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Position:Home>Philosophy> When does life come to a natural end? ?Question: When does life come to a natural end!? !? "While several European countries permit euthanasia, the Vatican vehemently maintains that life must continue to its natural end!. The pope said in his homily that the ill should pray to find 'the grace to accept, without fear or bitterness, to leave this world at the hour chosen by God!.'" http://news!.yahoo!.com/s/ap/20080915/ap_o!.!.!. So, if you're living off of oxygen machines or life support, are you letting life come to a "natural" end!? Aren't you artificially supporting life when you stop breathing on natural terms!? So why is the Vatican against euthanasia!?Www@QuestionHome@Com Best Answer - Chosen by Asker: "Natural end" is defined by what the society generally accepts!. In the old days, before insulin, you would die young if you had diabetes at a young age and that was a natural end!. With the discovery of insulin, letting someone die with diabetes without giving them insulin to keep them alive would be a criminal act, would be considered "unnatural" and the Vatican would readily agree whereas Jehovah's Witnesses might consider letting the person die without giving them insulin as being a "natural end"!. What's considered "natural" or "unnatural" varies depending on what's going on in society at the time!. Www@QuestionHome@Com I agree with you!. When your body shuts down and your heart stops beating with no machines interfering, life has come to a natural end!. However, many times accidents happen that a couple of days with a respirator will be enough to let a person come out of the trauma on their own!. I would highly consider this for a short time with a young, otherwise healthy individual!. However, in the elderly, I think quality of life is often long gone with machines not letting the body shut down!.Www@QuestionHome@Com I think that God controls whether or not someone decides to euthanize you!. And, as weird as this sounds, the meaning of life is probably not to lie around being fed through a tube in a vegetative state!. Of course, the Vatican might be thinking about the comandment "don't kill", but euthanization in this circumstance is sort of like stopping the hospital bills, not killing!.You pretty much already are dead!. I would rather be in heaven than lying on a bed, unable to think!.Www@QuestionHome@Com Yeah, you are ignoring your life's "natural" end!. But that doesn't mean the Vatican supports Euthanasia!. Euthanasia is actually acting to kill someone, hopefully by their own will!. The Vatican wants inactivity!. They want people to ignore their suffering, their symptoms, their illnesses!. After all, God knows what he's doing, right!?Www@QuestionHome@Com life comes to an end when it is destined in your path!. you do not know your destiny, unless you are a person who sees people's destinies through a sphere out of their chest!.Www@QuestionHome@Com When your brain is dead in my opinion!. Not to be inhuman or anything, but I also think brain dead patients should not receive medical care for years and years!.Www@QuestionHome@Com Technology has baited us into believing that life can be enhanced and extended almost indefinitely!. Unfortunately , too many folks have a skewed idea of where we draw the line on this "life extension"!. We should realize , that our bodies are only good for so long, and to get the miracle of long life , genetics, good overall maintainance of oneself over the years, and just plain good luck / God's blessing plays hard on a long ,full life to be found dead in your armchair at age 96!. The tough part of this , comes when the we the patient , have no provision for end of life strategy ,and then the doctors take over!. Once you are on life support, with no living will to dictate your wishes, the hook is in!. you are at the mercy of the medical profession to try all the new drugs ,new procedures and just plain unwillingness to let you out of your misery due to legal entanglements they face!. Smart and well informed gets the living will done a!.s!.a!.p!. with regard to end of life strategy!. Questions like "do I want assistance breathing (read ventilator) after serious life threatening illness has compromised my ability to breathe on my own!?" "As I age and my ability to take nourishment on my own fails ,do i want a feeding tube installed to extend my time here!?"!. These questions need answered NOW while you are of sound mind and body!. The Vatican ( and they are not alone) abhor the taking of a life , understandably!. It is not for us to decide, we open up a whole new can of worms as is evident in our society!. We decide for OURSELVES what is right BEFORE it is crunch time and emotions run crazy and clear thought is nowhere to be found, and we end up with no choice but to let medicine dictate the course!. Bad accident and probably won't be a functioning human being!? Opt for no heroic measures ,a natural end !.Dementia and refuses to eat!? Go for the no feeding tube option,!.!.!.NOW ,before you don't have that choice!.Www@QuestionHome@Com |