A Christian Response
Join us in praying for our members of Parliament as they vote on 29 November 2024
Some key Concerns
Please pray for our UK MPs as they decide how to vote on 29 November 2024
Do not murder
One of the clearest of God’s rules is “Do not murder” (Deuteronomy 5:17). Taking life by self-murder is still murder and breaks God’s laws, which are intended as guard-rails to keep us safe.
The Image of God
The reflection (image) of God in human beings (Genesis 1:27) should not be ‘defaced’ by making a choice to step into God’s role and decide when we want to die (Genesis 9:6).
Suffering
Suffering in life is inescapable, and suffering can be a scalpel to cut out our intrinsic selfish tendency (James 1:2-4). The Bible describes an inherited intrinsic tendency as rotten (Jeremiah 17:9), and tends to put ourselves first regardless of the effect on others (James 3:15). In contrast, those who have faced the challenge of hard times of various sorts in life can grow through the experience (Romans 5:3).
No person is an island
Our behaviours are ‘infectious’ to others around us in society. One requested assisted suicide to avoid suffering can lead to another suicide. In a bible story, King Saul was terrified of suffering, asked for assisted suicide, and then took his own life. His main support person then copied his example and did the same. The Bible is clear that God condemned his behaviour (1 Chronicles 10:13).
Death is not then end
Death is not then end. A non-religious site, the World Population Review, says that about 85% of the world’s population identify with a religion, and share the belief that our actions in this world affect our outcomes in the next (Hebrews 9:27). The consequences of unjustifiably assisting others to take their own lives may be eternal (Matthew 25:46).
God’s views are important
Actions and laws that harm other human beings make God angry (Psalm 7:11). Imagine how God feels in relation to the vulnerable and feel pressured to end their lives, so as not to be a burden? Will he not be angry at a society that does that?
We were not designed to die
We were not designed to die (Genesis 3:22). Death is meant to be shocking and recognised by all as a punishment for what we have all done wrong (Romans 6:23). Death is a tragedy to be faced courageously, not one to seek to manipulate to gain an illusion of control.
Palliative Care Options
‘Unbearable physical suffering’ is a myth. We have been wonderfully designed, that when pain is no longer a useful signal for action, the brain normally produces chemicals to block the pain signals. We live in an era when more is known about how to control pain than at any time in history, using drugs, surgery, and as a last resort long term sedation until death. I am not aware of any Christian authorities who believe that such palliative care actions are ‘murder’, even when they shorten life and hasten death (Proverbs 31:6).
We are free to ask God for help
God promises help to those who ask for help (1 John 5:14) and not to burden us with more than we can bear, but to provide a way to cope (1 Corinthians 10:13). Often this is by his promise to be with us in our suffering and to give us other supporting friends, family, and carers, who can be with us too.
Jesus suffered too
Jesus suffered. That means that he knows what it is like and that he has empathy for us in our suffering (Hebrews 4:15). We are called at some level to treat suffering as sharing something that we all have in common and that Jesus, as God-man, has also shared with us.
Please don’t shut the door on God’s forgiveness
The key message of the Bible is that Jesus suffered to release us from the eternal consequences of our wrong actions (Isaiah 53:5). Hell is shutting the door to God’s forgiveness, rejecting his love and being rejected by God in return (2 Thessalonians 1:9).
We are more than a mix of chemicals
If my body is simply an accidental cluster of chemicals, and if there is no ultimate moral standard, all laws become subjective, the rationality of any ‘law’ becomes meaningless – the only ‘law’ left would be one of ruthless self-promotion, regardless of the consequences for others. Anarchy, and nihilism, becomes the rational solution, rather than ‘the rule of law’ and the validity of parliament imposing its view on others comes into question (Psalm 119:97). In contrast, if there is an Almighty Creator, he makes the rules and our bodies belong to him (1 Corinthians 6:19). Submission to divine authority is mandatory, not optional.