As we all know -- and as the Bible makes very clear -- whether we are rich
or poor, famous or infamous, free or not, good or bad, young or old, death
is one event which we must all eventually face at God's appointed time. As
the Apostle Paul wrote so long ago:

"And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment:"
Hebrews 9:27, KJV

But the big question, which has become quite a heated moral debate in our
modern times, is whether or not we have the right to control how and when we
leave this earthly life.

More specifically, our own personal lives aside, if we have the medical
means to do so, do we have the right to reduce the pain that a loved one is
experiencing as their moment of death approaches, even if it means causing
them to fall into an unconscious stupor, and possibly shortening their life
by a few days or weeks?

Within the medical profession, this process of administering drugs in order
to reduce pain, and calm a dying person's body, is referred to as
"palliative sedation", or "terminal sedation". Some
critics refer to it as
"slow euthanasia".

This isn't exactly the same as what Doctor Jack Kevorkian -- the infamous
Doctor Death -- was doing, although some critics will argue that it is
pretty much the same, and simply a more gradual process.

In my mind, the central issue for we Christians is this: Where do we draw
the line between extending love, mercy and compassion to a dying loved one
who is in severe pain, and interfering with God's Laws regarding taking the
life of another person, or at the very least, taking measures which may
possibly hasten their death?

During my lifetime, I have never been faced with watching a loved one die. I
have never had to watch a person lying in agony and pain, as death slowly
approached, either through old age, disease, or due to some other cause.
Neither have I ever attended a funeral during my adult life -- although I
may have attended a few when I was a very small child.

In short, extreme pain, suffering and death are rather foreign in my
personal life; and so, at this point in time, I honestly cannot say how I
would react if I were in such a situation. I don't know what decisions I
would make regarding the life of another person, if I was called to do so.

However, I suspect that given my own nature, and my own cowardice when it
comes to any kind of physical pain, while I am a Christian, I think that if
I personally were in severe pain and terminally ill, I probably wouldn't
hesitate to say "Doctor, pump me up; even if it kills me!".

While that may surprise some of you, at least I am being honest about it. I
am a pragmatist and a realist, after all. Can you be equally as honest?

The Lord will certainly choose how and when I am supposed to leave this
Earth; but if my death is a slow, painful one -- and I certainly hope that
it isn't -- then, yes, I would say "Doc, bring on the drugs!". If I have
made a mistake, I am sure that God will let me know about it when I face
Him.

But if God is the loving, merciful God that we believe Him to be, would He
really find it inappropriate for us to take strong, stupefying drugs which
might reduce our agony as our final hour approaches?

It is a good question, for which I can provide no conclusive answer.

Obviously, some people will argue that God gave us the medical wisdom to be
able to do these things. I wonder though. The same could be said regarding
creating the atomic bomb, or inventing the electric chair, or lethal
injection. As I point out in my old article "Science And Technology: The
Forbidden Knowledge?", not all scientific knowledge is good. Some of it is
in fact devilish.

But, as I said, deciding how we personally want to be treated is one thing;
and how we wish for another loved one to be treated is quite another,
because it involves making a moral decision regarding the life of another
human being, and it isn't quite as easy as deciding for ourselves.

Following is a lengthy article that I just read in the New York Times. Given
the age of most of the people on our EDGE Mailing List, I think that you
will find it interesting. It doesn't seek to offer any final answers, but it
does get you thinking about this issue.

Due to the length of the article, I have divided it into three sections of
about 200 lines each, so that it will be properly imported into most BBSes.

The first section begins in the next message.



Jeff Snyder, SysOp - Armageddon BBS  Visit us at endtimeprophecy.org port 23
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