Euthanasia and Religion
Euthanasia is the inducement of a gentle and easy death. It is
considered to be a form of suicide. Yet the procedure requires the
assistance of a third party, due to the potential incapacity of the
individual requesting this procedure be carried out. The case could
then be turned into one of homicide. As a result of this, it is
incredibly difficult to find an individual who is willing to aid in
the conduct of euthanasia, as they could face prosecution in a
criminal court on the charge of murder.
Patients who request euthanasia are often motivated by terminal
illness. They appreciate that further medical treatments are unable to
cure, or deacelerate, the illness. They also wish to preserve their
dignity and conclude their painful suffering. Another example where a
patient may want to opt for euthanasia, is when health authorities
suggest they go into a hospice especially designed to cope with their
illness. A wish to maintain their independence, along with the desire
not to continue to be a burden on other family members, then becomes
the motivation.
Perspectives on the ethical issues are vastly variable on this topic,
across the social spectrum. An argument against the practice of
euthanasia, commonly starts with religion. The sixth commandment in
the Christian Bible states, 'Thou shalt not kill'. This implies that
the act would be committed with violence; a criminal act, where the
victim believes that they have a life worth living and would prefer
not to be killed. There would have been no comforting way to induce
death at the time when the Bible was written. Euthanasia however, is
mercy killing. A death where the recipient believes their life is not
worth living and they want an end to their suffering. Thanks to modern
medicines, the end of suffering can be carried out in a humane way.
Therefore to directly associate this commandment to euthanasia is
misleading and the text should rather read, 'Thou shalt not help to
die'.
A majority of the religious opposition to euthanasia comes from the
When Mary Warren is in the court testifying against Abigail, Parris prompts Mary to faint as she said she was pretending before, “Then no see no spirits now, and prove to us that you can faint by your own will, as you claim” (99). Parris wants to continue to support his story about the girls in the forest and so he targets Mary as she is fearful and weak. She is not able to faint as it was an electric impulse she felt with the girls and the power of suggestion that made her faint at the time. As the girls pretend to have Mary’s spirit on them, Parris joins in, “Cast the Devil out! Look him in the face! Trample him! We’ll save you, Mary, only stand fast against him and-” (109). Parris is insidious as he pretends that the devil is in Mary to convince Judge Danforth of Abigail’s lie. Parris manipulates the courts along with Abigail to discredit Mary’s story. On the other hand, Elizabeth is willing to accept culpability even for the sins she has not committed. Elizabeth attempts to tell John that she cannot decide whether he should confess or not for him, “I have read my heart this three month, John. I have sins of my own to count. It needs a cold wife to prompt lechery” (126). Elizabeth has been away from John for three months and in this time away from
The floor creaks between each one of their pauses. The silence is deadly. Should I dishonor my lord? The pressure I just can’t stop pacing back and fourth, my skin is tender and sweaty. Salem’s gone mad! All the women be crying witchcraft! But the only one that bewitching is that whore Abigail Williams. Reverend Parris caught her in the forest leading the young ones into the depths of sin, yet I am the one to blame. Its as if I’ve gone crazy myself. They all be believing the devil is loose in Salem. But the Lord may not shine through the unfaithful. She be confessing that my Elizabeth Proctor be practicing witchcraft. I will not believe none of it. She is the biggest sinner in the house of the lord, a liar. How may she call heaven? She may think God sleeps, but God sees everything. God knows a sinner.
The Crucible – Characters and Changes & nbsp; Change is good for the future. " We hear the catchy phrase everywhere. From company slogans to motivational speeches, our world seems to impose this idea that change is always a good thing. Assuming that the change is for the better, it is probably a true statement in most cases. The root of this idea seems to come from the notion that we are dissatisfied with the state that we are in, so, in order to create a more enjoyable environment, we adjust.
The plot of the play is pushed by her lies because of the severe consequences they cause and the hysteria that floods the town’s once pure society. Abigail commits her first lie as she tells her uncle Parris and Reverend Hale of Beverly, “I never called him! Tituba, Tituba…” (43) Abigail Williams has been questioned by both her Uncle Parris and Hale, a weighty spiritual doctor that has been called into their town, about what she and her friends were doing in the forest when her uncle spotted them. While Abigail knew the conjuring of spirits and casting a spell upon Elizabeth Proctor was not permitted in the Puritan society and could lead to banishment or death of both her and her friends, she decides to give in to the propensity to lie and put the blame elsewhere. Her initial motivation to lie about what she was doing in the forest stemmed from the natural tendency to avoid punishment, however a deeper motivation blooming from this lie comes from her desire to seek vengeance on Elizabeth Proctor and conceal her lonely emotions she has towards Elizabeth’s husband, John Proctor. Abigail and John both commit the sin of adultery, however while John deeply regrets his behaviors with Abigail and condemns himself back to his marriage with Elizabeth, Abigail has not accepted that fact of being alone and forgotten about. When she blames Tituba for being
The Crucible starts out in the bedroom of Betty Parris, the sick daughter of the towns preacher Samuel Parris. The village people began to spread the rumor that witchcraft is the cause of Bettys illness. The Reverend John Hale is sent for by Mr. Parris to find out what is happening, because Hale is a investigator on strange events involving witchcraft. Samuel accuses and questions Abigail Williams, his niece, of dancing and chanting around a fire in the woods with Betty and his slave, Tituba to conjure up evil sprits. She denies these claims and says that she and the other girls were only dancing. The other girls are then threatened by Abigail to keep them from telling what really happened in the forest. Later in the scene, John Proctor enters the room, and Abigail talks of their affair.
Reverend Parris’ fear of losing his job provokes him to cry witch. Reverend Parris’ daughter feigns to be in a coma. When the doctor bade Susanna tell Reverend Parris that he “might look to unnatural things for the cause of it” (9), he denies that possibility because he fears that rumors of witchcraft under his roof would help his “many enemies” (10) to drive him from his pulpit. Later, by supporting the Salem witch trials, Reverend Parris secures his position in the church. When John Proctor brings a deposition to court signed by Mary Warren that calls Abigail and her girls’ frauds, Reverend Parris urgently tells Judge Danforth that “they’ve come to overthrow the court” (88). When Mary Warren cannot faint in court, Reverend Parris accuses her of being “a trick to blind the court” (107). After Abigail pretends that Mary Warren is attacking her, Reverend Parris spurs on the accusations by telling her to “cast the Devil out” (118). Reverend Parris fears that if Abigail becomes exposed he will be punished for supporting an illegitimate court procedure. When execution day arrives, Reverend Parris fears that the “rebellion in Andover” (127) over hangings will occur similarly in Salem. Reverend Parris pleads to Hathorne that “. . . it were another sort that we hanged till now . . . these people have great weight yet in the town” (127). Reverend Parris’ last attempt at preserv...
As Reverend Parris worries about his daughter he makes it clear the consequences of lying about witchcraft. “Now tell me true, Abigail. And I pray you feel the weight of truth up on you, now my ministry is at stake, my reputation and perhaps your life as well.”(Act 1, Lines 113-116). Reverend Parris cannot reveal that he found his niece, Abigail dancing in the forest. Reverend Parris tells Abigail that he has enemies who will use that knowledge against him. He is particularly terrified because he could be implicated in the witchcraft accusations and scapegoating. Betty is accused of witchcraft, Abigail as well accuses Tituba of witchcraft. This would mean that three people of supposed witchcraft would all be living under Mr. Parris roof and that is a huge NO within the Salem community. Reverend Parris is terrified of his overall future and reputation within the town of Salem. Being terrified is the reason why so many lives were taken away. His fear has spread and will ultimately affect the town of
From the church or the government there are many laws made pertaining to witchcraft. It is believed that if he or she is to dance, he is controlled by the devil. The subject of dancing is what gets the girls into trouble in the first place. The girls are seen by Parris dancing and conjuring evil spirits in the woods. “Witches” are what the girls are called by the people of the town. After they were caught, Parris goes upstairs to call Betty, his daughter, and Abagail, his niece, but Betty will not wake. This is when the
The Crucible is a 1953 play by Arthur Miller. Initially, it was known as The Chronicles of Sarah Good. The Crucible was set in the Puritan town of Salem, Massachusetts. It talks of McCarthyism that happened in the late 1600’s whereby the general public and people like Arthur Miller were tried and persecuted. The Crucible exemplifies persecutions during the Salem Witch Trials. The people were convicted and hung without any tangible proof of committing any crime. Persecutions were the order of the day. When a finger was pointed at any individual as a witch, the Deputy Governor Danforth never looked for evidence against them or evidence that incriminated them; he ordered them to be hanged. This can be seen through his words “Hang them high over the town! Who weeps for those, weeps for corruption!” (1273), the people were persecuted aimlessly. The four main characters in the play, John Proctor, Abigail Adams, Reverend Hale and Reverend Parris, are caught in the middle of the witchcraft panic in the religious Salem, Massachusetts in late 1690’s. Persecution is the most important theme in the Crucible, the leaders and citizens of Salem attacks and persecutes one of their own without any tangible evidence against them.
In the strict Puritan society, Abigail, Parris’ niece, commits actions that break the Puritan religion, such as dancing naked in the woods, and drinking blood with friends, her cousin, and slave, Tituba. Parris catches her and forces her to confess every detail of what she had been doing because of the vulnerable position he holds, “I have fought here three long years to bend these stiff-necked people to me, and now, just now when some good respect is rising for me in the parish, you compromise my very character” (11). Parris aims to keep the information secret to avoid others from finding out of the suspicious activities occurring in his household and uphold his good name in Salem. Parris is a leader and any mistake he makes affects his reputation, so he is convinced others are waiting to see him fail, “There is a faction sworn to drive me from my pulpit,”(10). Through his worries and focus on himself, he forgets that there are bigger issues at hand, like the sickness of his daughter, Betty, who is unexplainably sick and unable to wake up. Yet, Parris is only interested in how others discovering why she is in such state will affect his
A recent poll founded by the Canadian Medical Association found that “only one in five doctors surveyed. . . said they would be willing to perform euthanasia if the practice were legalized. . . Twice as many – 42 percent – said they would refuse to do so” (Kirkey 1). Euthanasia is defined as giving a patient the right to die early with a physician’s assistance, and the legalization of this practice is being considered by lawmakers in many countries, including the United States. Accordingly, 42 percent of doctors in Canada are on the right side of this debate. Euthanasia should not be legalized because it violates society’s views that life is sacred, creates economic pressure for doctors, and for those countries that have legalized it, their laws are not specific enough to fully protect patients.
As the daughter of Reverend Samuel Parris, the rumors of her affliction brought much attention to her and her family. The play described Betty as a young girl, nine years of age, who began showing symptoms around the same time as her cousin Abigail Williams. Betty accused many people, and testified against them in multiple court cases. From the evidence that the Witch Trials shows, Betty was most likely pretending to be possessed in order to gain attention, or rebel from the strict lifestyle the Puritans followed. “She could not concentrate at prayer time and barked like a dog when her father would rebuke her. She screamed wildly when she heard the ‘Our Father’ prayer and once hurled a Bible across the room” (Walsh). As a distinct personality in both the Witch Trials and The Crucible, Betty Parris created a lasting affect on the course of history in
After Abigail Williams and the girls are discovered dancing in the forest by Reverend Parris, there are rumours of witchcraft among them, when Betty Parris and Ruth Putnam are found "witched". Once the girls discover this, they become more and more frightened of being accused of witchcraft. Abigail is the first to "admit" to seeing the devil, and all the other girls join in, so the blame will not be placed on them. "I saw Sarah Good with the Devil. I saw Goody Osburn with the Devil. I saw Bridget Bishop with the Devil."
A crucible is a severe test as of patients or belief, a trial. The play The Crucible is a journey through the trials of many townspeople caused by the superstitious belief of witchcraft. In The Crucible, Arthur Miller progresses and evolves the outlooks and views of the townspeople of Salem and shows how events, people, and catastrophes cause the characters to change their views on whether the people prosecuted were guilty or innocent of witchcraft. Reverend John Hale changes his view, more and more drastically as the play advances, as a result of the events that he underwent and the experiences he had. Soon he had total belief in the innocence of all those convicted and hung in Salem.
Another important work Miller wrote, The Crucible, takes place in Salem, Massachusetts, during the 17th century. It is a time when jealousy and suspicion poisoned the thinking of an entire town. Neighbor turned against neighbor when events happened that could not be explained. Accusations turned into a mad hunt for witches who did not exist. One of the main characters of the play is John Proctor, a well-respected man with a good name in the town. As the play develops, John Proctor’s moral dilemma becomes evident: he must decide whether to lie and confess to witchcraft in order to save his life, or to die an honest man, true to his beliefs.