euthanasia, agama

8/10/2019 Euthanasia, agama

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What is Euthanasia?

Euthanasia is the deliberate killing of a person forthe benefit of that person.

In most cases euthanasia is carried out because the

person who dies asks for it, but there are casescalled euthanasia where a person can't make such

a request.

A person who undergoes euthanasia is usually

terminally ill, but there are other situations inwhich some people want euthanasia.

The ethics of Euthanasia

Euthanasia raises agonising moral questions likethese:

is it ever right for another person to end the

life of a terminally ill patient who is in severe pain or

enduring other suffering

if euthanasia is sometimes right, under what

circumstances is it right is there any moral difference between killing

someone and letting them die

At the heart of the ethical and religious arguments

over euthanasia are the different ideas that peoplehave of the meaning and value of human

e!istence, and of whether human beings have the

right to decide issues of life and death forthemselves.

"here are also a number of arguments based on

practical issues.

#ome people think that euthanasia shouldn't be

allowed even if it was morally right, because itwould be abused and used as a cover for murder.

Killing or letting die

Euthanasia can be carried out either by doingsomething, such as giving a lethal in$ection, or by

not to do something necessary to keep the person

alive %for e!ample failing to keep their feedingtube going&.

'Extraordinary' medical care

It is not euthanasia if a patient dies as a result ofrefusing e!traordinary or burdensome medical

treatment.

Euthanasia and pain reliefIt's not euthanasia to give a drug in order to reduce

pain, even though the drug causes the patient to

die sooner. "his is because the doctor's intention

was to relieve the pain, not to kill the patient. "hisargument is sometimes known as theDoctrine of

Double Effect.

Mercy killing

ery often people call euthanasia 'mercy killing',

perhaps thinking of it for someone who is

terminally ill and suffering prolonged, unbearablepain. "he word euthanasia comes from the (reek

and means easy death.

Why people ant euthanasia

)ost people think unbearable pain is the main

reason people seek euthanasia, but some surveys

in the *#A and the +etherlands showed that lessthan a third of requests for euthanasia were

because of severe pain.

"erminally ill people can have their quality of life

severely damaged by physical conditions such asincontinence, nausea and vomiting,

breathlessness, paralysis, difficulty in

swallowing...

sychological factors that cause people to think of

euthanasia include depression, fear of loss of

control or of dignity, feeling a burden, or dislikeof being dependent.

Euthanasia and suicide in !slam

)uslims are against euthanasia. "hey believe thatall human life is sacred because it is given by

Allah, and that Allah chooses how long each

person will live. -uman beings should notinterfere in this.

"ife is sacred

Euthanasia and suicide are not included among thereasons allowed for killing in Islam.

o not take life, which Allah made sacred, other thanin the course of $ustice.Qur'an 17:33If anyone kills a person / unless it be for murder or

spreading mischief in the land / it would be as if he

killed the whole people.Qur'an 5:32

#llah decides ho long each of us ill li$e

0hen their time comes they cannot delay it for a

single hour nor can they bring it forward by a single

hour.Qur'an 16:61And no person can ever die e!cept by Allah's leave

and at an appointed term.Qur'an 3:145

%uicide and euthanasia are explicitly forbidden

estroy not yourselves. #urely Allah is ever merciful

to you.Qur'an 4:29

"he rophet said: 1Amongst the nations before youthere was a man who got a wound, and growing

impatient %with its pain&, he took a knife and cut his

hand with it and the blood did not stop till he died.Allah said, ')y #lave hurried to bring death upon

himself so I have forbidden him %to enter& aradise.'

1Sahih Bukhari 4.56.669
http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/ethics/euthanasia/overview/doubleeffect.shtmlhttp://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/ethics/euthanasia/overview/doubleeffect.shtmlhttp://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/ethics/euthanasia/overview/doubleeffect.shtmlhttp://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/ethics/euthanasia/overview/doubleeffect.shtmlhttp://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/ethics/euthanasia/overview/doubleeffect.shtml


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therefore they say that we should try to

avoid harming living things

this rules out killing people, even if they

want to die

The sanctity of life

4eligious people often refer to the sanctity of life,or say that human life is sacred. "hey usuallymean something like this:

(od gives people life, so only (od has the right to

take it away.7ou can look at that sentence in several ways.

-ere are three:

(od gave us our lives

we owe our lives to (od

(od is the final authority over our lives

we must not interfere in the ending of our

lives

(od is intimately involved in our lives

(od was intimately involved in our births

(od will be intimately involved in our

deaths

it would be wrong to try and shut (od out of

our dying

we should not interfere in the way (od has

chosen for our lives to end

(od gave us our lives

we are only stewards of our bodies, and are

responsible to (od for them

we must use our bodies as (od intended us

to

we must allow our lives %our stewardship& to

end at the time and in the way (od wants

(uddhism0 euthanasia and suicide

6uddhists are not unanimous in their view of

euthanasia, and the teachings of the 6uddha don'te!plicitly deal with it.

)ost 6uddhists %like almost everyone else& are

against involuntary euthanasia. "heir position on

voluntary euthanasia is less clear.

%tates of mind

"he most common position is that voluntary

euthanasia is wrong, because it demonstrates that

one's mind is in a bad state and that one hasallowed physical suffering to cause mental

suffering.

)editation and the proper use of pain killingdrugs should enable a person to attain a state

where they are not in mental pain, and so nolonger contemplate euthanasia or suicide.

6uddhists might also argue that helping to end

someone's life is likely to put the helper into a badmental state, and this too should be avoided.

#$oiding harm

6uddhism places great stress on non/harm, and onavoiding the ending of life. "he reference is to life/ any life / so the intentional ending of life seems

against 6uddhist teaching and voluntary

euthanasia should be forbidden. 5ertain codes of6uddhist monastic law e!plicitly forbid it.

8ay/people do not have a code of 6uddhist law, so

the strongest that can be said of a lay person whotakes part in euthanasia is that they have made an

error of $udgement.

Karma

6uddhists regard death as a transition. "hedeceased person will be reborn to a new life,

whose quality will be the result of their karma.

"his produces two problems. 0e don't know whatthe ne!t life is going to be like. If the ne!t life is

going to be even worse than the life that the sick

person is presently enduring it would clearly bewrong on a utilitarian basis to permit euthanasia,

as that shortens the present bad state of affairs in

favour of an even worse one.

"he second problem is that shortening lifeinterferes with the working out of karma, and

alters the karmic balance resulting from theshortened life.

Euthanasia as suicide

Another difficulty comes if we look at voluntary

euthanasia as a form of suicide.

"he 6uddha himself showed tolerance of suicideby monks in two cases. "he 9apanese 6uddhist

tradition includes many stories of suicide by

monks, and suicide was used as a political weaponby 6uddhist monks during the ietnam war.

6ut these were monks, and that makes a

difference. In 6uddhism, the way life ends has aprofound impact on the way the new life will

begin.

#o a person's state of mind at the time of death is

important / their thoughts should be selfless andenlightened, free of anger, hate or fear.

"his suggests that suicide %and so euthanasia& is

only approved for people who have achievedenlightenment and that the rest of us should avoid

it.

The %amurai tradition

#uicide was a significant part of the 9apanesesamurai tradition.


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"he samurai ritual ofseppukucame very close toeuthanasia indeed / an assistant would behead the

suicide after the suicide had fatally stabbed

themselves in order to bring death swiftly andreduce the time the suicide was in pain.

"he samurai motivation for suicide was similar tothat of the person seeking euthanasia: either they

had lost a battle and would be killed by theirenemies %the analogy is that the patient has losttheir battle against the disease, and it will kill

them& or they had been so badly wounded that

they could no longer be useful members of society%the patient could be in a similar position&.

In line with 6uddhist thinking, the seppuku ritual

laid great emphasis on the suicide having a

peaceful mind during the action.

Euthanasia / the )hristian $ie

5hristians are mostly against euthanasia. "he

arguments are usually based on the beliefs that lifeis given by (od, and that human beings are made

in (od's image. #ome churches also emphasise

the importance of not interfering with the naturalprocess of death.

"ife is a gift from ,od

all life is (od/given

birth and death are part of the life processes

which (od has created, so we should respect them

therefore no human being has the authority

to take the life of any innocent person, even if that

person wants to die

*uman beings are $aluable because they are made

in ,od's image

human life possesses an intrinsic dignity and

value because it is created by (od in his own image

for the distinctive destiny of sharing in (od's own life

o saying that (od created

humankind in his own image doesn't meant thatpeople actually look like (od, but that people have a

unique capacity for rational e!istence that enables

them to see what is good and to want what is goodo as people develop these abilities

they live a life that is as close as possible to (od's life

of loveo

this is a good thing, and lifeshould be preserved so that people can go on doing

this

to propose euthanasia for an individual is to

$udge that the current life of that individual is not

worthwhile

such a $udgement is incompatible with

recognising the worth and dignity of the person to be

killed

therefore arguements based on the quality of

life are completely irrelevant

nor should anyone ask for euthanasia for

themselves because no/one has the right to valueanyone, even themselves, as worthless

The process of dying is spiritually important0 andshould not be disrupted

)any churches believe that the period $ust

before death is a profoundly spiritual time

"hey think it is wrong to interfere with the

process of dying, as this would interrupt the process ofthe spirit moving towards (od

#ll human li$es are e1ually $aluable

5hristians believe that the intrinsic dignity andvalue of human lives means that the value of each

human life is identical. "hey don't think that

human dignity and value are measured bymobility, intelligence, or any achievements in life.

aluing human beings as equal $ust because they

are human beings has clear implications forthinking about euthanasia:

patients in a persistent vegetative state,

although seriously damaged, remain living human

beings, and so their intrinsic value remains the same asanyone else's

so it would be wrong to treat their lives as

worthless and to conclude that they 'would be betteroff dead'

patients who are old or sick, and who are

near the end of earthly life have the same value as anyother human being

people who have mental or physical

handicaps have the same value as any other humanbeing

Exceptions and omissions

#ome features of 5hristianity suggest that thereare some obligations that go against the general

view that euthanasia is a bad thing:

5hristianity requires us to respect every

human being

If we respect a person we should respect

their decisions about the end of their life

0e should accept their rational decisions to

refuse burdensome and futile treatment

erhaps we should accept their rational

decision to refuse e!cessively burdensome treatment

even it may provide several weeks more of life

End of life care


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"he 5hristian faith leads those who follow it tosome clear/cut views about the way terminally ill

patients should be treated:

the community should care for people who

are dying, and for those who are close to them

the community should provide the best

possible palliative care

the community should face death and dying

with honesty and support

the community should recognise that when

people suffer death on earth they entrust their future to

the risen 5hrist

religious people, both lay and professional,

should help the terminally ill to prepare for death

they should be open to their hopes and fears

they should be open to discussion

Euthanasia / the &oman )atholic $ie

Euthanasia is a grave violation of the law of (od,

since it is the deliberate and morally unacceptable

killing of a human person.Pope John Paul II,Ean!eliu" #i$ae, 1995

"he 4oman 5atholic church regards euthanasia asmorally wrong. It has always taught the absolute

and unchanging value of the commandment 17ou

shall not kill1.

"he church has said that:

nothing and no one can in any way permit the killing

of an innocent human being, whether a foetus or an

embryo, an infant or an adult, an old person, or onesuffering from an incurable disease, or a person who is

dying.

ope 9ohn aul II has spoken out against what hecalls a 'culture of death' in modern society, and

said that human beings should always prefer theway of life to the way of death.

"he church regards any law permitting euthanasia

as an intrinsically un$ust law.

The $alue of life

8ife is a thing of value in itself2 it's value doesn'tdepend on the e!tent that it brings pleasure and

well/being.

"his means that suffering and pain do not stop lifebeing valuable, and are not a reason for ending

life.

"he church believes that each person should enter

the dying process with all its mysteries with trustin (od and in solidarity with their fellow human

beings2 they should die with the dignity of letting

themselves be loved unconditionally.

As 5atholic leaders and moral teachers, we believethat life is the most basic gift of a loving (od//a gift

over which we have stewardship but not absolute

dominion.%a$ional &oneren(e o &a$holi(Bi)hop) *+S-, 1991

The right to die

"he 4oman 5atholic church does not accept thathuman beings have a right to die.

-uman beings are free agents, but their freedom

does not e!tend to the ending of their own lives.

Euthanasia and suicide are both a re$ection of(od's absolute sovereignty over life and death.

"he church believes that each human life is a

manifestation of (od in the world, a sign of his

presence, a trace of his glory. 1"he life which (odoffers to man is a gift by which (od shares

something of himself with his creature.1

A human being who insists that they have the'right to die' is denying the truth of their

fundamental relationship with (od.

&efusing aggressi$e medical treatment

"he church regards it as morally acceptable torefuse e!traordinary and aggressive medical

means to preserve life. 4efusing such treatment isnot euthanasia but a proper acceptance of the

human condition in the face of death.

#ssisting suicide

#ince it is morally wrong to commit suicide it ismorally wrong to help someone commit suicide.

"rue compassion leads to sharing another's pain2 it

does not kill the person whose suffering we cannot

bear.Pope John Paul II, Ean!eliu" #i$ae,1995

Euthanasia and suicide

"here are several -indu points of view on

euthanasia.

)ost -indus would say that a doctor should notaccept a patient's request for euthanasia since this

will cause the soul and body to be separated at an

unnatural time. "he result will damage the karmaof both doctor and patient.

ther -indus believe that euthanasia cannot be

allowed because it breaches the teaching of

ahimsa %doing no harm&.

-owever, some -indus say that by helping to end

a painful life a person is performing a good deed

and so fulfilling their moral obligations.

(ackground

-induism is less interested than western

philosophers in abstract ideas of right or wrong.4ather it focuses on the consequences of our

actions.


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3or -indus, culture and faith are ine!tricable. #oalthough many moral decisions taken by -indus

seem more influenced by their particular culture

than by the ideas of their faith, this distinctionmay not be as clear as it seems.

;arma: -indus believe in the reincarnation of the

soul %or atman& through many lives / notnecessarily all human. "he ultimate aim of life is

to achieve moksha, liberation from the cycle of

death and rebirth.

A soul's ne!t life is decided by karma, as theconsequence of its own good or bad actions in

previous lives. 7ou could regard a soul's karma as

somehow representing the net worth of its goodand bad actions.

A soul cannot achieve moksha without good

karma.

+on/violence: Another important principle isahimsa, not being violent or causing harm to other

beings.

harma: -indus live their lives according to theirdharma / their moral duties and responsibilities.

"he dharma requires a -indu to take care of the

older members of their community.

Killing

;illing %euthanasia, murder, suicide& interfereswith the killed soul's progress towards liberation.

It also brings bad karma to the killer, because ofthe violation of the principle of non/violence.

0hen the soul is reincarnated in another physical

body it will suffer as it did before because the

same karma is still present.

eath: "he doctrine of karma means that a -indutries to get their life in a good state before they

die, making sure that there is no unfinishedbusiness, or unhappinesses. "hey try to enter the

state of asannyasin/ one who has renounced

everything."he ideal death is a conscious death, and this

means that palliative treatments will be a problem

if they reduce mental alertness.

"he state of mind that leads a person to chooseeuthanasia may affect the process of reincarnation,

since one's final thoughts are relevant to the

process.

Euthanasia

"here are two -indu views on euthanasia:

6y helping to end a painful life a person is

performing a good deed and so fulfilling their moralobligations

6y helping to end a life, even one filled with

suffering, a person is disturbing the timing of the cycle

of death and rebirth. "his is a bad thing to do, andthose involved in the euthanasia will take on the

remaining karma of the patient.

"he same argument suggests that keeping a

person artificially alive on a life/support machines

would also be a bad thing to do

-owever the use of a life/support machine

as part of a temporary attempt at healing would not bea bad thing

%uicide

Prayopavesa, or fasting to death, is an acceptable

way for a -indu to end their life in certain

circumstances.rayopavesa is very different from what most

people mean by suicide:

it's non/violent and uses natural means2

it's only used when it's the right time for this

life to end / when this body has served its purpose and

become a burden2 unlike the suddenness of suicide,

prayopavesa is a gradual process, giving ample time

for the patient to prepare himself and those aroundhim for his death2

while suicide is often associated with

feelings of frustration, depression, or anger,prayopavesa is associated with feelings of serenity

rayopavesa is only for people who are fulfilled,

who have no desire or ambition left, and noresponsibilities remaining in this life. It is really

only suitable for elderly ascetics.

-indu law lays down conditions for prayopavesa:

inability to perform normal bodily

purification

death appears imminent or the condition is

so bad that life's pleasures are nil

the decision is publicly declared

the action must be done under community

regulation

#n example of prayopa$esa

#atguru #ivaya #ubramuniyaswami, a -indu

leader born in 5alifornia, took his own life by

prayopavesa in +ovember .

After finding that he had untreatable intestinal

cancer the #atguru meditated for several days and

then announced that he would accept pain/killingtreatment only and would undertake prayopavesa /

taking water, but no food.

-e died on the ?


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+udaism0 euthanasia and suicide

..."he message of 9udaism is that one must struggle

until the last breath of life. *ntil the last moment, one

has to live and re$oice and give thanks to the

5reator...r /a(ha"i" 0ela"e&ohen,Je)eek, 0ar(h, 22

"he 9ewish tradition regards the preservation of

human life as one of its supreme moral values andforbids doing anything that might shorten life.

-owever, it does not require doctors to makedying last longer than it naturally would.

9ewish law and tradition regard human life

as sacred, and say that it is wrong for anyone toshorten a human life

o this is because our lives are not

ours to dispose of as we feel like

all life is of infinite value, regardless of its

duration or quality, because all human beings are

made in the image of (od

saving someone from pain is not a reason tokill them

nor is it lawful to kill oneself to save oneself

from pain

but there is a limit to the duty to keep people

aliveo if someone's life is ending and

they are in serious pain, doctors have no duty to make

that person suffer more by artificially e!tending theirdying moments

it is also acceptable to ask (od in prayer to

remove a person from their pain and suffering

#cti$e euthanasia

9ewish law forbids active euthanasia and regards itas murder. "here are no e!ceptions to this rule and

it makes no difference if the person concernedwants to die.

%hortening life

It is wrong to shorten a life even if it would endvery soon, because every moment of human life is

considered equal in value to many years of life.

"he value of human life is infinite and beyond

measure, so that any part of life / even if only an houror a second / is of precisely the same worth as seventy

years of it, $ust as any fraction of infinity, being

indivisible, remains infinite.or Jakooi$),

or"er + &hie /ai#o even if a person is agoses%this word meanssomeone who has started to die and will die within

@< hours&, any action that might hasten their death

/ for e!ample closing the eyes or moving a limb /is prohibited.

2assi$e euthanasia

9ewish law says that doctors %and patients& have aduty to preserve life, and a doctor must do

everything heshe can to save a patient's life / evenif the patient doesn't want them to.

6ut this isn't the end of it. "here is some freedom

for doctors in cases where a patient is terminallyill.

Although a doctor cannot do anything that hastens

death, 1if there is something which is preventingthe soul from departing1 a doctor can removewhatever is preventing the dying person's soul

from departing.

In more modern language this means that ifsomething is an impediment to the natural process

of death and the patient only survives because of

it, it is permitted under 9ewish law to withdrawthat thing.

#o if a patient is certain to die, and is only being

kept alive by a ventilator, it is permissable to

switch off the ventilator since it is impeding thenatural process of death.

The rele$ance of pain

4abbi )oshe 3einstein and 4abbi #hlomo BalmanAuerbach have ruled that a dying patient should

not be kept alive by artificial means where the

treatment does not cure the illness but merelyprolongs the patient's life temporarily and the

patient is suffering great pain.

ain relief medicine can be given even though it

may hasten death, as long as the dose is notcertain to kill, and the intention is not to kill but to

relieve pain.

*astening one's on death

-uman beings don't have the right to kill

themselves, so someone who is terminally ill and

in great pain cannot take action to speed their owndeath. Even if they are mentally fit to make that

choice, the rule that life is sacred prevents them

from shortening their life.

A passage in the "almud tells the story of 4abbi5hanina ben "eradion, who was being burned

alive by the 4omans. -is pupils urged him to endhis suffering quickly by opening his mouth and

inhaling the flames. -e replied, 1It is better that

-e who gave Cme my soulD should take it ratherthan I should cause in$ury to myself.1

It's also against 9ewish law to help someone to kill

themselves, since one is not allowed to enableanother person to break 9ewish law.

Does the rule ban treatment that may kill?

octors are commanded to do their best to heal

the sick and prevent suffering. #o it's ; for adoctor to put a patient through life/endangering

treatment if that is likely to e!tend the patient's

life or reduce their pain.

(iblical precedents


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"he first e!ample of 9ewish euthanasia comes inthe 6ible:

And a certain woman threw an upper millstone upon

Abim'elech's head, and crushed his skull.

"hen he called hastily to the young man his armor/bearer, and said to him, 1raw your sword and kill

me, lest men say of me, 'A woman killed him.'1 Andhis young man thrust him through, and he died.

Ju!e) 9:5354"here's a more famous case at the start of

euthanasia, agama

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