Religions and death
Death is one of the most important things that religions deal with.
All faiths offer meaning and explanations for death and dying; all faiths try to find a place for death and dying within human experience.
For those left behind when someone dies religions provide rituals to mark death, and ceremonies to remember those who have died.
Religions provide understanding and comfort for those who are facing death.
Religions regard understanding death and dying as vital to finding meaning in human life. Dying is often seen as an occasion for getting powerful spiritual insights as well as for preparing for whatever afterlife may be to come.
So it’s not surprising that all faiths have strong views on euthanasia.
Religious views on euthanasia:
Buddhism
Christian
Roman Catholic
Hindu
Islam
Judaism
Sikhism
Religions and euthanasia
Most religions disapprove of euthanasia. Some of them absolutely forbid it. The Roman Catholic church, for example, is one of the most active organisations in opposing euthanasia.
Virtually all religions state that those who become vulnerable through illness or disability deserve special care and protection, and that proper end of life care is a much better thing than euthanasia.
Religions are opposed to euthanasia for a number of reasons.
God has forbidden it
virtually all religions with a supreme God have a command from God in their scriptures that says ‘you must not kill’
this is usually interpreted as meaning ‘you must not kill innocent human beings’
this rules out euthanasia (and suicide) as well as murder, as carrying out any of these would be against God’s orders, and would be an attack on the sovereignity of God
Human life is sacred
human lives are special because God created them
therefore human life should be protected and preserved, whatever happens
therefore we shouldn’t interfere with God’s plans by shortening human lives
Human life is special
human beings are made in God’s image
therefore they have a special value and dignity
this value doesn’t depend on the quality of a particular life
taking a life violates that special value and dignity
even if it’s one’s own life
even if that life is full of pain and suffering
Eastern religions
Some Eastern religions take a different approach. The key ideas in their attitudes to death are achieving freedom from mortal life, and not-harming living beings. Euthanasia clearly conflicts with the second of these, and it interferes with the first.
Freedom from mortal life
Hinduism and Buddhism see mortal life as part of a continuing cycle in which we are born, live, die, and are reborn over and over again
the ultimate aim of each being is to get free of this cycle, and so be completely liberated from the material world
during each cycle of life and death human beings make progress towards their ultimate liberation
how they live and how they die play a vital part in deciding what their next life will be, and so in shaping their journey to liberation
shortening life interferes with the working out of the laws that govern this process (the laws of karma), and so interferes with a human being’s journey to liberation
Warning: this ‘explanation’ is very over-simplified; there’s much more to these religious ideas than is written here.
Non-harm – the principle of ahimsa
Hinduism and Buddhism regard all life (not just human life) as involved in the process above
therefore they say that we should try to avoid harming living things
this rules out killing people, even if they want to die
The sanctity of life
Religious people often refer to the sanctity of life, or say that human life is sacred. They usually mean something like this:
God gives people life, so only God has the right to take it away.
You can look at that sentence in several ways. Here are three:
God gave us our lives
we owe our lives to God
God is the final authority over our lives
we must not interfere in the ending of our lives
God is intimately involved in our lives
God was intimately involved in our births
God will be intimately involved in our deaths
it would be wrong to try and shut God out of our dying
we should not interfere in the way God has chosen for our lives to end
God gave us our lives
we are only stewards of our bodies, and are responsible to God for them
we must use our bodies as God intended us to
we must allow our lives (our stewardship) to end at the time and in the way God wantsEuthanasia is the termination of a very sick person’s life in order to relieve them of their suffering.
A person who undergoes euthanasia usually has an incurable condition. But there are other instances where some people want their life to be ended.
In many cases, it is carried out at the person’s request but there are times when they may be too ill and the decision is made by relatives, medics or, in some instances, the courts.
The term is derived from the Greek word euthanatos which means easy death.
Euthanasia is against the law in the UK where it is illegal to help anyone kill themselves. Voluntary euthanasia or assisted suicide can lead to imprisonment of up to 14 years.
The issue has been at the centre of very heated debates for many years and is surrounded by religious, ethical and practical considerations.
The ethics of euthanasia
Euthanasia raises a number of agonising moral dilemmas:
is it ever right to end the life of a terminally ill patient who is undergoing severe pain and suffering?
under what circumstances can euthanasia be justifiable, if at all?
is there a moral difference between killing someone and letting them die?
At the heart of these arguments are the different ideas that people have about the meaning and value of human existence.
Should human beings have the right to decide on issues of life and death?
There are also a number of arguments based on practical issues.
Some people think that euthanasia shouldn’t be allowed, even if it was morally right, because it could be abused and used as a cover for murder.
Killing or letting die
Euthanasia can be carried out either by taking actions, including giving a lethal injection, or by not doing what is necessary to keep a person alive (such as failing to keep their feeding tube going).
‘Extraordinary’ medical care
It is not euthanasia if a patient dies as a result of refusing extraordinary or burdensome medical treatment.
Euthanasia and pain relief
It’s not euthanasia to give a drug in order to reduce pain, even though the drug causes the patient to die sooner. This is because the doctor’s intention was to relieve the pain, not to kill the patient. This argument is sometimes known as the Doctrine of Double Effect.
Mercy killing
Very often people call euthanasia ‘mercy killing’, perhaps thinking of it for someone who is terminally ill and suffering prolonged, unbearable pain.
Why people want euthanasia
Most people think unbearable pain is the main reason people seek euthanasia, but some surveys in the USA and the Netherlands showed that less than a third of requests for euthanasia were because of severe pain.
Terminally ill people can have their quality of life severely damaged by physical conditions such as incontinence, nausea and vomiting, breathlessness, paralysis and difficulty in swallowing.
Psychological factors that cause people to think of euthanasia include depression, fearing loss of control or dignity, feeling a burden, or dislike of being dependent.
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