Tell me what do you think of euthanasia?

Question

And please tell me also your religious background. I am Catholic Christian, but I do agree with it. I have seen people suffering (cancer, brain/heart stroke), and have also came across an eusthanasia case in Holland, where I was studying last year. I expect some of you to say 'but when you are in situation like that, you want to fight for life'. Yes, indeed, but not everyone.....

Answer 1

I am Dutch, former Roman Catholic, but left the church. I agree with the three people who already answered your question. Here in Holland euthanasia is not illegal, provided some rules are followed, some previous request from the patient being one of them. One cannot (and should never!) be euthanized without their consent.
I DON'T believe that people have to suffer "to purify their soul", or that it might be "God's will" to have to go through an ordeal that has no purpose at all.
And people who call it "killing a patient" should look twice.. it's more like helping them die peacefully.
Here in Holland you can leave a "Euthanasia Statement" with your doctor, in case you end up being a plant or in an irreversable coma, and they can no longer ask you if you would prefer to die in a situation like that.

Answer 2

One issue with this site is the same topic is all over the place. Maybe there should be just one area for serious questions. This is a thread I just put in an answer for:

Question: Why do you go to hell if you kill yourself?

There was a similar question posted at the same time a couple of days ago where I copied the same answer and so I am doing it again for the third time in a week:

Asked by scott G - 33 answers - Religion & Spirituality - 1 hour ago - Open

Jesus never said anything about this. I am assuming the comment came from a Christian. I know the Roman Catholic Church's official stance is that suicide will prevent you from being buried in a Church cemetery and gives you a one way ticket to hell.

Why? The sacredness of life comes up. I believe Pope John Paul II articulated this as he approached his own death, the idea that suffering brings us closer to God.

I suppose if you believe that, don't commit suicide. If you don't believe that, go ahead. I've heard that there are even places in Europe that will help you along with this and that are legal.

Do we have a true separation of church and state in the US?

3 days ago - Report Abuse
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I am a wavering Christian. I just came up with that and it means I find it a good thing to hold beliefs but not for the wrong reasons. I waver back and forth accepting Jesus as having died for our sins, et al.

Answer 3

Yes, I'm a christian too, I am also a nurse and have seen many many people suffer terribly, including i might add strong christians. I do not agree with euthanasia, I also think a portion of the suffering that comes about is often due to so many attempts at prolonging the life through man made ways like strong chemo and other measures which the medical community vigorously encourages but often isn't that effective. i think the last Pope who died was a courageous example of suffering to the people and of course he doesn't believe in it either.

Answer 4

I am a Christian and since this topic is something of a personal belief without previous facts I will only be telling you what I "think" and not what I "know". I believe (or think) that when a person is brain dead then their soul has already left their body and it is ethically and morally acceptable to consider euthanasia. If a person is in a lot of pain and yet still quite conscious then it is not ethical or moral to "stop their pain" by means of euthanasia. They are still alive and therefore we would be killing them. Another words, if someone is only staying alive by means of machines and would "die" without them then they are already "dead" and cannot "fight for life" any longer.

I would like to encourage those people who do not ever believe it ethical or moral because like I mentioned about there are no listed facts on when a soul leaves the body so we have to try to make our own decisions on this matter based off of what we think is ethical and moral.

In this situation the seemingly only ethical and moral right and wrong is that if someone is already pronounced "brain dead" then they are dead and euthanasia is not killing them so it cannot be considered unethical or immoral.

Answer 5

I agree with it. Iam Hindu. Noone else in the world can realize the pain, trauma, psychological implications a terminally cancer patient undergoes. Though life is valuable, no one has the roght to give or take it other than God, however, when one life has to be put to an end just to alleviate the suffering it undergoes. I donot think it is wrong. Anyway, uathanasia requires consent of the patient and relatives. If all feel that the patient has the right to end his/her suffering, then it should not be stopped. Atleast the person/s soul can rest in peace.

Answer 6

I am christian and was raised in a Lutheran church although I don't attend church anymore because I don't think the church actually follows their own teachings and has become more of a social club than a church. .....but...that's not what you asked.

Yes I think that euthanasia is a great idea...as long as the subject of euthanasia is still of sound mind and chooses it for themselves. I do not think that families or anyone else should be deciding to euthanize someone else.
I would not want to live with the pain and expense of major illness or put my family through the burden of experiencing it as well as not wanting to experience it myself so I would choose euthanasia ...but I would not want anyone to choose it for me if I were not capable of making the decision.....now discontinuing life support and expiring because I was unable to sustain life without a machine is a different story ...anyone can decide that for me...but euthanasia should be my personal right and personal decision.

Answer 7

I'm sure it was a typo of some kind - but I found it comical that this question was under etiquette - like it might be "rude" to end somebody's life.

Anyway - I am a religious scientist. Honestly - I don't know what my religion's stand is on this. But I say... Look, we do it for our pets - why wouldn't we do it for our loved ones?

If they were to make it legal in our country - the laws around it would need to very specific - because in some cases - there could be a very thin line between euthanasia and murder.

Answer 8

I have a very strong faith but do not like Church teachings - the only thing I can say about euthanasia is that I could not possibly predict how I would feel if I or a loved one was in a position where I felt it was an option. I have found that my emotions are not always as I would have expected them to be before the 'problem' surfaced.

Answer 9

I'm a christian, but i believe that if a person is terminally ill then they should have the choice of to carry on and suffer or to end their life,because they no if its terminal there's not much point in fighting a losing battle especially if they are in constant pain,some want to die with whatever dignity they can and not be a burden on others,even tho others will say there not a burden the one that's dying will think they are

Answer 10

I'm agnostic.

It's very easy for people to be righteous and say that killing somebody, even if it's to cut back on suffering, is immoral. It is true that I haven't been in that situation, where I'm faced with such a decision, but having done some superficial research on euthanasia cases and having volunteered in a hospital, I would have to say I support it. It's never meant as the first choice; rather, it's used when all else fails, when all treatments have ended in failure and/or when the spirit is far too broken to continue.

If I were in a situation like that, in which every breath I took reminded me of the pain of living completely dependent on others and the slow inevitability of death, I would want to be put out of my misery. They say to do no harm, but is it worth seeing somebody struggle to live with shreds of dignity, merely lying in wait for another, possibly futile, attempt to cure him/her?