Euthanasia

[LancasterPrincess]

I can't comment about the subject itself because it upsets me so, but that last bit just doesn't sit easy with me. Some Christians (certainly not ALL Christians) look at it for what it is: Assisted SUICIDE. Things like that may go thouroghly against their grains or beliefs.

In addition is the fact that it's all in interpretation. The Bible doesn't prepare us for modern technology. And a lot of things the Bible says can get interpreted differently.

Just like non-Christians, we're all split in our thinking, all with different reasons.

[Miranda_]

Why is it suicide to turn off the machines and subject the patient to God's will? If God wants them to live, then surely a miracle would occurr? I read in a magazine about these people who switched off their baby daughter's machines cuz they didn't want her to suffer; the doctors had said that she could not breathe alone and it would be kindest to let her go. The baby didn't die; she breathed by herself and lived and had no brain damage. It didn't say what faith the parents were, but to Christians, that would certainly be classed as one of God's miracles.

[TheHayleyDoll]

Agreed. If it's your time to go, then it's your time. If you're taken off the machine and live, then it isn't your time. If it's in God's plan for you to die, why would you try and resist? Doesn't that go against Christian beliefs as well?

Again, this isn't just "Oh, you have the flu, time to die!" or something, it's if you have a serious illness which you can't recover from. If you had cancer and knew you weren't going to live, but had to go through many rounds of chemotherapy, wouldn't you rather just die? I know I would, chemo is a painful thing. Another example is Alzheimers. Would you rather die being unable to remember your family or die knowing your family? My great grandma doesn't even recognize my grandma (her daughter) half the time. I think that would be an incredibly hard way to live, and I'm sure God would understand.

As for living on machines... to each's own. My father wants to be kept on machines and do anything to get him back even if there's only a very small chance, but my mother wants the plug pulled and she wants God to decide whether it's her time or not - she wants to live her life, and being hooked up to a machine is not really living.

[LancasterPrincess]

Originally Posted by Miranda_

Why is it suicide to turn off the machines and subject the patient to God's will? If God wants them to live, then surely a miracle would occurr?

Well as I'd said, not all Christains think the same, just like not all non-Christians think the same.

I believe they are split because some interpret it as a "sign" from God that it is that person's time to go. But I believe others interpret it as any other medical issue. They believe that if God wanted someone dead, then they would be dead. If there were a way to keep them alive then that would be God's will, not to kill them off prematurely.

It all just depends on the Christian and how they interpret the Bible and God. Both were such a long time ago that a lot of medical issues are in the air for all Christians. It just depends. *shrugs*