Euthanasia and the Bible

In a world in which death is increasingly allowed to be voluntarily embraced, how horrid a prospect it is that those so vulnerable may find they are pressured to choose death. Their so-called autonomy, their “right to die,” may become their duty to die! Suicide, even when assisted by a physician’s lethal prescription, and euthanasia -- which is just a nice word for murder with a presumably merciful motive -- are not acceptable options unless we are nothing more than animals!

Debate over euthanasia is not a modern phenomenon. The Greeks carried on a robust debate on the subject. The Pythagoreans opposed euthanasia, while the Stoics favored it in the case of incurable disease. Plato approved of it in cases of terminal illness. [1] But these influences lost out to Christian principles as well as the spread of acceptance of the Hippocratic Oath.

In 1935 the Euthanasia Society of England was formed to promote the notion of a painless death for patients with incurable diseases. A few years later the Euthanasia Society of America was formed with essentially the same goals. In the 1990s debate about euthanasia was advanced by two individuals: Derek Humphry and Dr. Jack Kevorkian.

On March 6, 1996, the Ninth U. S. Circuit Court of Appeals struck down Washington state’s ban on physician-assisted suicide. By a surprisingly commanding 8-3 vote, the court ruled that terminally-ill adults have a constitutional right to end their lives. Essentially, the court decided that an individual’s right to determine the time and manner of his own death outweighed the state’s duty to preserve life. This ruling upheld Oregon’s voter approved doctor-assisted suicide law that had been bogged down in the courts.

The only recourse was the Supreme Court, which did not overrule the Appeals Court’s decisions. On April 2, the Second U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that New York state’s bans on assisted-suicide were “discriminatory.” Then on May 15, 1996, Dr. Jack Kevorkian, the infamous “Dr. Death,” was acquitted for a third time of doctor-assisted suicide in the state of Michigan.

The stage was set for a revolution in the law concerning euthanasia in this country. Kevorkian’s escapes from the law and the then recent rulings from the Appeals Courts encouraged the “right-to-die” lobby which sought to make doctor-assisted suicide the law of the land. What was overlooked was over 2,000 years of medical practice and ethical codes. The Hippocratic Oath, originating in 400 B.C., and the standard for medical practice ever since, states, “I will keep [the sick] from harm and injustice. I will neither give a deadly drug to anybody if asked for it, nor will I make a suggestion to that effect.”

Allowing doctors to end life as well as preserve life would change the face of the entire medical community. The doctor/patient relationship would be forever compromised. Is your doctor’s advice truly in your best interests or in his best interest to rid the hospital and himself of a pesky patient and situation?

Dr. Thomas Beam, onetime chairman of the Medical Ethics Commission of the Christian Medical and Dental Society pointed out, “While the act of physician-assisted suicide seems compassionate on the surface, it is often the abandonment of the patient in their most needy time. Instead of support, the patient may only find confirmation of the hopelessness of their condition and physician-assisted suicide is legitimized as the only ‘way.'” [2] It is not terribly difficult to see how this circumstance would undermine the delicate relationship between a doctor and his patient.

Surely, you say, most people don’t agree with the policy of doctor-assisted suicide. However, the New England Journal of Medicine reported a poll from the state of Michigan which indicated that “66 percent of state residents and 56 percent of Michigan doctors would prefer that doctor-assisted suicide be legalized not outlawed.” [3] And even though doctor-assisted laws were defeated in referendums in California and Washington, the defeats were narrow. And a similar law was finally passed in Oregon in 1994. In addition, 23 states considered such legislation. And as mentioned earlier, two different Appeals Courts ruled in favor of doctor-assisted laws. In this article we will examine why so many favor legalization of assisted suicide. We will take a close look at Dr. Jack Kevorkian, the most well-known proponent of assisted suicide. Also, we will examine what the Bible has to say about life, death, and YEHOVAH God’s sovereignty. Finally, we will discuss some test cases and inform you about what you can do to combat this growing evil in our land.

Why is such a large segment of our society, over 60% in some communities, enamored with the possibility of physician-assisted suicide? While there can be many roads that will lead to this conclusion, the primary one is fear. People today fear being at the mercy of technology, of being kept alive with no hope of recovery by machines. Few seem to realize that it is already legal for a terminally ill patient to refuse life-prolonging measures. We must realize that there is a difference between simply allowing nature to take its course when someone is clearly dying and taking direct measures to hasten someone’s death. Former Surgeon General C. Everett Koop acknowledges,

Extraordinary measures are not required to keep a dying person alive at all costs. But some people fear exactly that. Removing this fear will take a lot of the wind out of the euthanasia sails.

Secondly, people fear the pain of the dying process. Intractable pain is a real fear, but few people today realize that most of the pain of terminally ill patients can be dealt with. Many doctors, particularly in the U.S., are not aware of all the measures at their disposal. There are new ways of administering morphine, for example, that can achieve effective pain management with lower doses and therefore a lower risk of respiratory complications.

Dr. Paul Cundiff, who had 18 years of experience treating dying patients as a practicing oncologist and hospice care physician, says,

But many would even be willing to live with the pain if they knew that they would not be left alone. The growth in the hospice movement will help alleviate this fear as well. The staff at a hospice is trained to deal not only with physical pain, but with psychological, social, and spiritual pain as well. If you have seen pictures of the many people Jack Kevorkian assisted to commit suicide, you cannot help but notice that these were lonely, miserable people. Pain has had little to do with their desire to commit suicide. As a nation we have in large part abandoned our elderly population. When YEHOVAH God commanded Israel to honor their fathers and their mothers, this was understood to mean primarily in their older years. Extended families no longer live together even when the medical needs of parents are not severe or terribly limiting. No one wants to be a burden or to be burdened.

Dr. Jack Kevorkian was a retired pathologist with essentially no training in patient care. He was simply on a personal mission to bring about legalized physician-assisted suicide to help usher in a code of ethics based totally on relativism. “Ethics must change as the situation changes,” he said. “That’s the way to keep control. Not by an inflexible maxim that applies for two thousand years, but an ethical code that will change a decade later.” [6] Kevorkian’s victims were the few lonely and desperate individuals who sought him out. The victims of his crusade were not only those who wished to die, but those whom doctors and relatives felt should die.

One of the primary reasons for concern about the legalization of physician-assisted suicide is the now runaway death culture of Holland. Doctor-assisted suicide was essentially legalized in Holland in 1973 by two court decisions. While not officially legalizing euthanasia in Holland, the courts simply said that if you follow certain guidelines you will not be prosecuted.

The problem is that any such regulations are not enforceable. As a result, the government of Netherlands reported in 1991 that only 41% of the doctors obey the rules and 27% admitted to performing involuntary euthanasia. That is, without the patient’s consent! In addition, over 2% of the deaths in Holland in 1990 were the result of direct voluntary euthanasia, but 6% of all deaths were the result of involuntary euthanasia.

Many people in Holland today carry around a card that states they are not to be euthanized without their consent! That is precisely where we are headed. Once a right to physician-assisted suicide is established as it was in Holland, it soon degenerates into others being willing and able to make the decision for you. [7]

In Holland, doctors performed involuntary killing because they thought the family had suffered too much; some were tired of taking care of patients, and one was mad at his patient! [8] Even the conditions of allowed voluntary euthanasia are appalling. Robin Bernhoft, a U.S. surgeon of the liver and pancreas, relates an incident where a doctor in Holland told of a 26 year-old ballerina with arthritis in her toes requesting to be euthanized. Apparently since she could no longer pursue her career as a dancer, she was depressed and no longer wished to live. Amazingly, the doctor complied with her request. His only justification was to say that “One doesn’t enjoy such things, but it was her choice!” [9]

With this in mind, when the discussion of guidelines comes up, remember that in Holland, guidelines were useless. Enforcement was near impossible, and families and doctors as well as patients succumbed to the pressures of pain, depression and inconvenience. Sadly, pain and depression are treatable. There have been tremendous advancements in pain management which the American medical community is only recently being brought up to speed on. Depression can also be addressed but some patients, families, and doctors are often too impatient and lacking in genuine compassion to do the hard work to bring someone out of a depression. It is easier to offer help in suicide.

The lessons of Holland need to reinforce in our minds the necessity of making as many people aware of the dangers as possible. Since our society is now dominated by a worldview that prizes individual autonomy and shuns any mention of Biblical ethics, it can be very easy, yet ultimately, deadly, to go along with the crowd.

As we discuss the issue of euthanasia and physician-assisted suicide, it is critical that we not only understand what is going on in the world around us but that we also understand what the Bible clearly teaches about, life, death, pain, suffering, and the value of each human life.

First, The Bible teaches that we are made in the image of YEHOVAH God and therefore, every human life is sacred (Genesis 1:26). In Psalm 139:13-16 we learn that each of us is fearfully and wonderfully made. YEHOVAH himself has knit us together in our mother’s womb. We must be very important to Him if He has taken such care to bring us into existence.

Second, the Bible is very clear that YEHOVAH God is sovereign over life, death and judgment. In Deuteronomy 32:39 The LORD says, “See now that I Myself am He! There is no god besides Me, I put to death and I bring to life, I have wounded and I will heal, and no one can deliver out of My hand.” Psalm 139:16 says that it is YEHOVAH God who has ordained all of our days before there is even one of them. Paul says essentially the same thing in Ephesians 1:11.

Third, to assist someone in committing suicide is to commit murder and this breaks YEHOVAH’s unequivocal commandment in Exodus 20:13.

Fourth, YEHOVAH’s purposes are beyond our understanding. We often appeal to YEHOVAH God as to why some tragedy has happened to us or someone we know. Yet listen to Job’s reply to the LORD in Job 42:1-3:

We forget that our minds are finite and His is infinite. We cannot always expect to understand all of what YEHOVAH God is about. To think that we can step in and declare that someone’s life is no longer worth living is simply not our decision to make. Only YEHOVAH God knows when it is time. In Isaiah 55:8-9 the LORD declares, “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways. As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher your ways and my thoughts higher than your thoughts.”

Fifth, our bodies belong to YEHOVAH God anyway. Paul reminds us in 1 Corinthians 6:15,19 that we are members of the Messiah’s body and that we have been bought with a price. Therefore we should glorify YEHOVAH God with our bodies. The only one to receive glory when someone requests doctor-assisted suicide is not YEHOVAH God, not the doctor, not even the family but the patient for being willing to “nobly” face the realities of life and “unselfishly” end everyone else’s misery. There is no glory for YEHOVAH God in such a decision as this.

Lastly, suffering draws us closer to YEHOVAH God. In light of the euthanasia controversy, listen to Paul’s words from 2 Corinthians 1:8:

Not only does He raise the dead but there is nothing that can separate us from His love (Romans 8:38). For an inspiring and thoroughly biblical discussion of the euthanasia issue, read Joni Earickson Tada’s book When is it Right to Die? (Zondervan, 1992). Her testimony and clear thinking is in stark contrast to the conventional wisdom of the world today. We must do the same.

Here are several cases to test your grasp of the principles involved and to help Christians be aware of the tough decisions that have to be made. We would like to share two of those with you and then discuss what you can do now to combat the “right to die” forces in this country.

Your 80 year-old grandmother has been fighting cancer for some time now and feels the emotional strain. She feels like she’ll become a burden to the family. Her doctor notes that she seems to have lost her desire to live. Should she be able to have her doctor give her a prescription expressly designed to kill her?

This is precisely what the courts have legalized and precisely what YEHOVAH’s word says is wrong. It is wrong because it would be taking her life into our hands and violating YEHOVAH God’s sovereignty. Because physician-assisted suicide goes beyond letting someone die naturally to actually causing the death, it violates YEHOVAH’s commandment, You shall not murder. There is a clear distinction between allowing death to take its natural course in someone who is clearly dying with no hope of a cure, and taking specific measures to end someone’s life. There comes a time when the body is imminently dying. Bodily functions begin to shut down. At this point, people should be made as comfortable as possible, be supported and encouraged by their family and doctors, and allowed to die. This is death with dignity. Taking a lethal injection or breathing poisonous carbon monoxide fumes takes life out of YEHOVAH God’s hands and into our own.

Your spouse has an incurable fatal disease, has lost control of bodily functions and is unable to communicate. Special treatment and equipment can extend your spouse’s life for a few weeks or even months but will involve much pain and exhaustion. Would it be morally right for you to not arrange for the treatment?

Many would accept a decision not to arrange for treatment because that would not be killing but simply allowing death to take its natural course. Such decisions are not always clear-cut, however, and a physician and family members must take into account the pros and cons of intervention versus a faster natural death. Sometimes we rationalize that we need to keep the patient alive as long as possible because YEHOVAH God may still work a miracle. But just how much time does YEHOVAH need to work a miracle? If YEHOVAH is going to intervene He will do so on His time and not ours.

Death is inescapable. It is our common destiny. The Bible tells us “it is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment” (Hebrews 9:27). Israelite Christians are confident that what happens to them after death is protected through the grace and sacrifice of Yeshua the Messiah. Evolutionary atheists believe that human death is simply the end of another animal’s life, a freeing up of resources for the use of others. But regardless of what people believe about what happens after death, when and how they die and what they might face as that time draws close is of great concern to many.

Death is an enemy, an enemy that only YEHOVAH God, through the Messiah, can and will destroy (1 Corinthians 15:26). If death cannot be avoided -- and it cannot -- many of us would like some control over how and when it happens. After all, we as adults do not like relinquishing the independence we spent our entire lives acquiring! As people around the world grapple with the issue of whether euthanasia (“mercy killing”) and physician-assisted suicide should be legal, it is the desire to retain control over our lives until the end that motivates many to push for a legal “right to die” on their own terms. When we realize that this is tantamount to asking for murder-on-demand, the sanitized sounding word euthanasia takes on its true colors.

Roe v. Wade in 1973 legalized the right of a woman in the United States to have a health-care professional kill her baby. Do we then have a right to ask a doctor to kill us, perhaps when we face a terminal illness or when we are handicapped by a condition without hope of improvement? Should we be permitted to demand a “merciful” death for a child or adult whose life, some think, is “not worth living”? And while many people fear the pain and indignity of a terminal illness or debilitating disability, some seek death on-demand as an escape from psychological distress.

Laws concerning euthanasia in the U.S. have not yet caught up with widespread liberal death-dealing abortion laws. However, some countries have stepped onto a slippery slope and legalized euthanasia -- the administration of a lethal drug by a physician in order to put an end to life and suffering. Some countries have even legalized euthanasia for children! Meanwhile, the “lesser brother” of euthanasia -- legalized physician-assisted suicide, in which the physician prescribes a lethal dose of a medication that patients then administer to themselves -- is gaining ground in America under the banner of “death with dignity.”

No one wants to suffer or see a loved one suffer. With advances in medical care, doctors can usually provide palliative care that substantially mitigates the suffering associated with terminal conditions. Today’s health professionals are also quite attuned to the wishes of their patients. Yet we hear so much from fear-mongerers about the horrors awaiting us in our final days that we may not realize we can receive compassionate care and maintain reasonable control over our circumstances without legalizing medical murder.

And then there is the issue of resources. Some people fear becoming a burden on others. Furthermore -- whether families or insurance companies or governments -- those who must shoulder the financial responsibility for end-of-life care, which consumes a substantial portion of health care expenditures in today’s world, have a financial incentive to expedite the exit of the dying. It is easy to see that this controversial issue over the “right to die” is very complex. It is so complex that, just as many compassionate people wrongly think abortion is justified when a mother is in a bad situation or a child is handicapped, many also think they can safely open the Pandora’s box of euthanasia. And they often do not realize that this misguided attempt to promote human dignity and retain personal autonomy may backfire, for ultimately the increased acceptance of euthanasia must surely trample underfoot the needs of the elderly, the gravely ill, and the resource-consuming handicapped. Their autonomy and dignity may evaporate under the guise of protecting them.

How, then, should we as Israelite Christians view this issue? Whatever direction the legal systems of this and other nations take -- and whatever unhappy surprises our own lives may hold for us as individuals and for those we love -- how can we be certain that our thinking on this issue is correct? It is quite easy to be caught up in the emotional rhetoric surrounding this subject and to be overwhelmed by emotional distress when we hear bad news from our doctors. Without a firm foundation in the Word of YEHOVAH God, the decisions we make and the beliefs we hold about these complex issues may be swayed by emotions and governed by the fallible pronouncements of secular ethics committees or even resource utilization guidelines. Therefore, to prepare ourselves for the unexpected, it is important to base our thinking on the Word of YEHOVAH God from the very beginning. Let’s get this straight in our minds right now.

From the very beginning -- back in the Garden of Eden -- those of the Adamic line have wanted to take control of their lives. We see this in the historical account of Eve’s yielding to the serpent’s temptation to “be like God” (Genesis 3:5) and in Adam’s decision to follow her in rebellion to YEHOVAH God. It was that terrible day’s rebellion that brought the reality of unavoidable death and its attendant suffering into Adamic life, for YEHOVAH had warned that the price of rebellion would be death (Genesis 2:17).

How is it that YEHOVAH God had the right to demand Adam’s obedience and to punish rebellion with death? YEHOVAH is the Creator of all life. He made Adam and Eve, and those of the first creation (Genesis 1:27) and hence all of us, their descendants, in His own image. He particularly loved the line of Adam and He loves those of us of Israel today, but He is a just and holy God and therefore judges sin. Thankfully, he also is a gracious and merciful God and commissioned and anointed Yeshua the Messiah to die in our place, securing for all of Israel who receive him YEHOVAH's free gift of eternal life and fellowship with Him. Yet still we must face death.

Historically YEHOVAH God is our Creator because He created our first parents and because He is still the one who gives each person the gift of life. Therefore, our lives belong to Him. Whether we of Israel have received the gift of salvation through the Messiah or not, our lives belong to YEHOVAH God. How do we know? Well, not only did YEHOVAH create the fully human ancestor of of us (Adam) in the beginning, but when the Apostle Paul spoke to a pagan crowd in Athens, he declared, “In Him we live and move and have our being” (Acts 17:28). It is therefore up to YEHOVAH God, the giver of life, to decide when a person’s life should end. Because man is created in his image, YEHOVAH God has established very narrowly defined conditions under which man is authorized to take the life of another. (We see this for instance in Genesis 9:6 when YEHOVAH established a capital penalty for murder.)

The Bible does not condone the taking of one’s own life or euthanasia. It simply does not. YEHOVAH God exhorts us to defend the “speechless...who are appointed to die” (Proverbs 31:8-9, NKJV), not to kill them. YEHOVAH forbids murder (Exodus 20:13). Euthanasia -- the destruction of another person’s life even to end their suffering -- is a form of murder. It is wrong to do it and wrong to ask someone to do it for you. Having the choice to “shuffle off this mortal coil” through our own hand or the hand of another is not YEHOVAH’s plan for us. We human beings do not have the authority to make that decision for ourselves or our loved ones.

In the first, Abimelek, believing himself to be fatally wounded (with a fractured skull after being hit on the head by a millstone), asks his armor-bearer to kill him. His request is granted and the Israelite leader is thus spared the "indignity" of being killed by a woman. The death is seen as just retribution for Abimelek's own murder of his seventy brothers, and we are not told what happened, if anything, to the armor-bearer (Judges 9:52-55).

In the second, an Amalekite dispatches the mortally injured Saul, still alive after a failed attempt at suicide:

Whether the Amalekite killed Saul out of compassion, or in order to win favor in David's eyes for dispatching Saul and delivering him the crown, the new king's reaction is most interesting.

"Why weren't you afraid to lift your hand to destroy the LORD's anointed?" (2 Samuel 1:14), David asks, and then apparently before receiving a reply, as if the confession in itself were sufficient grounds for a judgment to be made, orders the Amalekite's execution.

In the mind of David, who was a man after YEHOVAH's own heart, the compassionate killing of Saul constituted a capital offence, despite him being in great pain (presumably with peritonitis) and close to death without the possibility of analgesia, and most significantly of all, despite Saul's own request to be killed.

From David's judgment we seemingly must conclude that it was completely unacceptable to YEHOVAH God, regardless of the motive behind it. David equates the Amelakite’s act with an act of assassination and we are left to assume that he reflected the Biblical stance of the sacredness of life and the importance of preserving it.

Also in the case of Job, we see where this would be a prime example for a case of euthanasia. If Job had taken the advice of his wife (Job 2:9), “then said his wife unto him, ‘Doest thou still retain thine integrity? Curse God and die.’” For those who would practice euthanasia, this would be the answer, but let’s hear what Job had to say by the inspiration of YEHOVAH God (verse 10): “But he said unto her, ‘Thou speakest as one of the foolish women speaketh. What? Shall we receive good at the hand of God, and shall we not receive evil?’ In all this did not Job sin with his lips.” We see that YEHOVAH God preserved Job’s life and blessed him.

Why, we might then ask, wouldn’t YEHOVAH God give us that right? Well first of all, as He is the giver of life, to permit us to simply throw that life away with His blessing would not make sense. Secondly, at a practical level, we human beings are not all knowing: we do not know the future. We cannot know, for instance, what might happen during our trip through the valley of the shadow of death that could drastically modify our own experience or dramatically affect the life of another person. Psychological distress may abate. Bad circumstances may change, and we cannot know that they won’t. And we certainly have no right to judge for another -- a severely handicapped child, for instance, or an unresponsive adult -- whether life is worth living.

Life is precious because YEHOVAH God gave it, even though, since the entry of sin into this world, suffering is, to one degree or another, part of everyone’s life. Finally, YEHOVAH is wise enough to know that human beings are not only swayed by swells of emotion and seemingly overwhelming circumstances but also by knowledge of how events may affect them in material ways. To be blunt, when someone who is consuming resources dies, he or she stops consuming resources, and whatever is left behind becomes the property of others. There is an enormous risk that the financial incentive to hasten death can lead to the abuse of the terminally ill and disabled.

While no one wants to be a burden to others, part of living and loving and being responsible involves caring for the needs of others, especially those in our own family (1 Timothy 5:8). Just as children need parental care from the beginning, so the disabled, the ill, and the elderly may require a great deal of care along the way and at the end of life. The elderly, the poor, the disabled, and the handicapped children and adults among us are those least able to defend themselves. Liberalization of laws allowing increased access to “opt out” options -- whether physician-assisted suicide or actual euthanasia -- may well lead to a tragic loss of self-determination for them. In a world in which death is increasingly allowed to be voluntarily embraced, how horrid a prospect it is that those so vulnerable may find they are pressured to choose death. Their so-called autonomy, their “right to die,” may become their duty to die!

It is important to understand these words in context. At the time, Paul was imprisoned in Rome for preaching the gospel (Philippians 1:13-14). The Roman authorities were renowned for their cruelty and prisoners were often put to death.

In the preceding verses Paul reassured the Philippians that he was not afraid of being killed by the Romans and wanted to bring glory to YEHOVAH God regardless of what happens to him:

Paul wrote this letter to encourage the Philippians. It is known as the “joy letter” because Paul repeatedly refers to joy and rejoicing. He encourages them to rejoice always -- in every circumstance (Philippians 4:4).

Nowhere does he complain that he is suffering unbearably or that he fears future suffering. But suffer he did! The first act of persecution against the apostle Paul, which the New Testament records, is his enduring the punishment of stoning (Acts 14:19-20). This occurred to Paul while he was in the area of Galatia in Asia Minor around the year 45 A.D. Notice what he said when he wrote to the Galatian Christians some four years later. Paul said that he, at that time, bore in his body the marks (actually, SCARS) which the Messiah also had:

By saying this, he was not speaking allegorically, nor was he referring to piercings in his wrists, feet and side as a result of being crucified like the Messiah. No, Paul had never been crucified -- but he had been stoned like the Messiah and left for dead (Acts 14:19-20)! Paul was still greatly traumatized by this stoning which resulted in many scars being on his body -- especially the face.

Four years after he was stoned Paul told the Galatian Christians that he had at first been instructing them under great physical pain, and he indicates that his main affliction had something to do with his eyes (Galatians 4:13-15). Although Paul barely survived his stoning, he was no doubt still suffering from its consequences. He wrote with large alphabetic letters (Galatians 6:11), and this may well indicate that he was having difficulty seeing clearly. The lacerations had apparently so injured Paul that there was permanent damage to his eyes and face.

But, regardless of all this, he wrote that he learnt to be content in all circumstances:

There is no evidence that Paul was contemplating ending his own life -- Paul’s words should not be used as an endorsement for "assisted dying" (euthanasia or assisted suicide).

Evolutionists, of course, see human beings as nothing more than highly evolved animals. If man were nothing more than an animal, then a human being’s death would be no more important than an animal’s. In fact, by making the analogy to the putting down of a suffering pet, logic based on an evolutionary worldview leads only to death -- death by suicide, death by euthanasia, death to clear the playing field for the young and the energetic -- and paints this black end in a merciful light. Yet despite all the appealing talk of “dying with dignity” -- and who in their right mind would desire to die without dignity -- suicide, even when assisted by a physician’s lethal prescription, and euthanasia -- which is just a nice word for murder with a presumably merciful motive -- are not acceptable options unless we are nothing more than animals.

But we are not just animals! We -- every one of us of Israel -- are all made in YEHOVAH's image and therefore all those of Israel have lives of special value to YEHOVAH God, so much so that the Messiah, YEHOVAH’s adopted Son, gave his own life for us (John 3:16; 1 Corinthians 15:22; Hebrews 2:9-10). YEHOVAH’s account of Creation recorded in the Bible is consistent with what we see in the physical world and validates His ownership of humanity and His right to set our standards. And apart from a source of truth from someone greater than man, no person’s moral judgments are more valid than another’s. Human beings have many ideas about right and wrong, but as described in the biblical book of Judges, when YEHOVAH’s Word is ignored, everyone does what is right in his own eyes (Judges 21:25), and that is a recipe for disaster as much now as it was during the days described in the book of Judges. Only YEHOVAH God who created mankind is justly in a position of moral authority over all mankind of both the first and second creations.

The cancerous permeation of evolutionary thinking throughout society, governments, and the world has led many to embrace the idea of euthanizing human beings for all sorts of reasons. But that thinking is based on evolution’s God-rejecting lie about our origins. We must not therefore yield the ground to those exhorting us to embrace death prematurely -- much less to put subtle pressure on others to do so -- but rather focus on how we live in the light of YEHOVAH’s truth until life’s end.

This is a complex issue, and this article is not intended to address every aspect, much less to review the legal ramifications of laws and court decisions that can change in a day. This is, instead, a reminder that we need to base our thinking on the Word of YEHOVAH God, which never changes and can be trusted to guide us through life and death. Please prayerfully consider various aspects of this issue that may affect your life and the lives of those you love.

Now that we have a better understanding of the issues, you may be wondering just what we can do about this threat among us. Three things:

Pray -- Pray that YEHOVAH God will turn the hearts of people back to Himself and back to protecting life. Pray for righteousness and justice in our legal system, that we enact laws that preserve life, punish the guilty and protect the innocent.

Speak Out -- Present this information to other groups. Talk with your friends and family and discuss the reasons for protecting life. Contact your state and federal legislators and tell them to stand against physician-assisted suicide.

Reach Out -- Visit the elderly, care for those who can’t care for themselves, comfort the sick. Consider joining a group to help the elderly, handicapped, or other individuals with special needs. As Christians we must lead the way with our hearts and actions and not just our words. If we devote our energies to providing quality and loving care and effective pain control, the euthanasia issue will die from a lack of interest.

We must continue to protest the horrible idea of euthanasia. Martin Niemoller, who when imprisoned for his stand against the Nazi regime during The Third Reich said, “First they came for the Socialists, and I did not speak out because I was not a Socialist. Then they came for the Trade Unionists, and I did not speak out because I was not a Trade Unionist. Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out because I was not a Jew. Then they came for me and there was no one left to speak for me.”

The legalization of euthanasia represents a “Pandora’s Box” of evils about to be thrust upon society. Christians must actively oppose this type of atrocity. John J. Davis explains, “Human life is sacred because God made man in His own image and likeness. This canopy of sacredness extends throughout man’s life and is not simply limited to those times and circumstances when man happens to be strong, independent, healthy, and fully conscience of his relationship to others.”

Christians do not have an option as to whether they should care for those who cannot care for themselves. YEHOVAH’s Word contains specific commands regarding such action (James 1:27, Isaiah 1:11,23, Romans 15:1, Leviticus 19:32, Psalms 71:9). Ignoring these commands and remaining apathetic to the horror occurring around us invariably produces evil fruits. Let us stand against such evils as euthanasia. It is our Christian responsibility.

2. “Why is Life Worth Living: An Overview of Physician-Assisted Suicide.” The Battle for Life: An Educational Resource Kit. Christian Medical and Dental Society, P.O. Box 5, Bristol TN 37621. 1996.

3. Cited in “Kevorkian going on trial on assisted-suicide charge,” The New York Times, 12 Feb. 1996, National Report, A8.

4. C. Everett Koop. The Surgeon General on Euthanasia. Presbyterian Journal. Sept. 25, 1985:8.

5. David Cundiff. 1992. Quoted in review of "Euthanasia is NOT the Answer: A Hospice Physician’s View" by Debbie Decker. CURRENTS in Science, Technology, and Society. 1(2):20.

6. Jack Kevorkian. 1990. Quoted in “Kevorkian: A Glimpse into the Future of Euthanasia?” by Sarah Sullivan. Christian Research Journal 18(4)23-27, 1996.

7. R. Finigsen. 1991. “The Report of the Dutch Committee on Euthanasia.” Issues in Law and Medicine 7:339-44.

P. J. van der Maas. 1991. “Euthanasia and Other Medical Decisions Concerning the End of Life.” Lancet 338:669-74.

8. “California’s Proposition 161 and Euthanasia.” 1992. CURRENTS in Science, Technology, and Society 1(2):11. Published by Access Research Network, P.O. Box 38069, Colorado Springs, CO 80937-8069.

9. Robin Bernhoft, M.D. 1995. Quoted in Euthanasia: False Light. Produced by IAETF, P.O. Box 760, Steubenville, OH 43952. Running time: 14:48.

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