The Christian ethical teachings are of high importance to the Christian tradition as they provide all Christian adherents with the guidance needed to make informed moral decisions in response to a wide range of contemporary ethical issues throughout their everyday lives. These teachings of Christianity are predominately established within the Christian Scriptures, however particular denominations, including Catholicism and Orthodoxy, accept the authority of a range of other sources in addition to these scriptures. Whilst the Catholic Church highly regards the “Catechism of the Catholic Church”, as well as Church documents, including “Gaudium et Spes” and “Evangelium Vitae”, the Orthodox Church takes heed of the “Basis of the Social Concept of the Russian Orthodox Church”. The ethical teachings derived from these sources are based on the belief that the human person is an image of God with intellect, free will and power of self-determination, and they have a major influence on the choices made by Christian adherents in regard to the ethical issues of euthanasia and abortion.
The teachings of the Christian denominations of Catholicism and Orthodoxy provide their adherents with guidance on the ethical issue of abortion: the removal of an embryo or fetus from the uterus before normal childbirth in order to deliberately terminate a human pregnancy. Both denominations condemn abortion in a mutual acceptance that it is morally wrong. In stating, “From the first moment of his existence, a human being must be recognized as having the rights of a person – among which is the inviolable right of every innocent being to life” (Catechism, no. 2270), the Catechism of the Catholic Church demonstrates the Catholic teaching that each human being ha...
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... one’s life is a sin, and each person must live in accordance with God’s plan. Euthanasia, however, is a form of human intervention in God’s will and a rejection of God’s plan. For these reasons, the Second Vatican Council of the Catholic Church condemned ‘all offences against life, including… euthanasia” (Gaudium et Spes 27), and the Orthodox Church, “cannot recognise [Euthanasia] as morally acceptable” (Basis of the Social Concept of the Russian Orthodox Church, XII, No. 8). Ultimately, the teachings of the Catholic and Orthodox Christian denominations provide guidance to their adherents on the contemporary ethical issue of euthanasia.
The ethical teachings of Christianity, particularly those of the Christian and Orthodox denominations, serve a fundamental role in providing all adherents with guidance on the contemporary ethical issues of euthanasia and abortion.
The pro-life stance on abortion is often associated with and defended by traditional Christian beliefs , ; however, this paper will argue that it can and should be defended with secular arguments that appeal to reason and our shared human condition. This paper will try and counter the notion that the argument is simply another battlefield where religion and secular thought meet. Rather, it is an important issue that carries with it heavy implications not only for the religious but also for the secular. The major arguments discussed include the emotional and physical toll on the mother, the societal toll of having abortion legalized, and the rights attributed to every human being; first, however, the stance taken in this paper will be further defined and clarified.
Thou shalt not kill; one-tenth of what may arguably be the most famous guidelines of morality in the western culture, and also the main driving force for pro-life advocates. The argument supporting their beliefs typically starts with the premises that a fetus is a person, and to destroy or to kill a person is unethical. Therefore abortion, the premeditated destruction of a human being, is murder, and consequently unethical. I deny the fact that the fetus, what I will refer to as an embryo up to 22 weeks old, has the right to live. The opposing argument is invalid because a fetus, although perhaps a part of human species, is not formally a person. This leaves it simply to be a part of the woman?s body, whose fate lies solely in the hands of the pregnant woman alone, no different from a tumor she might have. By proving this, the abortion debate then becomes an issue of women?s rights, something that is most controversial indeed. Furthermore, it is fair to question the credibility of many people against abortion because of obvious contradictions in the logic of their belief systems. The fact that this debate is relevant in modern society is ludicrous since there is a simple and plausible solution to this problem that could potentially end the debate for good, leaving both sides satisfied.
The debate over euthanasia is a prevalent and pressing issue in today’s society, and possibly one of the most popular. Euthanasia is a topic that will separate a room of people by beliefs. About three years ago, 22 percent of the 18 members of the Humane Society board resigned over the controversial issue of euthanasia (Humane Society CEO Search Reignites Euthanasia Debate 2014). This is a debated issue in which many believe that a person should have the right to decide on how they feel (EUTHANASIA Will Be Debated at an Event in Cheltenham This Week 2014). Euthanasia is a heavily debated topic that is deeply divided because of personal conviction or religion. This is an ongoing moral and ethical worldwide debate, is the w...
We as Catholics are taught to show respect and protect human life from the moment of conception. From conception, the embryo must be defended, cared for, loved for, and healed, as much as possible, like any other human being should be. God gives life from the moment of conception and we don't have the right to take it away.
The ethical debate regarding euthanasia dates back to ancient Greece and Rome. It was the Hippocratic School (c. 400B.C.) that eliminated the practice of euthanasia and assisted suicide from medical practice. Euthanasia in itself raises many ethical dilemmas – such as, is it ethical for a doctor to assist a terminally ill patient in ending his life? Under what circumstances, if any, is euthanasia considered ethically appropriate for a doctor? More so, euthanasia raises the argument of the different ideas that people have about the value of the human experience.
The Catholic view of euthanasia is that euthanasia is morally wrong. it has always been taught the importance of the commandment "you shall not kill". The church has said that "nothing and no one can in any way permit the killing of an innocent person, whether a foetus or an embryo, an infant or an adult, an old person, or one suffering from an incurable disease. disease, or a person who is dying. " The church says any law permitting euthanasia is unjust.
For many years, the morality of abortion has been questioned by two perspectives: pro-choice and pro-life. While modern culture explains that abortion is a woman’s free choice if she does not want the unborn baby, the Catholic Church teaches the world that from the moment of conception there is a child with a soul within the womb, and to abort it would be to murder an innocent being.
In Ethics there are certain factors that influence the individual to distinguish from right or wrong such as, our culture, family, life experiences, our environment, religion and many more. But in today’s contemporary ethical dilemma many tend to view serious issues such as abortion and euthanasia with a different approach. Many view these issues with a different dilemma because yet again everyone has different views on how they view life and what they come to conclude as morally wrong. This view also brings the challenge whether the government should have power over decisions like this. Most of our decisions are based on our moral values since “our values shape our thoughts, feelings, actions, and perceptions” (Velasquez 431). But in today’s
In order to provide a framework for my thesis statement on the morality of euthanasia, it is first necessary to define what euthanasia is and the different types of euthanasia. The term Euthanasia originates from the Greek term “eu”, meaning happy or good and “thanatos”, which means death, so the literal definition of the word Euthanasia can be translated to mean “good or happy death”.
Ethical dilemmas are part of everyday life; they require a decision to be made. A decision that leaves us asking ourselves, what is right verses wrong? There is no correct answer to this question. There is an old saying, “Give me the strength to do something about what I can do something about and to accept what I can’t do something about and the wisdom to know the difference (A. Alda, Bionic Body). This paper will compare the views of a Christian verses Atheist on the choice to persevere through a spinal cord injury rather than the face ethical dilemma of euthanasia.
Its teachings will affect political figures and other members of society, both laypeople and people in positions of power, and factor into decisions that they make. There will be more bills and court cases in the future attempting to legalise euthanasia, and some of those voting will be affected by the Catholic teachings. I believe the implications of the Catholic Church’s response are good in the sense that they have spread awareness of euthanasia and consider it to be a moral issue that bears discussion. It has helped broaden the minds of those who have studied the topic and made for impassioned yet reasoned discussions between students, broadening their minds to a higher level of thinking. This report has given me insight as to why the Church opposes euthanasia with such fervour, and therein allows me to respect the amount of time, effort and thought that has been spent interpreting what is believed to be God’s will and to etch out beliefs to follow, aiming to be more like Christ Jesus, who said “I have come that you may have life and have it to the full” (John
The position paper took a stand against euthanasia, questioning if it’s morally impermissible in regards to the dependency thesis. This paper will argue that the argument in the position paper was flawed because of the vague description of the term, “religious cultures” and the applications of their beliefs, and the misperception of the scripture, “you must not kill.”
To understand the basis of the ethics that Christians live by the Biblical story must be interpreted. The Bible passes judgement on many things that Christians would come into contact with at some point in their lives. These things include cases such as; abortion, contraception, euthanasia and homosexuality. All of which are negatively referred to in the Bible. However authority today views these issues differently because they use secular ethics in conjunction with their decision making. Examples of authority include governments and work places. This is so that a good outcome may be maximized and had by most of a population, known as a Utilitarian approach. It is inevitable that a few will disagree but this number outweighs the good of the plenty. This secular schemed way of thinking can sometimes severely conflict with the ethical interpretation that is put forth in the Bible. Ultimately when Christians follow the Bible’s ethical basis they will gain the reward of their soul ascending to heaven in the afterlife. This is an incentive to follow Christian ...
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.
Abortions have always been a very controversial topic. Over the years we continue to fight for or against it. One can say that is one of the most talked and argued topic in the United States. An abortion is when a woman terminates her pregnancy before the fetus is viable using various of methods. Some argue that abortions should be illegal and considered murder, while others, from a religious point of view, say that no one has the right to take away the life of a person, in this case the fetus. However, others insist, that abortions are a basic women’s right.