Wednesday, December 10, 2008

Tonight's Episode of Televised Assisted Suicide...

"Craig wasn't interested in this as his personal story, he was interested in people actually coming to grips with death, with the fact of death - I think that's often hidden from us. It's very sanitised.

"He wanted to use his decision and his death to demonstrate what actually happens, so that people could see it was very peaceful, that it was a rational decision on his part."

from the BBC

I've been blessed enough to not have to deal with serious pain or suffering, so it's difficult for me to put myself in this man's shoes. What I will say is:

1) The last moments of life are sacred-even mysterious. It should be approached with fear because life itself cannot be restored once it's gone. Broadcasting a suicide on national television is a sign of a coarse and unfeeling society.

2) "Coming to grips with death?" I thought doctors were in the business of saving lives? We Christians resist the power of death over us as death has been triumphed over by Christ; and we belong to him. I paraprase GK Chesterton when he said that, suicide isn't simply the killing of one's self, but from the suicidal person's perspective, the complete murder of the whole world.

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