“From the days of John the Baptist until now, the kingdom of heaven has been subject to violence, and the vicious still lay claim to it…. These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me.” – Jesus ben Joseph, Gospel of Matthew 11:12 & 15:8
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Here are the fundamental reasons1 as to why Canadian Catholic Bishops (men of the cloth) refuse to perform euthanasia in their hospitals. Let us take a deeper look into why these tenets lack biblical support and ought to be overruled in the spirit of he who overturned the money making tables that to this day prop up the edifice of false religion.
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i) The Catholic Church, which regards life as sacred and inviolable, remains firm in its opposition to MAiD2.
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For starters, life ‘is’ a lot of things for different people. For instance, among the wisest of those recorded in the bible we read: “Life is short and meaningless, and it fades away like a shadow.” (Ecclesiastes 6:12) On the other hand, life ‘is’ also different things for different people, including animals, plants, rocks and viruses. Keep reading to connect the dots.
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Catholics may interpret life as being sacred or divine, and such a ‘belief’ may be fine; however, in doing so, they are edging into pantheism. Conditions arising, it may be more fitting to say life in itself is neither good nor bad, but can function as a setting for good and bad. From a moralist perspective the latter seems to be all the more sound.
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Now in regards of the Canadian Catholic Bishops3 being against MAiD, scripture makes it abundantly clear that they ought not to oppose the government or its lawful decisions: “Everyone must submit himself to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which is from God. The authorities that exist have been appointed by God. Consequently, whoever resists authority is opposing what God has set in place, and those who do so will bring judgment on themselves.” – Romans 13:1,2
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The Church has ridden the back of our Gov for far too long; i.e., she has had great influence over the policies of our Country, as well as our cultural mores. All in all she has taken a great deal and has given very little in return to the Government of Canada. She ought to humble herself and submit to the governing authorities as instructed in the letter to the Romans or crawl back into her den of thieves in Rome!! Oh sacred heart of Mary, that was a tad too strong yeah; pater, ignosce mihi, quia peccavi.
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ii) Euthanasia and assisted suicide (MAiD) have always been, and will always be, morally unacceptable because they are affronts to human dignity and violations of natural and divine law.
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Has suicide always been morally unacceptable in the history of the Church; now that is a hard pill to swallow with a straight face considering that there were a lot of Christian Gnostics who took their lives in honor of their faith. The bible doesn’t prohibit suicide; in fact, the accounts wherein people do take their lives, we are led to believe they took appropriate action in light of the circumstances they were under.
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Perhaps the most well known cases would consist of Saul, Samson and Judas. The third being a disciple of Jesus, as well as a notorious traitor. According to the biblical account, Jesus doesn’t soften the blow when he out and says it ‘would be better for him if he had not been born.’ (Matthew 26:24) In other words, Judas was better off dead and he knew it. More to the quick not only did he take his Rabbi’s words to heart, he also acted on it.
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Moreover, Jesus himself was aware of the crucifixion that awaited him and was given ample opportunity to back away but he persisted in a course to end his life so that all may be forgiven their sinful natures. So much for human life being sacred eh, being plagued with sin and all, or are we 2 parts bad and one part good; what contrived nonsense!
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From a non-religious perspective the Nazarene’s mission was tantamount to suicide but from a traditional Christian’s outlook an ideal in which to live up to. “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will find it.” (Matt 16:24, 25) Mind you men of the cloth interpreted this scripture in various ways throughout time to serve their own self-interest and rest assured the mandate would have also been used to encourage and justify many of holy wars; in other words, mass murder!
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The only affront to human dignity as it pertains to euthanasia would be in the Church’s inhumane effort to strip people of their natural right to die with honor, dignity and peace. Does the Church have any idea how dreadful it can be for an elder in their care (without money, outside support or adequate strength) to move to another residence (especially while there is a shortage of housing) so as to access voluntary euthanasia; because if they do then they would see how unjust and cruel their actions are, not to mention severing the moral bonds the patients have with familiar staff, visitors and other residents.
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iii) Catholic healthcare affirms that every person, made in the image of God (cf. Gen 1:26), has intrinsic value, regardless of ability or health.
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The religious notion that people are created in the image of God may bring solace to the faithful but it’s hardly grounds to justify the harm imposed upon patients in depriving them of a painless, peaceful and humane way of departing life for good. The Church has no biblical support or divine right to rob human beings of a good death, to say nothing of keeping them drugged out of their wits and utterly dependent on the good graces of the clergy as coin keeps rolling in. In the words of he who took a firm stand against their appalling acts: “We should never forgive Christianity for having so abused the weakness of the dying man as to do violence to his conscience.” – Friedrich Nietzsche4
