Should Ive said, Suck it up dad? There is been a moderate Christian knee-jerk uproar regarding Brittany Maynards death. Im concerned for myself and those I serve...help me out here. It is easy to hypothetically talk about the morality of death in black-and-white terms because no one can fully experience their death and then talk about it afterwards. Its easy to hypothetically talk about the morality of death in black-and-white terms until you have real-life battlefield conversations with your battle buddy and made promises to one another that youll make sure the other one dies with dignity before being captured, tortured, and inhumanely executed by the Taliban or Al Qaeda. Ive made this pact more than once. Is this unforgivable homicide/suicide in the hypothetical morality of death in black-and-white terms? Should Ive said, Suck it up Soldier? Its easy to hypothetically talk about the morality of death in black-and-white terms until youre watching your dad die slowly over a period of months from lung cancer at which point you allow him to make the decision for the health care professional to administer a small amount of extra morphine so he will be comfortable as he removed from the ventilator so that he can die with dignity. Is this unforgivable homicide/suicide in the hypothetical morality of death in black-and-white terms? Should Ive said, Suck it up dad? How can we as Christians be self-righteous when it comes to death? No of us knows how were going to respond this event until were facing it themselves. We all enter into that goodnight some gently... some painfully... some unexpectedly… some in fear… some with resignation… some in defiance... some with relief and happiness. But who are any of us to judge? We value life, and rightly so. But the miracle of life gives no one of the right to judge damnation or condemnation on those who die whether by their own hand, by anothers, by nature, or by the inevitable hand of time. In our age of Ebola, terrorism, school shootings, death by texting and driving, substance abuse, organ failure due to terrible eating habits, PTSD, TBI, unconventional wars without boundaries or borders, and the remaining innumerable forms of death...who are the living to attach merit or condemnation to the form of death of those who have faced it? Some of the response to Brittany Maynards death smacks of how we respond to suicide in our culture in general: we ignore it, we sweep it under the rug, we ostracize the families...we respond in many ways. However, let those of us who are Christians respond with love, regardless of if we personally or theologically agree. Im not talking about notional love. Im suggesting the Jesus-kind of extravagant love, full of compassion and understanding toward the deceased and the survivors. Should any of us have said, Suck it up Brittany? What are your thoughts and feelings about this post? Id value your thoughts and insights through response post or other
Posted on: Thu, 06 Nov 2014 17:06:29 +0000
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