if Christians believe there is a heaven and it’s a wonderful place to be, why do they fight so hard to keep people alive who have no quality of life or any chance of achieving any in the near or distant future? What is their point? That they don’t really believe as much as just hope? That their needs outweigh the needs of the terminally ill patient?
The little boy who just died in London had been on life support for a year while a degenerative brain disease left him in a semi-vegetative state. Without mechanical life support, he would have been dead over a year ago. Yet somehow, thousands of people, including the pope, argued against pulling the plug and letting him go peacefully to what has to be a better place (assuming you believe there is a place we go to after we die).
Do you know what happens when you are in a coma and everything has to be done for you, including breathing. You get bed sores. You get pneumonia. You never taste food. It’s shoved through a tube. You get rashes on your genitals and anal area if you aren’t cleaned well every time you urinate or defecate. You get multiple urinary tract infections. I know this because I used to be a nurse. It only took a few of these patients for me to know that when my time comes, let me go. Keep me alive beyond any chance I have to come back and enjoy a healthy life and I promise I will find a way to come back after death and hurt you.
So back to my original question – what the hell, Christians? Do you or don’t you truly believe in a heaven? And if you do, why are you so set against letting a terminally ill patient go there within a natural time frame? Do you get how cruel it is to keep them from that paradise if all they have to look forward to here on earth is pain and suffering that will not end until they die?
Inquiring minds want to know…
Steve Jordan says:
Well, “conservatism” no longer equals “Christianity” in any way. And the conservative dogma on social issues is just one contradiction piled upon another. They talk about personal freedom and liberties and eschew governmental interference… until they collide with one of their archaic platform choices. They’re big on laws that control other people even if the laws make no sense. The irony, of course, is that euthanasia and abortion are as intensely personal as an issue can get, and when these excruciating decisions are thrust upon you, you make a personal choice regardless of your political leanings. How many times have we seen staunch opponents of abortion, euthanasia or even homosexuality relenet when the situation is in their own home? It’s the very definition of hypocrisy.
katie gecewich says:
Great article. I have often wondered the same thing. It seems so paradoxical to me. Of course we all want our family and friends to be with us as long as possible but under what conditions becomes the real question.
Thanks for all of your articles.