I know nothing about Brittany other than what the media
reported and that she ultimately made the decision to die at a time certain
rather than a time uncertain. By
making this decision public she apparently wanted part of her legacy to be some
discussion about – presumably leading to agreement with – a person’s right to
determine when to end their own life.
I won’t comment directly on that issue, but rather about how we comment
about that issue.
What disturbs me about that discussion as I’ve seen it
played out on Facebook is that the real freedom to opine about the matter
doesn’t exist. Much has boiled down to diatribes against Christians for being
judgmental, the same tired puff we heard about reactions to Robin William’s suicide.
I’m always fascinated by the biblical literacy of those who
use the only Bible verse they want to quote: “Judge not”. It is often quoted with the implication
that we can’t judge somebody else because there are no moral absolutes. The
moment this is said, the speaker is making both a judgment and a pronouncement
of a moral absolute.
We do assess, calculate, discern, ponder, promote, reject,
accept, agree, disagree, and rant and write. What part of this is judgmental in
an unacceptable way? The overarching issue of the sanctity of life, the
ponderings on God’s will and purpose, the calculus of hope versus despair are
all quite legitimate and transcendent things to think and talk about.
A recent post (http://bit.ly/1okZegf)
was very insightful and compared Brittany’s plight with the jumpers from the
World Trade Center. The writer’s point was that those who chose to jump to
their death rather than be swallowed in the flame and poison of the exploding
plane were no different than Brittany’s choice. The writer points out that the
jumpers were considered homicides rather than suicides just as Brittany’s
choice was not to die but how and when to die when faced with a certain
terrible death. And I think that is a great point. But the author seems to
think it important to say “Christians should be the people
who are the least judgmental” in the typically sanctimonious not so subtle
paraphrase of “I wish Christians
would shut up”.
I suppose, with the millions of folks commenting
and claiming Christian affiliation, that there were some who said that
Brittany’s choice was a choice that sent her straight down the garbage chute to
hell (which would be a doctrinally unsound pronouncement). But what I heard was
sadness, a desire for hope, and the very real and necessary discussion about
the circumstances around a person’s right, ability, and capacity to end their
own life and all of the potential social consequences attached. My mother made
treatment decisions about her cancer and life expectancy. My father was on life
support and we agonized over that treatment, too. I’ve assessed dozens of
suicidal persons. All of us are touched by these kinds of decisions – even
Christians.
Why can’t we discuss whether our hypothetical
decisions to jump from the World Trade Center would be different if we knew
that rescue was close, or that by suffering before we die would could lead
someone else to safety, or if we knew we could actually survive but be
disfigured? If we want zero suffering, the answer is pretty easy. Other than
that, we need to agree that it is horribly complicated.
Let Christians campaign in extremism in favor of
life over death with their worldview of transcendent and eternal consequences.
Let those who favor suicide and euthanasia campaign in extremism for total
individual determinism with their worldview that individual choice trumps
social consequences. Why must the former be labeled hateful, the latter as
open-minded, and anyone in between as anything else?
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