People In Canada Seeking Euthanasia For Any Reason

 


According to a news item in the Federalist, people are being offered euthanasia for virtually any reason, even if euthanasia is only legal under certain circumstances.  The Federalist reported that people are seeking euthanasia, not just for irreversible worsening medical conditions, but also due to “being poor, disabled, or lonely” [1] though according to Canadian regulations, patients are only eligible for euthanasia if they are suffering from an incurable medical condition that is worsening over time from which there is no relief and causing both ongoing physical and mental anguish [2] which means any physicians euthanizing people for virtually any reason are breaking Canadian law, and according to one report from the Canadian based MAiD Death Review Committee, physicians may be doing just that. [3] 
 
Presently, the debate over euthanasia in Canada is not whether or not it should be eliminated, but where the line should be drawn on it [4-5] and it has been a moral dilemma for many Canadian physicians. [6]
 
And while there has been much debate as to when euthanasia becomes morally acceptable, there seems to be little, if any debate, as to whether it is ever morally acceptable at all because to a majority of Canadians, euthanizing a human being seems to be no different than putting down a rabid dog or a lame horse, but what can you expect from an increasingly godless and secularized society in which its people are increasingly viewing themselves as being no different than animals and may even call themselves animals themselves? And when people are taught for decades that they are no more or less significant than any animal, then what is to stop them from viewing euthanasia as a viable option to end human suffering as we do for animals that are in a state of ongoing irreversible suffering? And the question we should all be asking, and that includes Canadians and people of other nations in which euthanasia is legal by the way, is not where it becomes morally acceptable to euthanize someone who seeks it, but why they seek it at all.  The reasons vary and I believe the reasons for most is to escape pain and suffering that they cannot bear or fear that they cannot bear and the reason why people who are seeking to be euthanized are being driven to that point are no different from what drives a person to take their own life without legalized assistance and it is often due to the fact that this world has failed them and there are vital needs in their lives that need to be met that are not being met and while we might not always know why someone might end their life, there is one thing we can know for certain:
 
The person ending their own life knows that not all is right in the world and not all is right with themselves and that all is not as it should be for it all was right with the world and with themselves and if all is truly as it should be, they wouldn’t be seeking to end their lives but instead be living life to the fullest extent possible.
 
The hope of the one seeking to escape the evil, suffering, and afflictions of this present life is that they will end up in a better place free of that which is driving them to take their own life in the first place, but without questioning whether or not the place they would end up in after ending their life would be the better place at which they might hope to arrive and that is assuming that they even believe in such a place and for those who don’t, they assume that they will just simply cease to exist and things will be as though they never were, knowing neither joy nor grief.
 
They are driven into the arms of death because they fear there will be no relief to their present afflictions and suffering, that there will not be better days ahead for them and if we are all honest with ourselves, there is something out there that we fear and dread which could very well drive us to that point of such despair that we might be tempted to just simply end it all and what it is that we fear could drive us to that point is different for all of us as we are all unique individuals with our own strengths and weaknesses and yet no matter how strong, affluent, authoritative, or wealthy someone might be and no matter what their occupation or station in life they might hold, no one is immune from being brought to that very low and dark point in their lives in which they might choose to race towards death instead of facing what they fear will be unending suffering and anguish for the rest of their lives when everything else they have tried to alleviate that anguish and suffering doesn’t work and the reason why some may be driven to take their own lives is because we all despise suffering.  We can never be fully at peace with it, even though we are told and even tell ourselves that the suffering and anguish we all witness and experience is just a natural part of life, it doesn’t feel natural to us when we are subject to affliction, anguish, and suffering and if it doesn’t feel natural to anyone, that is because it is NOT natural and was never meant to be and if the suffering and misery that we witness and even experience were never meant to be, then why is there suffering and evil in the world of which we have all been, in some form or fashion, either victims of or perpetrators of and we have all been both victims and perpetrators of the evil and suffering we see in this world; some of us more so than others?
 
And if we are to have any hope of arriving at any answer as to why we live in a world filled with evil, anguish, misery, and suffering, then we must view suffering as a universal effect and consequence and a consequence and effect that that we can choose to either minimize or maximize and whether we are vessels to minimize or maximize the present evils and sufferings of this world really depends upon the choices we make in our own lives because the choices we make in our own lives can either minimize suffering or it can maximize it not only for ourselves but for others around us as well and so how do we know what we must do to minimize suffering in our own lives as well as in the lives of others around us? To whom do we look?
 
Not to academics.  You will only go from an uneducated person subjugated to suffering to an educated person subjugated to suffering.
Not to physicians.  They don’t possess the cure to all of our ailments and anguishes and in some cases, the remedies they offer may turn out to be worse than the disease itself.
Not to the psychiatrists or psychologists.  Every solution of theirs may miss the mark.
Not to government.  Even the best forms of governments with the most principled and God-fearing people in charge can’t eliminate all suffering.
Not to the entertainment industry.  That might provide a temporal escape, but at the end of the show, the anguish and suffering assails us once more and in some cases, the anguish can be too severe for even the most comical of comedians to drive out.
Not to the media.  What they report day in and day out might only seek to add to our suffering instead of alleviating it.
 
We have to look even deeper and even outside of the things of this world which fall short at the most critical conjunctures in our lives and the only one that we can look to for the answers to why our world is filled with evil and suffering of every sort that there ever has been and could be is the Lord God Almighty who created the world in the first place and the very fact that we hate and despise suffering should tell us, that God never intended it to be that way in the first place.  He never desired man nor His creation to be subjected to a world filled with death, evil, and misery.  He never desired for anyone to experience grief, sorrow, and despair.  When God created the world, we read in the first chapter of the book of Genesis that he called everything good; (Gen. 1) it was a world in which there was no suffering, no evil, and no death.  It was a world in which only life, light, happiness, peace, contentment, and joy dwelt and in which existed a perfect harmony between God, man, and nature and there was nothing withheld from mankind except for one thing and that was a certain fruit from a tree called the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, having been warned by God, that in the day that they ate thereof, they would surely die. (Gen. 2:16-17, 3:3)
 
But sadly, Adam the first man, and Eve the first woman who was Adam’s wife, did not heed the warning but ate of that forbidden fruit and it was in that day that sin entered into them which, as a consequence, brought upon them the sentence of death (Gen. 3:19) and eventually, they did die but that sentence of death did not stop with them.  the sin which entered into them and brought about their eventual deaths, was also passed down to all of mankind for all of us are descendants of that first man and that first woman and because we are their descendants, we have also inherited the sin that entered into them (Rom. 5:12) and because of that sin which we have inherited, we all sin in some form or fashion and as a consequence we all die for as it is written, the wages of sin is death (Rom. 6:23) but sin is not merely confined to outward behavior or performance or even the words we speak, but it is rather the inherent inward corruption of our very nature defiling our thoughts, hardening and darkening our hearts, and corrupting our very motives which is why it is written that we are not defiled from that which comes from without, but that which comes from within (Mt. 15:11, 17-20) and which is why it is written that all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God (Rom. 3:23) which demands of us nothing less than moral perfection and not just in our outward acts but also in our inward as well which is why it is impossible by our own efforts and our own goodness to enter into the Kingdom of Heaven, for sin taints, corrupts, defiles, twists, and distorts more than we can comprehend and the effects of sin are not merely confined to mankind, but all of creation is subjected to a curse because of sin which is why it is written that the entire creation groans and travails in pain to this day. (Rom. 8:19-22) and worst of all, because we are born into sin, we are also born estranged from our Creator for that which is in sin cannot be allowed into His presence or into His Kingdom that which is sinful lest Heaven itself be defiled just as the earth has been defiled and a day is coming when sin will reach its full measure and will have to face eventual judgment and that includes all who remain in their sin and they who remain in their sins have nothing to look forward to but a terrifying and everlasting punishment in the never-ending torments and darkness of Hell but there is good news.  And the good news is, is that though the Lord God Almighty be holy and perfect and though He be a God who must, in His holiness, goodness, and righteousness, eventually punish all evil and all wickedness, He is also a God of unmeasurable love and mercy who is not willing that any should perish in their sins and face eternal damnation, but that all would come to repentance, and therefore has done for us what we could never do for ourselves in that He, in His graciousness has purchased redemption on our behalf in Christ Jesus, His only begotten Son, (Jn. 3:16) who came to us in the flesh, (Jn. 1:14) and being without any sin (2 Cor. 5:21, Heb. 4:15) was made that perfect sacrifice (Heb. 7:26-27) that was needed to take away the sins of the world and because of His perfect goodness, He was able to offer Himself up on our behalf to satisfy the demanded penalty for all sin and granting mercy and grace through the shedding of His blood on the cross and after having died, rose again from the dead three days later that we might be justified in Him (Rom. 4:25) if we will but call upon His name so that we might be saved from what would otherwise be a terrifying everlasting punishment if we will but call upon His name (Rom. 10:9, 13) and believe in our hearts that God raised Him from the dead (Rom. 10:9) for it is by calling upon His name in sincere repentance that salvation is granted and our souls made clean from sin thereby liberating us from the threat of eternal damnation and with that cleansing comes a new spiritual transformation (2 Cor. 5:17) that causes us to no longer desire to follow after selfish and worldly pursuits but after those things that pertain to the Kingdom of Heaven,
to no longer take pleasure in those things that are evil and displeasing in the sight of the Lord, but in that which is good, right, and pleasing in His sight,
to no longer desire to walk in the lies of this present world, but only in the truth that comes from Christ Almighty, (Jn. 14:6) no longer placing our hopes in the things of this present world, but looking forward to that new and better world to come, (Rev. 21-22)
to no longer rely on worldly resources, men, or even our own power, abilities, skills, and wisdom for our needs and provision but upon God who is able to meet all of our needs, (Mt. 6:33) recognizing that the resources of this world and even the people He brings into our lives are but instruments and vessels through which God meets our needs and that the skills, power, knowledge, and wisdom by which we might acquire our provision are provided and instilled in us by God,
to no longer fear what men can do to us, but rather fearing the God before whom we will have to one day give an account for how we lived our lives, (Mt. 10:28)
to no longer look to corruptible institutions within our society for direction and order in our lives but to God who, by His written Word has given us laws and precepts to be applied to our lives and which serve to produce and maintain an ordered life, and who, by His Holy Spirit which comes to dwell within us upon repentance, establishes in our lives a course and direction in our lives to pursue for His glory,
to no longer seek our own glory but the glory of God,
to no longer rally behind corruptible men, but instead behind the incorruptible God in Heaven bearing in mind that those men and women God raises up for our edification are but instruments and servants of His for that respective purpose to which He has called them,
to no longer seek to align ourselves with the things of darkness but only with the things of the light,
to no longer trust in the wisdom of the world but only on the wisdom and knowledge that comes from above, (Jas. 1:5) nor depend on corruptible earthly authorities to swiftly administer justice, but only in the power of God to deliver us from evil.
 
And it is this new inward transformation that reconciles us to our Creator (2 Cor. 5:18) from whom we had once been estranged and just as our souls are cleansed from sin and our spirits regenerated in Christ Jesus thereby liberating us from the eternal tormenting punishment that must come upon all who remain in their sins and it is this very change, if received by enough people, that potentially can bring about a change for the better in entire households in the manner of how they are run and maintained, and from there, the nature and condition of entire neighborhoods, communities, states/provinces, and entire nations, which then will have an impact and an affect upon the course of the culture and society; how education is taught, how businesses and corporations are operated, how news is reported, the quality and nature of entertainment that is produced, and finally how politics and civic governance are conducted.
 
It is also a start and a beginning to the elimination of all the suffering and evil that we see in the world.  It is in Christ that we find a sense of self-worth and significance.  It is Christ in whom we find our respective purpose and role in life and who provides us the means and determination needed to fulfill that purpose.  It is Christ to whom we look to provide for all of our needs.  It is Christ alone who is able to set the lonely in good company and even in families, who is able to provide suitable spouses to those whose hearts and souls cry out for a husband or wife.  It is in Christ alone in whom we will find an unfailing hope.  It is Christ alone who is able to deliver us from all evil and from that which He does not deliver us from, He is able to help and sustain us through.  And He is the only one who can stay the hands of those seeking to end their lives and turn their hearts and minds away from prematurely terminating the very life that He gave them and that is exactly what those who are in despair and feel like they have no hope need, be it in Canada, the United States of America, or in any other nation because they will find no deliverance in anything else.
 
And if you haven’t done so already, and are feeling like you are in such despair and hopelessness, and feel like you have nowhere to turn and everything you have tried to do to alleviate and even rid yourself of whatever anguish or torment that you may be presently experiencing, then I urge you reader to call upon the name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of sins so that you may be absolutely sure that when you do pass from this life, that you will indeed enter into a place far better than this present world and as far as this present world goes, it is destined to end to make way for a new and better world to come in which there will be no sin, no death, no decay, no evil, and no suffering of any sort, but in which there will dwell only peace, joy, and happiness before the Lord God Almighty. (Rev. 21-22)
 
It is only a sincere prayer of repentance away:
 
 
 
"Lord Jesus I need you.
 
 
I realize that I am a sinner
who has fallen short of the glory of God
and that my goodness falls short
of your standard of Moral perfection.
 
Please forgive me of all of my sins.
Come into my heart and into my life
to be the Savior and Lord of my life.
Make me into the servant and follower
that you want me to be.
In your name Lord Jesus, I pray.
 
 
Amen."
 
 
Know that God is not concerned with the words that you use to call upon Him forgiveness, but with the attitude of your heart and if you have, with all sincerity, have asked Christ to forgive you of your sins, placing your trust in Him only for your salvation and in nothing else, then your sins are forgiven and your place in Heaven is certain.
 
 
 
End notes:
 
 
 
1.  Logan Washburn, “Reports show that in Ontario alone there were 428 possible criminal cases related to Canada’s assisted suicide program since 2018,” The Federalist, November 13, 2024
https://thefederalist.com/2024/11/13/reports-show-nefarious-reality-behind-canadas-assisted-suicide-program/
 
2.  “Medical assistance in dying: Overview,” Government Of Canada
https://www.canada.ca/en/health-canada/services/health-services-benefits/medical-assistance-dying.html#
 
3.  “MAiD Death Review Committee (MDRC) Report 2024 – 2,” pp. 6-8, Ministry Of The Solicitor General, Office of the Chief Coroner for Ontario, 2024
https://cdn.theconversation.com/static_files/files/3515/2024.2__NRFND_Complex_Conditions_Final_Report_%281%29.pdf?1729708433
 
4.  K. Sonu Gaind, “Where to go next with assisted dying in Canada,” Toronto Star, February 3, 2024; updated February 5, 2024
https://www.thestar.com/opinion/contributors/where-to-go-next-with-assisted-dying-in-canada/article_d5bd64f0-c06b-11ee-a492-5f939c8106f6.html
 
5.  Maria Cheng and Angie Weng, “Private forums show Canadian doctors struggle with euthanizing vulnerable patients,” Associated Press, October 16, 2024
https://apnews.com/article/euthanasia-ethics-canada-doctors-nonterminal-nonfatal-cases-dfe59b1786592e31d9eb3b826c5175d1
 
6.  Ibid.
 
 
 
Scripture references
 
 
 
1.  Genesis 1
 
2.  Genesis 2:16-17, 3:3
 
3.  Genesis 3:19
 
4.  Romans 5:12
 
5.  Romans 6:23
 
6.  Matthew 15:11, 18-20
 
7.  Romans 3:23
 
8.  Romans 8:19-22
 
11.  2 Peter 3:9
 
12.  John 3:16
 
13.  John 1:14
 
14.  2 Corinthians 5:21
 
15.  Hebrews 4:15
 
16.  Hebrews 7:26-27
 
17.  Romans 4:25
 
18.  Romans 10:9, 13
 
19.  Hebrews 7:26-27
 
20.  Romans 4:25
 
21.  Romans 10:9, 13
 
22.  2 Corinthians 5:17
 
23.  John 14:6
 
24.  Revelation 21-22
 
25.  Matthew 6:33
 
26.  Matthew 10:28