{"id":11178,"date":"2012-05-11T14:45:52","date_gmt":"2012-05-11T03:45:52","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/imaginarydiocese.org\/bishopjohn\/?p=11178"},"modified":"2012-05-11T14:45:52","modified_gmt":"2012-05-11T03:45:52","slug":"euthanasia-care-or-killing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/imaginarydiocese.org\/bishopjohn\/2012\/05\/11\/euthanasia-care-or-killing\/","title":{"rendered":"Euthanasia: Care or killing?"},"content":{"rendered":"

From Guest Bloggers, The Revd Peter Adlem and Shannan Wuttke:<\/strong><\/p>\n

Euthanasia:Care or Killing?<\/a><\/p>\n

The Bible is realistic about how hard the end of life can be:
\nRemember your Creator in the days of your youth, before the days of trouble come and the years approach when you will say, \u201cI find no pleasure in them\u201d – before the sun and the light and the moon and the stars grow dark, and the clouds return after the rain; when the keepers of the house tremble,and the strong men stoop, when the grinders cease because they are few, and those looking through the windows grow dim; when the doors to the street are closed and the sound of grinding fades; when people rise up at the sound of birds, but all their songs grow faint; when people are afraid of heights and of dangers in the streets; when the almond tree blossoms and the grasshopper drags itself along and desire no longer is stirred. Then people go to their eternal home and mourners go about the streets.<\/em> (Ecclesiastes 12:1-5)<\/p>\n

Those whose latter years are without hardship and those who pass away peacefully are perhaps the exception, not the rule. Those who care for the terminally ill and dying know just how difficult the process of dying can be first hand. This year there will be a Bill before the Tasmanian Parliament seeking to change the current law to allow for Voluntary Euthanasia (or Physician Assisted Suicide).What are Christians to think about this? What does the Bible say about this vexing issue?<\/p>\n

Topics discussed in Pete and Shannan’s article<\/a>:<\/p>\n