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Euthanasia moral and religious
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INTRODUCTION
Both Islam and Catholicism can be considered two major religions in the world. Ninian Smart’s seven dimensions of religion define key element in a religion. Despite the fact that the two religions are different, there are some factors which are similar between the two religions. Catholicism and Islam can be compared and contrasted through Smart’s Doctrinal and Ethical Dimensions, the history of these faith traditions in Australia and a contemporary issue of euthanasia. Through the evaluation of the Doctrinal and Ethical dimensions of religion, history and the perspectives on euthanasia, it will become clear that Catholicism and Islam are able to be compared and contrasted.
DOCTRINAL DIMENSION
Ninian Smart’s doctrinal dimension explores the
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It is divided into 4 key areas, laws relating to personal acts of worship, laws relating to commercial dealings, laws relating to marriage and divorce and penal laws. Compared to the 10 Commandments which is concise and simple, the Sharia Law is quite extensive and goes into personal matter such as hygiene, diet, dress code and sexual matters, whereas the 10 Commandment primarily cover ways to avoid sin. The 10 Commandments and the Sharia Law both condemn idolatry, murder, adultery, theft, the intentional desire and longing for immoral sexuality and the wanting or taking of someone’s property. The Qur’an has stated multiple punishments for not following the Sharia Law, these include beheading/crucifixion (Qur’an 5:33), flogging (Qur’an 24:2) and hellfire (Qur;an 40:70-72). This is different to the 10 Commandments as there are no punishments for not following the 10 Commandments. Although the 10 Commandments and the Sharia Law are two different aspects of the ethical dimension of Catholicism and Islam, through the evaluation of those ethical rules, there are a number of similarities and difference noted which link the two religions
Euthanasia is an issue so interwoven within human rights and ethics that it cannot be ignored and must be addressed with Australian society. As the Euthanasia debate consists of many different arguments and stakeholders, one issue cannot be addressed and evaluated without consulting the “bigger picture”. Evidently, if Euthanasia became legal throughout Australia, there would be many implications that would follow. Firstly, religious parties would not agree with the decision that has been made, and would possibly rally and protest against those hospitals and health care centres that acted upon euthanasia laws.
As a member of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America, I feel it important to express in this essay the stand of the church on the question of euthanasia and assisted suicide. Our church has strong biblical and traditional reasons for adamantly opposing these new end-of-life approaches.
This essay is dedicated to the expression of the various official views of religious bodies within our nation. Most major denominations are represented. These religions have long been the custodians of the truth, serving to check the erratic and unpredictable tendencies of political, judicial and social bodies which would have Americans killing off their elderly and handicapped.
In James Rachels’ article, “Active and Passive Euthanasia”, Rachels discusses and analyzes the moral differences between killing someone and letting someone die. He argues that killing someone is not, in itself, worse than letting someone die. James, then, supports this argument by adding several examples of cases of both active and passive euthanasia and illustrating that there is no moral difference. Both the end result and motive is the same, therefore the act is also the same. I will argue that there is, in fact, no moral difference between killing someone and intentionally letting a person die. I plan to defend this thesis by offering supporting examples and details of cases of both active and passive euthanasia.
Joni was swimming with her friends and drove into the water where she hit the bottom and fractured her vertebrae at the age of 17, becoming a quadriplegic and having to rely on help from her parents for the rest of her life. Joni was lost in her thoughts, which turned into depression with the idea of euthanasia, not wanting to be a burden to her family any more. Joni was focused on what she didn’t have anymore and could not see the blessing of what she still had. When life changes for the good people never question why, then when life changes for the bad they always question why. People ask; why God would allow people to suffer, or what good has ever come out of someone, living like this, in the end can people over come all obstacles.
Across the world there are countless religions, new and old, each having their own unique traditions and laws that believers abide by. As defined by World History, Sharia, the Arabic word meaning “the path” or “the way”, alludes to traditional Islamic law. (Ellis, Esler, and Beers, 255) Sharia originates within the Koran, the holy book of Islam, which Muslims consider the unaltered word of God. Along with the Koran, Sharia is derived from the teachings and examples set by the Islamic prophet, Muhammad, who Muslims view as the perfect man of faith. Muslims believe that God revealed his true conviction to Muhammad, who in turn was to spread the commands of God through the Koran. Between Muhammad’s death in the seventh century and leading up to the tenth century, many Islamic scholars worked to understand Sharia in its entirety, and apply it to the rapidly expanding Muslim Empire of the time (Dunn, 57). Sharia played a key role in uniting the Islamic Empire by serving as the precedent which dictated laws concerning both private and public behavior.
The bases for western knowledge, the Greek and Roman empires, usually supported euthanasia. Although they did not like giving “’a deadly drug to anybody, not even if asked for,’” by the patient, they preferred a gentle death as opposed to their patients suffering a miserable life (ProCon). It was not until the middle ages that euthanasia was actively opposed. In the middle ages the predominate religions of Europe were Christian and Judaism; these two religions did not approve of euthanasia because not only was suicide itself a sin, but the doctor who helped the patients would have committed the sin of murder. The three major religions that influence the world, Christianity, Islam and Judaism, all see suicide as a sin. These three religions have a major impact on the world today, so the trend of criminalizing euthanasia continued up into the modern era with euthanasia still being illegal in many parts of the world.
In the essay “The Morality of Euthanasia”, James Rachels uses what he calls the argument from mercy. Rachels states, “If one could end the suffering of another being—the kind from which we ourselves would recoil, about which we would refuse to read or imagine—wouldn’t one?” He cites a Stewart Alsop’s story in which he shares a room with a terminally ill cancer patient who he named Jack. At the end of the recounting, Alsop basically asks, “were this another animal, would not we see to it that it doesn’t suffer more than it should?” Which opens up the question of, “Why do humans receive special treatment when we too are animals?” We would not let animals suffer when there is a low chance of survival, so why is it different for us humans?
However much Islam and Christianity would seem to share common ground, the discussion is not complete without noting the parallels between this two that have taken center stage. Some of the remarkable differences as they try to answer deep life complexities arise in the areas of religious practices by both their adherents and the clergy (Dorothy 13-28). “There is also a stark contrast to the belief system subscribed to, means of salvation, scriptures”. The most prominent difference present concerns the belief of life after death and practices of depicting the metaphysical
There are two methods of carrying out euthanasia, the first one is active and the second one is passive. Active euthanasia means the physicians deliberately take actions which cause the death of the patients, for example, the injection of sedatives in excess amount. Passive euthanasia is that the doctors do not take any further therapies to keep the ill patients alive such as switching off the life supporting machines [1]. This essay argues that the legalization of the euthanasia should not be proposed nowadays. It begins by analyzing the problem that may cause in relation to the following aspects: ‘slippery slope’ argument, religious view, vulnerable people and a rebuttal against the fair distribution of medical resources. This essay concludes that the legalization of the voluntary euthanasia brings more harm than good.
“Euthanasia is defined as a deliberate act undertaken by one person with the intention of ending life of another person to relieve that person's suffering and where the act is the cause of death.”(Gupta, Bhatnagar and Mishra) Some define it as mercy killing. Euthanasia may be voluntary, non voluntary and involuntary. When terminally ill patient consented to end his or her life, it is called voluntary euthanasia. Non voluntary euthanasia occurs when the suffering person never consented nor requested to end a life. These patients are incompetent to decide because they are either minor, in a comatose stage or have mental conditions. Involuntary euthanasia is conducted when it is against the will of the patient (Gupta, Bhatnagar, Mishra). Euthanasia can be either passive or active. Passive euthanasia means life-sustaining treatments are withheld and nothing is done to keep the patient alive. Active euthanasia occurs when a physician do something by giving drugs or substances that ends a patient’s life. (Medical News Today)
it. Rule over the fish of the sea, and the birds of the air, and every
Islam has definite views on euthanasia, and this essay will bring to the fore all of the main beliefs relevant to the issue of euthanasia/assisted suicide. Islam spells things out quite plainly, with enough similes to clarify every point in the system of beliefs.
Physician-Assisted Suicide is assisted suicide from a physician to a person to make it as painless and dignified as possible. There is also Euthanasia, which is to end a person life so they don’t have to go through any more pain and suffering without the patients consent. As of right now, only Montana, Oregon, Vermont and Washington have legalized Physician-Assisted suicide. To be eligible for Physician-assisted suicide, a patient must have a terminally ill disease. There are many pros and cons in this if you are having unbearable pain and want to end the suffering.
In the following essay, I argue that euthanasia is not morally acceptable because it always involves killing, and undermines intrinsic value of human being. The moral basis on which euthanasia defends its position is contradictory and arbitrary in that its moral values represented in such terms as ‘mercy killing’, ‘dying with dignity’, ‘good death’ and ‘right for self-determination’ fail to justify taking one’s life.