Assisted living, not assisted dying

"It’s assisted suicide, not assisted dying."               Source: Christian Concern

The assisted dying bill is to be debated by MPs on Friday. If the bill becomes law it will allow some terminally ill people to have a medically assisted death but as Christian Concern explains, it will be assisted suicide, not assisted dying.

The motivation is understandable. A slow, painful death from an incurable disease is a burden most would seek to avoid but a quick easy death cannot be guaranteed. With proper palliative care that is not an option people would have to face. 

Recognised as the founder of the modern hospice movement Dame Cicely Saunders said: "You matter because you are you. You matter to the last moment of your life, and we will do all we can, not only to help you die peacefully, but also to live until you die."

A few months ago a relative who was terriried of dying was admitted to a hospice. She died peacefully under their loving care. Such care should be available to all.

If patients can be kept pain free, even if it results in death, that is a far better alternative than the slipery slope of assisted suicide with its added pressure of 'doing the right thing' to relieve others of the strain.

Postscript [28.11.2024]

Speaking ahead of the Second Reading of the assisted suicide Bill, crossbench peer Baroness Tanni Grey-Thompson has discussed the potential impact of the Bill on people with disabilities.

Exclusion!

Source: 'X' (formerly Twitter)

From OneBodyOneFaith - 'Empowering LGBT+ Christians; advocating for change':

"With the Bishops in the Church in Wales, we are organising the second national memorial service to remember and commemorate all LGBT+ people who have lost their lives to suicide or experienced harm following exclusion from Christian faith communities."

Suicide is a tragedy not confined to LGBT+ people. Nor is exclusion.

When will the Church in Wales do something for the many faithful Anglicans who are excluded for keeping the faith? 

First misogynistic then homophobic, now potential killers! No wonder people are leaving the Church in droves

♫Somewhere, over the rainbow, skies are blue

 And the dreams that you dare to dream really do come true....♫

From some recent reports as Synod prepares for the LGBT battle:

 "The Church is driving homosexual people to suicide because of its negative and discriminatory attitude towards same-sex relationships, a major Christian charity has concluded" (here).

"Church of England 'not listening to gay Christians', say retired bishops". "In an open letter published online, 14 leading retired bishops wrote that a recent report on same-sex marriage failed to include the “authentic voice” of the LGBT community and was instead focused on talking about them rather than to them" (here).

"The Bible doesn’t have anything to say about lesbians but they need to be included in order to make statements about the group who really disturb the men. These are the men, who are men, but do not behave like men when it comes to sex and they need to stop it" (here).

The onslaught* is gaining momentum. Lies, damned lies and statistics to 'prove' that the House of Bishops has it wrong by defending traditional marriage. Previously accused of homophobia, now defenders of the Christian faith are charged with driving homosexuals to suicide  because of its negative and discriminatory attitude towards same-sex relationships.

This charge has been shot down on the Psephizo blog which refers to the work of Anglican priest and statistician, the Rev Peter Ould:

What the authors have demonstrated here is that their research shows that, contrary to the claims that Oasis make with no evidence to support them, LGB people do not have worse mental health outcomes when in “non-affirming” church environments and indeed there is some evidence to suggest that attending a conservative church actually improves mental health for LGB people, even when they have significant internalized homophobia.

The 14 retired bishops protest too much. After three years of "shared conversations" with the LGB community and other Christians they write that the bishops' report on same-sex marriage published last month failed to include the “authentic voice” of the LGB community. It was, they complain, focused on talking about them rather than to them. Some of the 14 are readily identifiable as homosexuals but how many of the others are waiting to come out if they have the stamp of approval of the Church?

Their conclusion appears to be that LGB people have been discriminated against because the official report did not come out in favour of gay marriage. A common complaint used by the feminist movement, if you are not for them you are prejudiced and discriminate against them.

As for WATCH perhaps I should let 'The Chair’s thoughts' speak for themselves but I would have thought the statement "The Bible doesn’t have anything to say about lesbians" would be a great comfort to WATCH wimmin. After all, a similar spurious argument helped to secure the ordination of women priests. It will be interesting to see how many more variants of that argument will eventually be employed to create even more diversity in the  Church taking her ever further from her spiritual roots even if it "risks further alienating the church from wider society" as the Guardian report put it.

Learning from the feminist movement, Church of England gay activists such as Changing Attitude are taking the Church down the same path as WATCH did with the same disasterous results. Nothing matters but their own selfish desires. Hence last year's headline: Gay Marriage Support From Christians In The Church Of England Is Now Outstripping Opposition, New Poll Reveals. If the LGBT activists are as successful as the feminists, the Church be will full of lesbians, gays and the gullible.

Referring to "Mr Welby", the Guardian opines in its Editorial that "It is generally accepted that about one in 10 of the Anglican clergy are LGBT (three times the proportion of non-white clergy...hence anguished protests by 14 retired bishops at the weekend)." It is understandable that a newspaper would offer a secular view, but for the Church? Is there nothing that is sacred or spiritual?

So, the Church of England is set for "a renewed clash" this week when Synod votes on a key report from the Bishops on the "divisive question" of gay marriage and same sex relationships mired in gay propaganda and false information. No wonder people are leaving the church in droves.

Feminizing the Anglican Church has been damaging enough, queering the Church for 1.7% of the UK population or 10% of the clergy based on figures in the Guardian  would be a disaster even if it were not contrary to scripture .

Postscript

* The onslaught gains more momentum. Martin Bashir, BBC Religious Affairs Correspondent, writes:

'Fireworks and faith at general synod'
 As members arrive on Wednesday morning, they'll be greeted by a vigil organised by the Lesbian and Gay Christian Movement and Changing Attitude with the support of the Peter Tatchell Foundation and Out and Proud African LGBTI.

This is the well tried strategy:

• Exploit the “victim” status;
• Use the sympathetic media;
• Confuse and neutralize the churches;
• Slander and stereotype [traditionalist] Christians;
• Bait and switch (hide their true nature); and 
• Intimidation.

See also  Anglican Mainstream: "Manipulative, domineering revisionists must be opposed, not appeased".