PART B: Religious Tradition Depth Studies.
Christian ethical teachings on Euthanasia.
The word euthanasia comes from two Greek words "eu" meaning good and "thanatos" meaning death. Literally it means a "good death".
Euthanasia is arranging for someone who has an incurable terminal
illness to die as quickly and as painlessly as possible. It is the act
of purposely aiding someone to die, instead of letting nature take its
course. There are four main types of euthanasia these are: Voluntary,
Involuntary, Active and Passive.
Euthanasia is currently illegal in Australia, but is legal in the
Netherlands and the state of Oregon however; it is still a widely
discussed topic, which raises many moral questions.
Christians use a number of sources to make decisions; these include the Bible, Church teachings, Jesus' actions and the society around them. It is also important to remember that the Bible does not mention euthanasia but however teachings from the Bible can be related back to the topic of euthanasia:
The Roman Catholic Church's teaching on euthanasia is that it apposes
it completely, this is an absolute view:
" Euthanasia is a grave violation of the law of God, since it is the deliberate and morally unacceptable killing of a human person."
- Pope John Paul II: Evangelium Vitae 1995.
The Roman Catholic Church also states that any attempt of ending life
is opposing God's love for that person. Circumstances like long
illness actually help people to face death, even though it is
frightening. Also the Roman Catholic Church opposes euthanasia because
of the strongly taught commandment: "Thou shall not kill." To add to
that: the Roman Catholic Church regards the sanctity of life as an
extremely important teaching and places the highest value on human
life and suffering and pain do not stop life being valuable...