Euthanasia

Johann Christoph Arnold (of the Bruderhof community) is appalled by an article in the New York Times about euthanasia in the Netherlands. Specifically, the Groningen protocol to allow doctors to kill babies "certain to [have] a brief life of grievous suffering."

Here is a link to Johann Christoph Arnold's article. An excerpt:

What will be next? And who is to decide when suffering becomes unbearable? The authors of the guidelines say they favor "life-ending measures" only under "very strict conditions." But to me, this phrase is nothing but brainwashing. It dulls our consciences and falsely reassures us that the recommended "procedures" are noble and caring. They are nothing of the sort. They are methods of killing, and represent yet another example of our culture’s desperate bid for the "good life"--a life undisturbed by discomfort and pain.

[snip]

What has happened to our consciences? Every fiber of our being ought to cry out against this development, and against the casualness with which such a murderous plot is being promoted as if it were simply well-reasoned professional advice.

It is true that the abortion of babies with grave medical conditions is already common. So is the withdrawal of life-support from babies born without a hope of survival. (The two are, of course, very different.) But as I see it, the new protocol has one aim: to further cement our acceptance of evil, and to lull us to sleep as the train of "progress" roars on toward destruction.

The notion that death is better than disability is seeping into popular culture as well. The film Million Dollar Baby [hint: 3 separate links to follow!], which presents the euthanasia of a quadriplegic as heroic, recently won four Oscars.

Where are we "Christians" in all this? Why is there so little outcry or alarm? God said to the first humans he created, "Be fruitful and multiply"; yet we so often despise God’s gift of life, and restrict, restrain, and smother it. And Jesus once said, "A bruised reed he will not break; a smoldering wick he will not put out." Why, then, are we so eager to screen and select and eliminate?

Thank you, for that "caffeine for your conscience."

The New York Times article mentions the activist group Not Dead Yet. Let me echo a paragraph from their home page:

Legalized medical killing is not a new human right, it's a new professional immunity. It would allow health professionals to decide which of us are "eligible" for this service, and exempt them from accountability for their decisions. Killing is not just another medical treatment option, and it must not be made any part of routine health care. In these days of cost cutting and managed care, we don't trust the health care system, and neither should you.

UPDATE

10:43 am CST: I deleted a duplicate post [Blogger is buggy today]and corrected a misspelling of 'euthanasia' [remember Greek root thanatos! (not thenatos.)]

This is a day of new beginnings,
time to remember and move on,
time to believe what love is bringing,
laying to rest the pain that's gone.

For by the life and death of Jesus,
God's mighty Spirit, now as then,
can make for us a world of difference,
as faith and hope are born again.

--Brian Wren
This is a day of new beginnings, 1978, alt.
(1st 2 verses)