Almost a month ago a 29 year old girl in Oregon named Brittany Maynard sparked off a national debate. Maynard, who had been diagnosed with glioblastoma in the spring, announced that she was going to take her own life on November 1st. Now, under Oregon's state laws (known as the Death with Dignity Act), she was perfectly within her rights to do so. Her mode of operation for this choice was to take a fatal dose of barbiturates, which a doctor had prescribed to her. The central message of her actions was that she was taking the power away from her disease and putting it in her hands. She did not want to linger and burden her loved ones with her care or the expenses that would accumulate because of it. Certainly, a noble and honorable thought....on the surface.
Now, I really haven't known what to think about this story for some time. Let me be clear: I in no way endorse her actions and find them indefensible from both a moral and biblical perspective. However, having had several friends and family members that have just "hung on" (some for years), I do know the pain (and cost) that comes with watching someone slowly slip away. Like I said, on the surface, it really does seem like quite a noble and honorable gesture.
The problem, for me, comes in how young Brittany perceived her choice. In an article with PEOPLE magazine, Brittany had this to say about her choice to end her own life:
"For people to argue against this choice for sick people really seems evil to me," she told PEOPLE. "They try to mix it up with suicide and that's really unfair, because there's not a single part of me that wants to die. But I am dying."
Now, there are a couple of things that I find unsettling about Brittany's words to the magazine. First, the use of the word "evil" to describe people arguing over this. Well, the thing is that as people (not just Christians) we are taught that life is precious. That's part of the reason why we use words like gift, blessing, or treasure to describe a newborn baby. That's part of the reason why we go to such lengths (and expenses) to find cures for diseases and injuries for our loved ones. That's part of the reason why we quit bad habits that could kill us is because life is precious and we want to be around to enjoy it. I don't think that we can call people arguing over a person's right to live evil, at least not in this instance. No, to me the word evil comes in at another point in this discussion.
I'll be completely honest with you, Brittany's words confuse me a bit when she says that it's unfair for people to confuse her choice with suicide. Now, I understand that she was dying already; I get that. I understand that the glioblastoma was a medical death sentence. However, what I don't understand is how this was not suicide. Suicide is defined as the act of causing one's own death. The definition doesn't say anything about wanting to die, but that it is when someone causes himself/herself to die. Well, that's exactly what Brittany did. Her taking a lethal does of barbiturates was what killed her, a dosage that she knowingly and willingly took.
My middle child, Thomas, is a smart kid. Amy and I know that he will grow up and do something great with his life. At this point, we're guessing something in engineering because that's just how his brain is wired. However, he only recently turned 4, so there's still a great deal of silly kid left in him. Every now-and-then this silly kid says things that make sense logically, but really aren't what we're talking about. We call this "Thomas logic". Well, the latest example of Thomas logic happened just yesterday. Thomas came in with a rolled up flash card and was looking through it like a spy glass (they were playing pirates). I asked Thomas what he was looking through. He told me that it was a treasure map. My response, "No son, that's a flashcard that you've just ruined by rolling it up." He looks at me with as serious of a face as he can and says, "No, it's a treasure map because that's what I'm pretending it is; gosh!" He then looks to the ceiling and walks out of the room exacerbated with me that I just couldn't get it.
Now, Amy and I both looked at each other and laughed as Thomas left the room, but that didn't change the fact that I was right. Now, I acknowledge that in Thomas' mind the flashcard was a treasure map. However, this was only a matter of imagination. In reality, the flashcard was still a flashcard regardless of what a playful 4 year old thought it to be. Brittany's decision to take her own life, regardless of what she may call it, was still a suicide. There' really no other way to slice it other than to call it what it was. Yes, those same positive benefits that I talked about earlier with her death no being strung out are there, but it's still a suicide.
Now, I'm not going to go the route that many have and call it cowardly or anything like that because I haven't been in her shoes. I have never received that diagnosis that started a countdown on my life. The problem that I really have with all of this is what it represents in our world today. You see, Brittany committed suicide (as I think I've pretty well established). However, she (and many others) are wanting to call it something else. Many are wanting to call it something wonderful and great when it really isn't. After all, a precious life was lost because of it. Regardless of the view that we may take of it, we need are saddened by the death of someone so young. And that's where I think the term evil is best used. No, not in Brittany's taking of her life and not even really in her reluctance to call it a suicide, but in the fact that we can't tell anymore what is right and what is wrong.
You see, that's the way that sin works. Sin sneaks in and distorts the lines between right and wrong. Sin comes in and confuses us on whether we should abhor or celebrate something. Sin pulls us away from God and leads us after earthly desires. Yes, Brittany's suicide was a sin, just as all murder is a sin (see a sermon I preach on Exodus 20:13 if you want to know my thoughts on murder). Now, let me also say that there is no such thing as a sin that God cannot forgive. I don't know Brittany's faith. I don't know what her relationship with the Lord was like. For all I know, she could be experiencing the full righteousness of God at this very moment. That's not what I'm interested in right now. What I'm interested in is the fact that we have allowed sin to go so unpunished and uninhibited throughout our society for so long that now we just can't tell anymore what's right and what's wrong. And for that reason, I am truly saddened.
You see, the serpent in the Garden with very subtle in his trickery of Adam and Eve. All throughout Scripture, Satan very subtly works his way into the lives of Godly men and women and pulls them away from God. That's how sin works. It's always worked that way and will continue to work that way. You see, we all share something in common with young Brittany: we too are dying. Each and every one of us is dying. Sure, our deaths may not be as rapidly approaching as her death was, but they're still approaching.
I don't really know the best way to end this post other than to ask you if you know the difference between right and wrong. If you do, then where have you gotten it from? Has it come from your own opinions? Has it come from Scripture? Has it come from life experiences? Has it come from somewhere else? I know that we tend to develop our opinions from a number of different sources, but I want to remind you of one thing when it comes to our sources: only one is infallible. There is only one source that we can look to for complete and total truth, and that is God. So, when you're sitting there trying to decide what's right and wrong, remember that there is only One source of Truth, and it's found in God Almighty.
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