Life Support
'The problem with the God argument', stated Sir Terry Pratchett, concluding his Dimbleby Lecture, 'Shaking Hands with Death', 'is that it only works if you believe in God', thus breezily dismissing the Judeo-Christian contribution to the euthanasia debate. Inspired by his own confrontation with Alzheimer's Disease, Pratchett explored his chosen subject with brave, emotive wit.
And why should 'the God argument' mean anything in a flagrantly secular culture such as ours?
The real shock shouldn't be that Pratchett (and seemingly ever-increasing numbers of people) disregard what the Bible says about living and dying well, but that their best-case scenario, in the stark light of a terminal or degenerative diagnosis, is 'assisted death'. Reflecting our pro-choice, individualist culture, where pain, isolation and indignity loom large for the terminally ill, Pratchett argued the case for 'dignified death - a death worth dying for'.
The fear of becoming mentally marooned in the merciless hands of disease, unable to recognise family and friends, is emotively compelling. And the horrors of incapacitating illness are real and should not be trivialised. Nevertheless, doesn't a biblical worldview compel us to resist the temptation to grasp at being God by sanctioning the letting go of life?
Statistically speaking, however, it is not so much the fear of pain that fuels the desire for an early death, but the deep-set, relational anxiety of becoming a intolerable burden to loved ones.
And this should come as no surprise; God made us for relationship, both with him and in supportive communities that value all their members. There can be no denying that caring for the degenerate and the dying is a burden - a relentless and often painfully heavy one. It is perhaps in this form that many experience the truth of Paul's description of the whole of creation groaning under the weight of the effects of the Fall. And at no point does Scripture attempt to shield us from the harsh reality of suffering so acute that death seems desirable. We see it in the psalmist crying into the void; in Elijah huddled in the cave; and in Job wrestling in frustrated anguish with God.
But if the Bible is clear about the burden of suffering it is equally clear that we are to 'carry each other's burdens ... doing good to all people' (Galatians 6:2, 10). At the centre of this mandate stands Jesus, who endured to death so that our faith will not grow weary and lose heart, but having hope in a kingdom that cannot be shaken (Hebrews 12), persevere - even in the face of death.
If we want to restore 'the God argument' to the heart of this debate, let us not shake hands with death, agreeing to assist each other to die. Rather, let us embrace our God-given duty of care, and help the dying to live well.
Naomi Carle
Links
Professor John Wyatt's recently revised Matters of Life & Death is available from our bookshop and includes a much fuller discussion on the Christian concerns surrounding this debate. To buy your copy, click here
Hear John Wyatt discuss the redemption of suffering in LICC's December 2009 Podcast - click here to access LICC Podcasts
Comments
From a medical point of view I think that arguments against euthanasia are that it undermines the relationship a doctor can have with a patient if the patient knows that the person sitting opposite them can kill them. Also the ethical implications on who decides is it the patient or the family putting pressure on a vulnerable relative to gain money/freedom from their "burden". Harsh but in today's society driven by money I think that it could/would happen. I think you could re-structure your article slightly moving the bit about Christians getting alongside and loving people up to just below the paragraph about Pratchett's argument of people being a burden and then support it with the evidence from the bible. I think you really hit the nail on the head in terms of what the Christian's role is - getting alongside, spending time with people who have dementia to give them a sense of purpose and love. Speaking from personal experience I know how much someone just talking to someone with dementia means to them and care assistants often don't have the time just to sit next to someone for a chat and a cup of tea and family get scared and don’t' go and see relatives much because they hate to see their loved ones in such a bad state.
I was pleased to read Naomi Carle's thoughts on the subject of "life support". I am concerned however, that Christians will not carry through the action part of the theological understanding she so clearly expressed. I mean, how are we as a society going to get to the stage where we actually do "embrace our God-given duty of care, and help the dying to live well"? How are we going to provide the palliative care for people who need it for longer than a year because they have a chronic illness and will live for longer than a year? Part of my concern centres around the fact that the caring professions are not being allowed to do their jobs properly. Many caring people have retired or given up trying to work with limited resources, moving on to other forms of employment. The government is pushing through "end of life care" which effectively limits the commitment of the NHS to the last year of life. That is a good thing. BUT the question remains, who is going to provide the palliative care for people who need it for longer than a year because they have a chronic illness and will live for longer than a year? When politicians are saying that we cannot possibly afford a national care service offering care to everyone at the point of need paid for by general taxation rather than individual ability to pay for it, writing eloquently about the theological arguments against this emotive issue is not going to achieve anything. It seems to me that nursing has become undervalued. Nurses are now glorified managers of support workers. Can support workers really undertake the caring professional role of the nurse? Can one qualified nurse with so much paperwork (to record what should be done rather than actually doing it) and responsibility to ensure drugs are given out safely, really supervise all the caring that goes on? Personally, I think it was a mistake to remove nurses from the provision of social care. An experienced nurse can pick up on how a person is, when helping them with the most menial of tasks. Where does health care end and social care begin anyway? Reading my comments you may wonder why I feel so strongly about this matter? As a Christian I want to be able to live until I die, of course. My mother cared for my father who had Parkinson's Disease, at home, for many years. I once worked as a nurse in the community at night, helping people who had multiple sclerosis, into bed. I now have secondary progressive multiple sclerosis and more than one year to live (probably). And my mother has Alzheimers. Believe me, the future looks very bleak. I am still a Christian. I am very cheerful and positive I have a wonderful family, caring assistants and lovely friends. But that doesn't stop the future looking bleak - for me or for them - or all the other people who have a chronic illness and are suffering because they need to be cared for or are providing the care. The costs, both emotional and financial, are great. It's time to stop putting our heads in the sand and keep on talking about the theology of life and death and start facing up to the real issues of how we start to engage with the cost of putting our words into action? It is time to put more emphasis on "living well", and "a better way to live" rather than focusing on the end (and ending) of life. Perhaps we should be taking to heart the experiences of the L'Arche community and Burrswood, a beacon of Christian care, that provides end of life and palliative care in Kent, not forgetting well known organisations such as Sue Ryder Care and Leonard Cheshire and of course, the hospice movement that could easily be extended with additional funding, to include the care of people with long term illnesses. I do not think that I am alone in thinking these thoughts. I may be the only one (Christian?) brave enough to express them publicly. Do others agree with me that we do have to try to connect with where people are coming from in this emotive issue? I really believe that Christians need to be at the forefront of arguing for the sort of care that will render obsolete the desire to die before the time comes to die naturally. For we cannot argue with integrity against the call for assisted dying until we do.
Date:
2010-03-29 11:01:07
Author:
Jill Lovell