Bishop John

Some things stick in your mind

Take the following words of over 1000 pastoral workers which express clearly the call to faith in the midst of poverty.

God shows himself to be the God who gives life, preserves it, rescues it from oppression, and makes it permanent in the risen Christ. We believe in the Lord and therefore we believe in life.¹

While we experienced the reality of this setting of the poor and the faith challenge in our missionary orientation in Lima, Peru during 1979, it was no less true in the following years in South America.

Is the challenge to have faith in the God of Life, true for us today in Tasmania?

I sense that today we are confronting a new paganism which is arguably more resistant to Christ than the pre-Christian paganism because it is a paganism coming from indifference and increasing hostility to Christianity.² Confronted by the Christian poverty of this new paganism, of Tasmanians’ unbelief, can we affirm with our Peruvian brothers and sisters that, ‘We believe in the Lord and therefore we believe in life’? I know we do.

A related question: Can Tasmania turn to God? I hear your affirmation, ‘Of course! God can transform Tasmania.’ And that is true.

How then can this be? Our answer: by the work of the Holy Spirit and the Spirit formed Body of Christ, the Church. Yes, we are part of God’s plan for the conversion of Tasmania to Christ.

We need to continuously re-imagine and clarify our purpose. Why does the church exist? Why does your parish exist? Why do people need Christ? Why do people need the church? Why do people need this particular church denomination? Who are we? What has God called us to be and do? Who is our neighbour?  Why don’t they trust us? How can we rebuild trust?

It is only as we consider these questions that we will understand the life that God is calling us to bring to our relationships.

I have pondered these deep questions in the context of priority setting. As agents of the God of Life: What are the challenges facing the Diocese as we seek to bring life? What strategies may be effective in addressing the challenges? What issues demand my priority and how might we tackle these issues?

Acknowledging the primary task of my office to strengthen our Anglican community, I am setting priorities for my ministry which I believe will further enhance the life of the Church and community in Tasmania.

These commitments are set out in my Synod Address 2013, and were affirmed by the Synod.

1. A Commitment to Relationship and Community where each Anglican ministry will live the values of Christ and his kingdom in relation to the Tasmania-wide Anglican family and the Tasmanian community. We will live as a community of communities.
2. A Commitment to our Leaders to enable, support and sustain the ministry of those called to leadership within the Church.
3. A Commitment to Good Governance with alignment of the dreams and responsibilities of our Anglican family in Tasmania. ³

My hope is that these commitments for the years 2013-2016 will set life-giving priorities for the final years of my time as Bishop of Tasmania. Thank you for participating.

What are your commitments as agents of the God of Life?

A Guiding Prayer

Loving and Gracious God of Life, you ever call us to new life in Jesus your Son in whose name we serve.

We acknowledge our need of you. We confess that we have sinned, in our thoughts, our words, and our deeds of commission and omission.Forgive us in Christ’s name.

Give us the gift of your Holy Spirit, to inspire and lead us, that, together, we may offer you worship and praise. In the spirit of Christ’s love and grace, help us to focus on the challenges before us, to listen with humility and care, to ask good questions and to listen, and to encourage one another, even as we may disagree. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

Notes

1. ‘Danos hoy nuestro pan de cada dia’ (Give us today our daily bread), Lima, November 1979.

2. Lesslie Newbigin comments on this, ‘Can the West be Converted?’ 1985, Newbigin.net Online Bibliography,p.25ff and p.36.

3. Synod Address http://imaginarydiocese.org/bishopjohn/2013/05/31/presidential-address-to-synod-2013/

Click here for the link to the Tas Anglican.

Craig Wallace, Lives Worth Living

14 October 2013

Members of the House of Assembly

Parliament of Tasmania

Dear Members

 Re: Voluntary Assisted Dying Bill 2013

We are writing regarding this Bill which is currently before the Parliament.

Lives Worth Living (LWL) is a network of senior disability rights advocates who have concerns about euthanasia and eugenics.  We are not a religious group or a pro-life lobby group.  Our views on the Bill emerge from a secular rights basis.

We are all people with disabilities.  Some of our disabilities are life long and well advanced and would be included in the Bill.

We acknowledge that the disability community does not have a single view on euthanasia.  There are some members who are concerned about legalised suicide for people with disabilities given the potential for abuse and perverse outcomes and others who do not have a view or support a right to choice and believe in the right to make end of life decisions for people with an illness like inoperable Cancer.

However there is a widely held view that legislation must have safeguards and closely attend to the UN Convention on the Rights of People with Disabilities which has been ratified by Australia.

In view of the above, the current Bill concerns us on a number of levels:

• The Bill does not mention the UN Convention on the Rights of People with Disabilities which has been ratified by Australia.  Article 10 of the Bill, which people with disabilities strongly lobbied for, provides that States Parties reaffirm that every human being has the inherent right to life and shall take all necessary measures to ensure its effective enjoyment by persons with disabilities on an equal basis with others. It is of concern that the opening sections of the Bill do not mention the Convention at all and stress      equality of outcome for people with disability.
• This Bill is not confined to terminal illness and we believe opens the door to the euthanasia of people with disabilities.  In section 11 there is deep blurring between medical conditions and disability which is made more obtuse rather than clarified within the Bill:
  • The Bill says that eligibility includes       persons with a “”progressive medical condition that is causing persistent       and not relievable suffering, for a person diagnosed with the medical condition, that is intolerable for the person – and that is in the advanced stages with no reasonable prospect of a permanent improvement  in the person’s medical condition”.
• In section 2 the Bill seeks to qualify this by saying that “For the avoidance of doubt, a person does not have an eligible medical condition solely because of the age of the person, any disability of the person or any psychological illness of the person”.
• Rather than avoiding doubt, this clouds matters –
  • Most disabilities are permanent and not able to be cured.
  • Many disabilities are progressive or have stages
  • Many people who acquire disabilities believe them to be intolerable only to change our minds over time
  • This appears to effectively open the door to the Bill encompassing some disabilities which could be unacceptable to a person at a point in time but then become bearable at a later point in time given the right supports. Many disabilities such as a high level spinal injury, multiple sclerosis, muscular dystrophy or motor neurone disease might fall into this category.  In the absence of supports for people with these disabilities this Bill is open to perverse outcomes and exploitation of vulnerable people.
• LWL is concerned that the bill creates a double standard in the treatment and interventions around ending one’s life based on disability. Euthanasia is assisted suicide and as we read it the Bill fails to mandate suicide prevention and other counselling which may identify other issues in people’s lives which weigh in their decisions. Where counselling is addressed it is an option for the primary practitioner, not mandated.
• The act does not invite the person to indicate whether a lack of disability or other supports might be impacting on their decision,  LWL believes that the current broke and broken disability support system around Australia, including in Tasmania, may create a raft of pressures in people’s lives which may impact on decisions.  Arguably, it would enable a similar outcome to the deaths of the two twins in Belgium who took their own lives on the basis that becoming deaf/blind could be unendurable.
• LWL has experience of many people with dual disability, including long term vulnerable people whose supports have broken down.  The Bill deals with depression but does not mention other forms of psychosocial disability which may impact on a person’s decision making. The way in which cognitive, intellectual or dual disability would interact with consent is unclear.
• We have some concerns about arrangements for consent under the Bill, especially for people with communication barriers.  It is possible to imagine a situation where a person with a disability has no say at all or where a family member who is familiar with that person’s way of communicating is seen as the primary source of consent.

LWL supports the National Disability Insurance Scheme and the difference it will make to the lives of people with disability.  We believe the proper support, not suicide, is the decent path to better lives with dignity for people with disability.  The NDIS hasn’t been fully introduced.  In the absence of these supports, we believe that people with disability may be subjected to a raft of subtle emotional, financial and personal pressures to end our lives.

Disability is high in Tasmania and it troubles us that Tasmanians with disability may be at higher risk of these perverse outcomes from a euthanasia bill which goes broader than terminal illness.  Just under one in four Tasmanians (23%) reported a disability in 2009. This was higher than the national average of 19 per cent.

LWL also believes that there is a need for more considered national work on a range of issues at the health/disability interface and to harmonise these to avoid the risk of different human rights outcomes based on where people live.

This work should include the adoption of a National Position on Eugenics and Biotechnology by all Australian First Ministers covering issues which act on Article 10 of the UN Convention including: Assisted Suicide on the grounds of disability, Genetic Screening, Involuntary sterilisation and certain surgical procedures.

LWL believes that the Bill as it stands raises serious issues and risks for people with disability and we hope it is defeated in the Parliament of Tasmania. We are also releasing this letter publicly to contribute to community debate.

Thank you for considering this letter and you can also contact Craig Wallace directly on 0413 135 731.

Signed

Lives Worth Living 14 October 2013

*See also, Depression, disability and ‘safe’ euthanasia.

Excellent research based article by Hanna Graham of the University of Tasmania in yesterday’s The Advocate newspaper. In part,

Many disability advocates oppose euthanasia and assisted suicide on the grounds that it has adverse implications for people with disabilities, whether or not they are eligible for it.

People who choose to live with symptoms and conditions that others call `intolerable suffering’ and `poor quality of life’ may find pro-euthanasia messages that some people are `better off dead’ and `some lives are not worth living’ offensive and stigmatising.

Acclaimed British paralympian Tanni Grey-Thompson recently described assisted suicide as “a chilling prospect for disabled people” (The Times, 23/09/2013).

She argues that legalising it “reinforces prejudices for people with disabilities” and makes them “afraid of a law that would offer a lesser standard of protection to seriously ill people than to others.”

James McGaughey, Executive Director of the Office of Protection and Advocacy for Persons with Disabilities in Connecticut agrees that disability advocates are “deeply concerned”, saying “the disability rights movement [is] punctuated with stories of individuals who “just wanted to die” before coming to realise they could still lead good, contributing lives.

Advocates worry that some people would never get to that realisation if assisted suicide becomes legal.”

The conclusion,

Saying the proposed Tasmanian Voluntary Assisted Dying model is based on Oregon, Belgium and the Netherlands, while denying that the euthanasia of vulnerable people could happen here means proponents may be willing to downplay or ignore what is already happening elsewhere.

Complete article, Depression, disability and ‘safe’ euthanasia  also the Researchers’ Report, A Response to Giddings & McKim’s euthanasia proposal.

I was speaking to someone recently who shared this story of hope with me:

The story began by taking a loaf of bread and giving it to a young fella.  He was living in a camping ground and he was homeless before that.

From the loaf of bread he moved in to live with a mate and after that he started moving furniture and he realised the love of Christ had been shining through (our church helps get furniture for strugglers).

After a few months of helping and receiving, he decided it was about time he did something with his life.  He told me that late one night he got down on his hands and knees and asked Jesus into his life.  At that stage he was also suffering with HepC and at various times been in prison and asked to go on a program that the Government ran.  Each time he was knocked back.  His psychiatrist didn’t think he was up to it yet.

Once he became a Christian he went to them again and this time was accepted.  Originally it was to be 12 months BUT it was only 6 months.  His liver had begun to heal.  He had 6 months where he fought.  There were times when he wanted to give up and he was encouraged just to go another day.  Each time his mood improved.

All this time he is going to church and getting involved in the Christian community and also helping to give out to people.  He was no longer living on the streets but settled into a house with four walls and a roof, that were important to him.  He actually joined Alcohol Anonymous and gave up the drink.  He has been sober now for 2 ½ years.

Now he is an active member in the congregation, reading during church and has even taken a service BUT the amazing thing is his liver has been healed.  He was telling me one day that he had a death sentence of 2-3 years but now he feels as though he has a completely new life.

I had the pleasure of baptising him at the beginning of the year.  He told me afterwards that he said that he felt so clean – the slate had been wiped clean.  At other times he has told me he felt Jesus scruffing him by the collar and dragging him up out of the gutter because that was where he’d reached – rock bottom.

At times he still struggles.  BUT, he knows at the end of the day Jesus is there for him and he reaches out to him.  He gets into the Word and we discuss at numerous times what he has been reading.  His family has been amazed by his progress.   What they remember of a drunken, homeless man, sleeping in car bodies, is no longer there.

How he began this life is another little story.  He had a father who was a Christian and was killed in a motorbike accident on his way home from work.  He still remembers his father used to work for the Army and he remembers that daunting service he went to as a 6 year old.  His grandfather took him under his wing because his mother had remarried and the new husband didn’t want the child.  So the grandfather took him under his wing and he promptly died when the young fella was 12 and from then he just drifted in and out of trouble, in and out of jail, alcohol, drugs…  you name it.

So he has come on an amazing journey.  He told me a while back that once he had been cleared of the HepC, his liver was completely healed and he had been given a new life.  The old life had gone.  In Jesus we are given new lives.

He has just finished a TAFE course and now hopes to start up his own little business.  It won’t make him millions but he said as long as he can get off the pension he won’t be a burden to society.

So just pray for this young man, that the Lord will continue to guide and direct him in his life that he now has.   Amen.

Life is full of surprises. The postal service delivers its share of surprises as last week’s mail proved.

Hi John, I couldn’t help myself when Josh named the yarn he had dyed ‘Bishop’s socks’. I had to have them made up into a pair. So next winter on a cold blustery day you can be very ‘purple’ in your shirt, beanie and socks!! Blessings, Naomi