individual’s life to help prevent that individual from having to suffer and relieve them from their pain. Euthanasia is a popular debate among our society today. It raises major concerns in terms of morals and ethics. Some may argue that euthanasia is morally wrong, while others think as human beings; we have the right to self-determination and should be able to choose our own fate. Growing up in a Catholic family and being raised as a true believer of God, I think that euthanasia causes an ethical dilemma.
The role of religion, plays a major part when it comes to end of life issues. Each life is one of dignity and self-worth. Each religion has a different viewpoint on this topic. Passive vs. active euthanasia differs from each other for various reasons. Active is when a medical professional, or another person purposely does something to make the patient die, while passive is when a medical professional doesn’t take the necessary steps to keep the person alive. For example, disconnecting a feeding tube or not giving the patient life extending drugs. Roman Catholics as well as Eastern Orthodoxy oppose both passive and active euthanasia because they believe that it intervenes with God plan for the soul (Traina, Christina).
As for the Muslim religion, they believe that human suffering is for a divine purpose in which this case; they also oppose euthanasia (Traina, Christina).
The Protestant religion takes many views on this topic. There are the conservative Protestants, moderate Protestants and liberal Protestants. Each one of these differs from the other. Conservative Protestants take a much more radical approach to this debate. Dr. James Dobson, a conservative Protestant thinks...
... middle of paper ...
... of human life is considered to be immoral.
While the sanctity of life for a Buddhist is doing no harm, for Christians, it is that life is a gift from God that should be valued at all times. An ethical misinterpretation that Keown points out in his article was how if a terminally ill person is dying, that it can be perfectly proper to administer soothing care for an individual, even if that means it incidentally leads the person to die. There is a major difference between something that is intended vs. something that is foreseen yet not intended. When it comes to euthanasia, from the Christian perspective, autonomy is not absolute; you have to consider other morals especially when it comes to human life because it is a gift. Even though Christians and Buddhist have different theological viewpoints, they are quite similar when it comes to the stand on euthanasia.
Buddhists strongly disagree with the use of euthanasia. It is said that Buddha condemned any form of self-mortification. They believe that you should accept your suffering, as it is apart of life.
Societies frequently reject the use of euthanasia because of the way in which it violates ethics. This is a major concern in the field of religion; along with other religions and religious leaders, Willem Velema of the Orthodox Protestant Church was “fiercely opposed” to the idea of euthanizing (Boer). From a religious standpoint, this procedure is wrong because patients and their families can act as God by determining time of death. Religion teaches that God keeps His children on the earth for a reason. After all, God puts certain obstacles in one’s life in order to make them stronger; resorting to death is a sign of weakness. Euthanasia is also opposed by many because of the way people take advantage of it. In Belgium, where Euthanization is legal, the number of medically induced deaths “has been going up” tremendously (Boer). In fact, “it has increased by an average of 15% a year” since 2006 (Boer). As numbers increase, citizens become desensitized to the idea, therefore, viewing it as a viable option in the face of pain.
Euthanasia has been a very polemic subject in American society. Its objective is to conclude the life of a person at their own request, a family member, or by the determination of a health care professional to avoid unnecessary suffering. There is a lot of moral and ethics involved in euthanasia, exist a big difference between provoke death and allow death. The first one rejects life, the second one accepts its natural end. Every single intentional act of provoke the death of a person without consent is opposed to ethics and is punishable by law. One of the biggest moral controversies in the XXI century is the fact that some people agree in the autonomy humans have to determine the moment of death. The moral and legal implications are huge and the practical benefits are also enormous. This is a touchy and controversial issue and my goal on writing this paper is to remain on favor of euthanasia. I will elaborate later on my reasons to believe and support euthanasia, but first let’s examine the historical perspective of this moral issue.
In today’s modern society the use of euthanasia and assisted suicide is a hot button topic. Due to the argumentative nature of this issue many philosophers have created their own ideas on how euthanasia and assisted suicide benefit or harm society. These philosophers such as Brock and Callahan differ in their arguments about euthanasia and assisted suicide. Like almost all the heavily opinionated topics in society there should be limits to the use thus my consensus regarding euthanasia and assisted suicide is that it should be legalized to a certain extent.
Should euthanasia be allowed or not? It has become a very controversial issue nowadays. Velleman and Hooker have different perspectives on euthanasia, and whether there should be laws permitting voluntary and non-voluntary euthanasia. Although there are well-reasoned arguments on both sides, I would strongly agree with Hooker's argument that there should be a law permitting voluntary euthanasia when it is for the wellbeing of the person and that each individual should be able to make their own decision.
Both types of euthanasia contribute to the choice that all people have a right to. It also ends the suffering of someone that has a malady or a chronic condition. People exercising the right to choose or not choose their life’s end date are doing so, because they lay claim to their life. They have free will, regardless of their religious beliefs. Because they have free will, people can choose to make that verdict however they wish. Human nature, or actions and characteristics that are human, entails making decisions, whether they are wrong or right. Euthanasia does not save lives; it gives them
"People are stewards, not owners, of the life God has entrusted to them" (Vaticana, 550). To decide if euthanasia is wrong, one must first decide whom life belongs to. The Bible says, "In God's hand is the life of every living thing and the breath of all mankind" (Job 12:10). Life belongs to God and since God gave life to the human race, God should decide when it is time to take life. Also, the fifth commandment says, "Thou shall not kill." Assisted suicide and euthanasia disobey this commandment.
The Catholic view of euthanasia is that euthanasia is morally wrong. it has always been taught the importance of the commandment "you shall not kill". The church has said that "nothing and no one can in any way permit the killing of an innocent person, whether a foetus or an embryo, an infant or an adult, an old person, or one suffering from an incurable disease. disease, or a person who is dying. " The church says any law permitting euthanasia is unjust.
Our values, opinions and beliefs depend on what culture, religion and the society we come from. People who are against view euthanasia as murder and that we must respect the value of life. Those who are in favor of euthanasia believe that doing such act eliminates the patient’s pain and suffering. Also, the right to die allows the person to die with dignity. Euthanasia may involve taking a human’s life, but not all forms of killing are wrong nor consider as murder. It depends on the underlying reasons and intentions. If you value a person’s life and the cause of death is for the patient’s benefit and not one’s personal interest, then euthanasia is permissible.
Physician-Assisted Suicide is assisted suicide from a physician to a person to make it as painless and dignified as possible. There is also Euthanasia, which is to end a person life so they don’t have to go through any more pain and suffering without the patients consent. As of right now, only Montana, Oregon, Vermont and Washington have legalized Physician-Assisted suicide. To be eligible for Physician-assisted suicide, a patient must have a terminally ill disease. There are many pros and cons in this if you are having unbearable pain and want to end the suffering.
The Christian view of Euthanasia is that it is wrong. They understand, the pain and emotional suffering, caused in the case of terminally ill, but believe that a hospice is a better solution and that to commit Euthanasia is murder and a degrading act upon human life.
The organisation supports the 'right to choose', and believes that we as individuals should be able to decide when and how to die. It believes that euthanasia is humane as it prevents a dying person from losing their dignity through suffering and it can also be a relief to families who experience anguish and distress by watching their relative suffering. Many Christians believe that euthanasia is wrong, as life is a gift given by God and only he should take it. They believe that birth and death are controlled by God, and they should be respected. Death sho... ...
Euthanasia had become a big debate in our society and the world. Many people ask, what is Euthanasia? “Euthanasia is a deliberate intervention or omission with the express intention of hastening or ending and individual’s life, to relieve intractable pain or suffering” (Sanders & Chaloner, 2007, p. 41). Thus the meaning of euthanasia is having the right to die if you are terminally ill, suffering and/or suffering a great amount of pain. Many people do not agree with the use of euthanasia, but if humans can put down animals why cannot we use euthanasia on humans? Back in ancient Greek and Roman times, the word euthanasia meant “good death”. Also it was allowed because many people did not live to long ages. When the times began to change so did people’s views on euthanasia, due to the new religion of Judeo-Christian Belief. Because life and death were giving to us by God, euthanasia goes against his wishes. If they practice in the act of euthanasia because of their beliefs they would be committing a sin and end up going to hell. (Yip,2009,p.1)
Euthanasia, according to the dictionary, means the killing of a person who is suffering from an incurable disease. Lately, it had been a huge debate over whether euthanasia should be legalized or not. Personally, I believe that euthanasia should be legalized if it is voluntary. I have three reasons for my argument.
Should an individual be allowed to choose assisted suicide with the help of a physician, or be forced to follow their theological beliefs of the dominant religion they practice when life seems pointless? The choice of whether to live or not live is directly influenced by the decision to indulge in a process characterized as “physician assisted suicide” or simply called Euthanasia. Many people believe it is solely left upon God to determine when death should occur, but some people believe that a doctor has the right to take their life and help the patient destroy it. In this paper I will be discussing what euthanasia is, how it affects the patients life, and the implication it has on the religious community as an unmoral act.