Right To Die Taking A New Form

I recently read an article and commentary that defines in no uncertain terms the moral, ethical and spiritual tendencies of the current mainstream worldview. The article dealt with euthanasia, assisted suicide and mercy killing. I have heard the endless and ageless arguments for euthanasia, usually centered about a belief that a person has the "right to die."

Not particularly wanting to get into the debate over euthanasia, what has sparked my interest is the new reasoning supporting the act. On a television show called "Don't Get Me Started," Jenni Murray, an apparent controversial host on the BBC in London, has been quoted as saying that assisted suicide is illegal in Great Britain only because a "religious minority" demands it and that this minority grasps to outdated views of the value of human life and that children in some way have a moral obligation to care for their elderly parents.

The evidence of what happens when a worldview or culture loses the standard of a God of love is beginning to literally create a mindset that is losing any touch with what it really means to be human. Too much value on human life? No obligation for our parents?

So, with that in mind, the idea now is that due to the high medical costs that go into keeping the elderly alive, fed, comfortable, etc and the fact that elderly parents should not want to make their children take care of them, they not only have just a right, but an obligation to die.

This is sick. Can you imagine the elderly, most of which have probably contributed more in terms of work, labor and sweat than any of us will, being faced with this kind of philosophy that will inevitably bring about feelings of guilt that perhaps they need to die instead of making someone else, especially a child, be inconvenienced for a while? Once again, we are face to face with a worldview that has only one thing at the forefront of life - self. Most of life's questions these days are asked in reference to how much better our own lives can be served, how much more can we get out of something? Even in the church, the first thing we want to know is, what will I receive from this church? How will I be fed?

My problem is that I don't see much Biblical support for this kind of attitude. I see quite a bit about others. I see quite a bit about love. I see quite a bit about serving. Not too much about how we can rack up the personal pleasure and comfort. Thankfully, we serve a God who recognizes those who show concern for others. He recognizes those who love unselfishly. He recognizes those who serve. And in His recognition, we are provided, in God's timing and providence, with joy and satisfaction that could never be obtained through our own selfish efforts, even if our pesky elderly parents would just die and be gone.