Views of world religions on issues of life and death. Problems of life and death, attitudes towards death in various historical eras and in various religions
Problems of life and death and attitudes towards death
in different historical eras and in different religions
Introduction.
1. Dimensions of the problem of life, death and immortality.
2. Attitude to death, problems of life, death and immortality
in the religions of the world.
Conclusion.
List of used literature.
Introduction.
Life and death are eternal themes in the spiritual culture of humanity in all its divisions. Prophets and founders of religions, philosophers and moralists, figures of art and literature, teachers and doctors thought about them. There is hardly an adult who, sooner or later, would not think about the meaning of his existence, his impending death and the achievement of immortality. These thoughts come to the minds of children and very young people, as evidenced in poetry and prose, dramas and tragedies, letters and diaries. Only early childhood or senile insanity relieves a person of the need to solve these problems.
In essence, we are talking about a triad: life - death - immortality, since all the spiritual systems of humanity proceeded from the idea of the contradictory unity of these phenomena. The greatest attention here was paid to death and the acquisition of immortality in another life, and human life itself was interpreted as a moment allotted to a person so that he could adequately prepare for death and immortality.
With a few exceptions, all times and peoples have spoken quite negatively about life, Life is suffering (Buddha: Schopenhauer, etc.); life is a dream (Plato, Pascal); life is an abyss of evil (Ancient Egypt); “Life is a struggle and a journey through a foreign land” (Marcus Aurelius); "Life is a fool's tale, told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, but without meaning" (Shakespeare); “All human life is deeply immersed in untruth” (Nietzsche), etc.
Proverbs and sayings of different nations like “Life is a penny” speak about this. Ortega y Gasset defined man neither as a body nor as a spirit, but as a specifically human drama. Indeed, in this sense, the life of every person is dramatic and tragic: no matter how successfully life turns out, no matter how long it is, its end is inevitable. The Greek sage Epicurus said this: “Accustom yourself to the idea that death has nothing to do with us. When we exist, death is not yet present, and when death is present, then we do not exist.”
Death and potential immortality are the most powerful lure for the philosophical mind, for all our life's affairs must, one way or another, be measured against the eternal. Man is doomed to think about life and death, and this is his difference from an animal, which is mortal, but does not know about it. Death in general is the price to pay for the complication of a biological system. Single-celled organisms are practically immortal and the amoeba is a happy creature in this sense.
When an organism becomes multicellular, a mechanism of self-destruction, as it were, is built into it at a certain stage of development, associated with the genome.
For centuries, the best minds of humanity have been trying to at least theoretically refute this thesis, prove, and then realize real immortality. However, the ideal of such immortality is not the existence of an amoeba and not an angelic life in a better world. From this point of view, a person should live forever, being in the constant prime of life. A person cannot come to terms with the fact that he will have to leave this magnificent world where life is in full swing. To be an eternal spectator of this grandiose picture of the Universe, not to experience the “saturation of days” like the biblical prophets - could anything be more tempting?
But, thinking about this, you begin to understand that death is perhaps the only thing before which everyone is equal: poor and rich, dirty and clean, loved and unloved. Although both in ancient times and in our days, attempts have been and are constantly being made to convince the world that there are people who have been “there” and returned back, but common sense refuses to believe this. Faith is required, a miracle is required, such as the Gospel Christ performed, “trampling down death by death.” It has been noticed that a person’s wisdom is often expressed in a calm attitude towards life and death. As Mahatma Gandhi said: “We do not know whether it is better to live or to die. Therefore, we should neither overly admire life nor tremble at the thought of death. We should treat both equally. This is the ideal option.” And long before this, the Bhagavad Gita said: “Truly, death is intended for the born, and birth is inevitable for the deceased. Do not mourn about the inevitable.”
At the same time, many great people realized this problem in tragic tones. Outstanding Russian biologist I.I. Mechnikov, who reflected on the possibility of “cultivating the instinct of natural death,” wrote about L.N. Tolstoy: “When Tolstoy, tormented by the inability to solve this problem and haunted by the fear of death, asked himself whether family love could calm his soul, he immediately saw that this is a vain hope. Why, he asked himself, raise children who will soon find themselves in the same critical condition as their father? Why should I love them, raise them and take care of them for the same despair that is in me? for stupidity? Loving them, I cannot hide the truth from them - every step leads them to the knowledge of this truth.
1. Dimensions of the problem of life, death and immortality.
1. 1. The first dimension of the problem of life, death and immortality is biological, for these states are essentially different aspects of one phenomenon. The hypothesis of panspermia, the constant presence of life and death in the Universe, and their constant reproduction in suitable conditions, has long been put forward. The definition of F. Engels is well known: “Life is a way of existence of protein bodies, and this way of existence consists essentially in the constant self-renewal of the chemical components of these bodies,” emphasizes the cosmic aspect of life.
Stars, nebulae, planets, comets and other cosmic bodies are born, live and die, and in this sense, no one and nothing disappears. This aspect is most developed in Eastern philosophy and mystical teachings, based on the fundamental impossibility of understanding the meaning of this universal circulation only with reason. Materialistic concepts are based on the phenomenon of self-generation of life and self-causation, when, according to F. Engels, “with iron necessity” life and the thinking spirit are generated in one place of the Universe, if in another it disappears.
Awareness of the unity of human life and humanity with all life on the planet, with its biosphere, as well as potentially possible forms of life in the Universe, has enormous ideological significance.
This idea of the sanctity of life, the right to life for any living being, by virtue of the very fact of birth, belongs to the eternal ideals of humanity. In the limit, the entire Universe and the Earth are considered as living beings, and interference in the still poorly understood laws of their life is fraught with an ecological crisis. Man appears as a small particle of this living Universe, a microcosm that has absorbed all the richness of the macrocosm. The feeling of “reverence for life”, the feeling of one’s involvement in the wonderful world of the living, to one degree or another, is inherent in any ideological system. Even if biological, bodily life is considered an inauthentic, transitive form of human existence, then in these cases (for example, in Christianity) human flesh can and should acquire a different, flourishing state.
1.2. The second dimension of the problem of life, death and immortality is associated with understanding the specifics of human life and its differences from the life of all living things. For more than thirty centuries, sages, prophets and philosophers from different countries and peoples have been trying to find this divide. Most often it is believed that the whole point is in the awareness of the fact of impending death: we know that we will die and are feverishly looking for a path to immortality. All other living things quietly and peacefully complete their journey, having managed to reproduce a new life or serve as fertilizer for another life. A person is doomed to painful lifelong thoughts about the meaning of life or its meaninglessness, tormenting himself, and often others, with this, and is forced to drown these damned questions in wine or drugs. This is partly true, but the question arises: what to do with the fact of the death of a newborn child who has not yet had time to understand anything, or a mentally retarded person who is not able to understand anything? Should we consider the beginning of a person’s life to be the moment of conception (which cannot be accurately determined in most cases) or the moment of birth?
It is known that the dying Leo Tolstoy, addressing those around him, said,
so that they turn their gaze to millions of other people, and not look at one
lion An unknown death that does not touch anyone except the mother, the death of a small creature from hunger somewhere in Africa and the magnificent funeral of world-famous leaders in the face of eternity have no differences. In this sense, the English poet D. Donne is deeply right when he said that the death of each person diminishes all of humanity and therefore “never ask for whom the bell tolls, it tolls for you.”
It is obvious that the specifics of human life, death and immortality are directly related to the mind and its manifestations, to the successes and achievements of a person during his life, to his assessment by his contemporaries and descendants. The death of many geniuses at a young age is undoubtedly tragic, but there is no reason to believe that their subsequent life, if it had taken place, would have given the world something even more brilliant. There is some kind of not entirely clear, but empirically obvious pattern at work here, expressed by the Christian thesis: “God chooses the best first.”
In this sense, life and death are not covered by the categories of rational knowledge and do not fit into the framework of a rigid deterministic model of the world and man. It is possible to discuss these concepts in cold blood up to a certain limit. It is determined by the personal interest of each person and his ability to intuitively comprehend the ultimate foundations of human existence. In this respect, everyone is like a swimmer who has jumped into the waves in the middle of the open sea. You need to rely only on yourself, despite human solidarity, faith in God, the Higher Mind, etc. The uniqueness of man, the uniqueness of personality, is manifested here to the highest degree. Geneticists have calculated that the probability of this particular person being born from these parents is one chance in one hundred trillion cases. If this has already happened, then what amazing variety of human meanings of existence appears before a person when he thinks about life and death?
Let us consider these problems in relation to three world religions - Christianity, Islam and Buddhism and the civilizations based on them.
The Christian understanding of the meaning of life, death and immortality comes from the Old Testament position: “The day of death is better than the day of birth” and the New Testament commandment of Christ “... I have the keys to hell and death.” The divine-human essence of Christianity is manifested in the fact that the immortality of the individual as an integral being is conceivable only through resurrection. The path to it is opened by the atoning sacrifice of Christ through the cross and resurrection. This is the sphere of mystery and miracle, for man is taken out of the sphere of action of natural-cosmic forces and elements and is placed as a person face to face with God, who is also a person.
Thus, the goal of human life is deification, movement towards eternal life. Without realizing this, earthly life turns into a dream, an empty and idle dream, a soap bubble. In essence, it is only a preparation for eternal life, which is just around the corner for everyone. That is why it is said in the Gospel: “Be prepared: for at an hour you do not think, the Son of Man will come.” To prevent life from turning, in the words of M.Yu. Lermontov, “into an empty and stupid joke,” one must always remember the hour of death. This is not a tragedy, but a transition to another world, where myriads of souls, good and evil, already live, and where each new one enters for joy or torment. In the figurative expression of one of the moral hierarchs: “A dying person is a setting star, the dawn of which is already shining over another world.” Death does not destroy the body, but its corruption, and therefore it is not the end, but the beginning of eternal life. immortality religion christian islamic
Christianity associated a different understanding of immortality with the image of the “Eternal Jew” Agasfer. When Jesus, exhausted under the weight of the cross, walked to Golgotha and wanted to rest, Ahasfer, standing among the others, said: “Go, go,” for which he was punished - he was forever denied the peace of the grave. From century to century he is doomed to wander the world, waiting for the second coming of Christ, who alone can deprive him of his hateful immortality.
The image of “mountainous” Jerusalem is associated with the absence of disease, death, hunger, cold, poverty, enmity, hatred, malice and other evils there. There is life without labor and joy without sorrow, health without weakness and honor without danger. All in blooming youth and the age of Christ are comforted by bliss, tasting the fruits of peace, love, joy and fun, and “they love each other as themselves.” Evangelist Luke defined the essence of the Christian approach to life and death this way: “God is not the God of the dead, but the God of the living. For with him all are alive.” Christianity categorically condemns suicide, since a person does not belong to himself, his life and death are “in the will of God.”
Another world religion - Islam - is based on the fact that man was created by the will of almighty Allah, who, above all, is merciful. To a person’s question: “Will I be known alive when I die?” Allah gives the answer: “Will not a person remember that we created him before, and he was nothing?” Unlike Christianity, earthly life in Islam is highly regarded. However, on the Last Day, everything will be destroyed and the dead will be resurrected and brought before Allah for final judgment. Belief in an afterlife is necessary, since in this case a person will evaluate his actions and deeds not from the point of view of personal interest, but in the sense of an eternal perspective.
The destruction of the entire Universe on the day of the Just Judgment presupposes the creation of a completely new world. A “record” of deeds and thoughts, even the most secret ones, will be presented about each person, and an appropriate sentence will be passed. Thus, the principle of the supremacy of the laws of morality and reason over physical laws will triumph. A morally pure person cannot be in a humiliated position, as is the case in the real world. Islam strictly prohibits suicide.
The descriptions of heaven and hell in the Koran are full of vivid details, so that the righteous can be fully satisfied and the sinners get what they deserve. Paradise is the beautiful “gardens of eternity, below which flow rivers of water, milk and wine”; there are also “pure spouses”, “full-breasted peers”, as well as “black-eyed and big-eyed, decorated with bracelets of gold and pearls”. Those sitting on carpets and leaning on green cushions are walked around by “forever young boys” offering “bird meat” on golden dishes. Hell for sinners is fire and boiling water, pus and slop, the fruits of the “Zakkum” tree, similar to the head of the devil, and their destiny is “screams and roars.” It is impossible to ask Allah about the hour of death, since only he has knowledge about this, and “what has been given to you to know, perhaps the hour is already close.”
The attitude towards death and immortality in Buddhism differs significantly from Christian and Muslim ones. Buddha himself refused to answer the questions: “Is he who knows the truth immortal or is he mortal?”, and also: can a knower be mortal and immortal at the same time? In essence, only one type of “wonderful immortality” is recognized - nirvana, as the embodiment of the transcendental Superbeing, the Absolute Beginning, which has no attributes.
Buddhism did not refute the doctrine of the transmigration of souls developed by Brahmanism, i.e. the belief that after death any living being is reborn again in the form of a new living being (human, animal, deity, spirit, etc.). However, Buddhism made significant changes to the teachings of Brahmanism. If the Brahmins argued that through rituals, sacrifices and spells that were different for each class ("varna") it was fashionable to achieve "good rebirths", i.e. to become a raja, a brahman, a rich merchant, etc., then Buddhism declared all reincarnation, all types of existence as inevitable misfortune and evil. Therefore, the highest goal of a Buddhist should be the complete cessation of rebirth and the achievement of nirvana, i.e. non-existence.
Since personality is understood as a sum of drachmas that are in a constant flow of reincarnation, this implies the absurdity and meaninglessness of the chain of natural births. The Dhammapada states that "to be born again and again is sorrowful." The way out is the path of finding nirvana, breaking through the chain of endless rebirths and achieving enlightenment, the blissful “island” located in the depths of a person’s heart, where “they own nothing” and “covet nothing.” The well-known symbol of nirvana - the extinguishing of the ever-quivering fire of life is well expressed the essence of the Buddhist understanding of death and immortality. As the Buddha said: “One day in the life of a person who has seen the immortal path is better than a hundred years of existence of a person who has not seen the higher life.”
For most people, achieving nirvana immediately, in this rebirth, is impossible. Following the path of salvation indicated by the Buddha, a living being usually has to be reincarnated again and again. But this will be the path of ascent to the “highest wisdom”, having achieved which a creature will be able to leave the “circle of existence” and complete the chain of its rebirths.
A calm and peaceful attitude towards life, death and immortality, the desire for enlightenment and liberation from evil is also characteristic of other Eastern religions and cults. In this regard, attitudes towards suicide are changing; it is considered not so sinful as senseless, for it does not free a person from the circle of births and deaths, but only leads to birth in a lower incarnation. One must overcome such attachment to one's personality, for, in the words of the Buddha, “the nature of personality is continuous death.”
Concepts of life, death and immortality, based on a non-religious and atheistic approach to the world and man. Irreligious people and atheists are often reproached for the fact that for them earthly life is everything, and death is an insurmountable tragedy, which, in essence, makes life meaningless. L.N. Tolstoy, in his famous confession, painfully tried to find the meaning in life that would not be destroyed by the death that inevitably awaits every person.
For a believer, everything is clear here, but for an unbeliever, an alternative of three possible ways to solve this problem arises.
The first way is to accept the idea, which is confirmed by science and simply common sense, that complete destruction of even an elementary particle is impossible in the world, and conservation laws apply. Matter, energy and, it is believed, information and organization of complex systems are conserved. Consequently, particles of our “I” after death will enter into the eternal cycle of existence and in this sense will be immortal. True, they will not have consciousness, the soul with which our “I” is associated. Moreover, this type of immortality is acquired by a person throughout his life. We can say in the form of a paradox: we are alive only because we die every second. Every day, red blood cells die, epithelial cells die, hair falls out, etc. Therefore, it is in principle impossible to fix life and death as absolute opposites, neither in reality nor in thoughts. These are two sides of the same coin.
The second way is to gain immortality in human affairs, in the fruits of material and spiritual production, which are included in the treasury of humanity. For this, first of all, we need confidence that humanity is immortal and is pursuing a cosmic destiny in the spirit of the ideas of K.E. Tsiolkovsky and other cosmists. If self-destruction in a thermonuclear environmental catastrophe, as well as as a result of some kind of cosmic cataclysm, is realistic for humanity, then in this case the question remains open.
The third path to immortality is, as a rule, chosen by people whose scale of activity does not extend beyond the boundaries of their home and immediate environment. Without expecting eternal bliss or eternal torment, without going into the “tricks” of the mind that connects the microcosm (i.e., man) with the macrocosm, millions of people simply float in the stream of life, feeling themselves to be a part of it. Immortality for them is not in the eternal memory of blessed humanity, but in everyday affairs and concerns. “It’s not difficult to believe in God. No, you have to believe in man!” - Chekhov wrote this without at all expecting that he himself would become an example of this type of attitude towards life and death.
Perhaps only those who understand how fragile life is know how precious it is. Once, when I took part in a conference in Britain, the BBC interviewed its participants. At this time they talked with a really dying woman.
She was afraid because in everyday life she did not think that death was real. Now she knew it. And she wanted to tell those who would survive her only one thing: take life and death seriously.
Take life seriously...
There was an article in one newspaper about a Tibetan spiritual teacher. He was asked the question: “Doesn’t it seem unfair that for sins in past lives, about which I know nothing, I am suffering today in this life?” And the teacher replied: “Can you, young man, cancel this?” - "No".
- “But you have a good chance to make your next life normal if you start behaving normally in this one.”
To this one could add: “Yes, and it is also within your power to make this life happy. After all...
At night, before you fall asleep, do this 15-minute meditation. This is death meditation. Lie down and relax. Feel as if you are dying and that you cannot move your body because you are dead. Create the feeling that you are disappearing from your body.
Do this for 10-15 minutes and in a week you will feel it. While meditating in this way, fall asleep. Don't ruin it. Let meditation turn into sleep. And if sleep overwhelms you, enter it.
In the morning, the moment you feel awake, don't...
It is strange, of course, that the idea of death as “the land from which no traveler returns” is so widespread among us and so firmly rooted in our minds. One has only to remember that in all countries of the world and at all times about which we know at least something, travelers constantly returned from that world, and it becomes very difficult for us to explain the popularity of this extraordinary delusion.
It is true that these astonishingly false ideas are largely...
End.
Touching personal freedom, realizing it, will only arise if you experience the temporary nature of existence, the temporary nature of your current personality. Temporality. You must understand. This is the detail that is most often missed by those who are interested in spiritual processes.
But the fact remains a fact. The speed of knowledge depends on the level of consciousness with which we come here. Each of us carries something that can be defined as “potentiality.” Each of us has qualities...
The concept of death began to worry man since he realized himself as Homo Sapiens, that is, a reasonable person, that is, he began to bury his dead. Man is the only living creature on earth who knows about death, but is not yet fully aware of its meaning.
Death is only realized by those lives that are self-aware, and is sadly misunderstood only by human beings.
What is there behind the veil, if there is another life or everything ends here? These...
Both are true. When I call death the greatest of all truths, I call your attention to the fact that the phenomenon of death has a tremendous reality in this life - in what we call "life" and understand by "life"; in terms of the human personality, which consists of what I describe as "I".
This person will die; what we call "life" will also die. Death is inevitable. Of course, you will die, and I will die, and this life will also be destroyed, turned to dust, erased. When I call death...
We are constantly asked this question about life in the afterlife: “Will we find our friends and recognize them?” Of course yes, because they will change no more than we; Why then can’t we recognize them? Attachment remains, attracting people to each other, but in the astral world it becomes stronger.
It is also true that if a loved one left the earth a long time ago, he may already have risen above the astral plane. In this case, we need to wait and we will reach this level to join it...
“Until we have determined our attitude towards the fact of our own death, the fear of death inevitably accompanies and colors everything we do. If, on the contrary, there is a “memory of death,” it is this memory that can reveal to us the meaning and importance of every moment of life. For example “When a loved one dies, my word may be his last, and with this word he will pass on to another world.”
Fundamentals of the social concept of the Russian Orthodox Church
XII. Problems of bioethics
XII.8. The practice of removing human organs suitable for transplantation, as well as the development of resuscitation, gives rise to the problem of correctly determining the moment of death. Previously, the criterion for its occurrence was considered to be irreversible cessation of breathing and circulation.
However, thanks to the improvement of resuscitation technologies, these vital functions can be artificially maintained for a long time. The act of death thus turns into a dying process, dependent on the doctor’s decision, which imposes a qualitatively new responsibility on modern medicine.
In the Holy Scriptures, death is presented as the separation of the soul from the body (Ps. 146:4; Luke 12:20). Thus, we can talk about the continuation of life as long as the activity of the organism as a whole continues. Prolongation of life by artificial means, in which only individual organs actually act, cannot be considered as an obligatory and in all cases a desirable task of medicine. Delaying the hour of death sometimes only prolongs the suffering of the patient, depriving a person of the right to a decent, “ shameless and peaceful
"death, which Orthodox Christians ask the Lord during worship. When active therapy becomes impossible, palliative care (pain management, care, social and psychological support), as well as pastoral care, should take its place. All this aims to ensure a truly human ending to life, warmed by mercy and love.
The Orthodox understanding of a shameless death includes preparation for death, which is considered as a spiritually significant stage in a person’s life. A sick person, surrounded by Christian care, in the last days of his earthly existence is able to experience a grace-filled change associated with a new understanding of the path traveled and a repentant appearance before eternity. And for the relatives of the dying person and medical workers, patient care for the sick becomes an opportunity to serve the Lord Himself, according to the words of the Savior: “ Just as you did it to one of the least of My brothers, you did it to Me.
"(Matthew 25:40). Concealing information about a serious condition from a patient under the pretext of preserving his spiritual comfort often deprives the dying person of the opportunity to consciously prepare for death and spiritual consolation gained through participation in the Sacraments of the Church, and also clouds his relationships with relatives and doctors with mistrust.
Near-death physical suffering is not always effectively eliminated by the use of painkillers. Knowing this, the Church in such cases turns to God in prayer: “ Allow Your servant the unbearable illness and bitter infirmities that contain him and give him rest, where the righteous Dusi"(Trebnik. Prayer for the long-suffering). The Lord alone is the Lord of life and death (1 Samuel 2:6). " In His hand is the soul of all living things and the spirit of all human flesh.
"(Job 12:10). Therefore, the Church, remaining faithful to the observance of God’s commandment “ don't kill
"(Exodus 20:13), cannot recognize as morally acceptable the attempts to legalize so-called euthanasia, which are now widespread in secular society, that is, the deliberate killing of hopelessly ill people (including at their request). The patient’s request to hasten death is sometimes due to a state of depression, which deprives him of the ability to correctly assess his situation. Recognizing the legality of euthanasia would lead to a derogation of the dignity and perversion of the professional duty of a doctor, called upon to preserve, and not to suppress, life. The “right to die” can easily turn into a threat to the lives of patients whose treatment does not have enough money.
Thus, euthanasia is a form of murder or suicide, depending on whether the patient participates in it. In the latter case, the corresponding canonical rules apply to euthanasia, according to which intentional suicide, as well as assistance in its commission, are regarded as a grave sin. A deliberate suicide, who “did this out of human resentment or on some other occasion out of cowardice,” is not awarded Christian burial and liturgical commemoration (Timothy Alex. 14). If a suicide has unconsciously taken his own life “out of the mind,” that is, in a fit of mental illness, church prayer for him is permitted after the ruling bishop has examined the case. At the same time, it must be remembered that the guilt of a suicide is often shared by the people around him, who turned out to be incapable of effective compassion and showing mercy. Together with the Apostle Paul, the Church calls: “ Bear one another's burdens and thus fulfill the law of Christ
"(Gal.6:2).
Unfortunately, a topical issue of modern bioethics includes the question the relationship of the doctor, relatives and patient TO LIFE AND DEATH. Both students, young doctors, and experienced doctors give an ambiguous answer to this question. Meanwhile, this is the question in the solution of which the essence of modern medicine is revealed. The Christian knows that for each specialist he will be a personal path to eternal life or to destruction. Therefore, it is important to first find out: " What is the position of the Russian Orthodox Church on this issue?".
“Even more recently, euthanasia, which seemed absolute nonsense in the context of the European Christian tradition, is becoming more and more common in the West. The number of countries where “ medical homicide» including euthanasia for children".
By the end of 2017: " Now the question is posed as follows: not even those who suffer from incurable diseases, but simply older people who feel melancholy and loss of meaning in life, should have the right to euthanasia. In case a person, even being healthy, simply does not feel psychologically comfortable enough. And this idea is moving forward».
An active fighter against euthanasia - a well-known specialist in the field of bioethics and human rights in the United States and far beyond its borders, a lawyer, a conservative publicist, the author of a number of books and a blogger. Wesley J. Smith. His most famous book is " Culture of Death: An Assault on Medical Ethics in America"("Culture of Death: The Assault on Medical Ethics in America"). He is a consistent opponent of euthanasia, abortion, surrogacy, cloning, the so-called “scientocracy”, radical ideology of environmental protection and the dominant views on medical ethics today.
In 2007, W. Smith converted to Orthodoxy and became a parishioner of the Orthodox Church in America. He often appears on American radio and television.
Here is what he writes: “In fact, behind the scientific definition of “euthanasia”, “medical service”, “suicide” lies the grave, unforgivable sin of suicide. Many people think that euthanasia and “ physician-assisted suicide» apply exclusively to terminally ill people whose suffering can only be stopped by death. However, the very statement that “nothing more can be done” is no longer true: palliative care has made huge leaps forward over the past few decades.
Meanwhile, euthanasia in practice is used not only in relation to dying patients.
A high-profile court case that paved the way for Dutch doctors to kill mentally ill patients was associated with the name psychiatrist Shabot, who helped commit suicide for Hilly Bosser, a middle-aged woman who had lost two children (one to suicide and the other to illness) and wanted nothing more than to “be buried between them.” Having accepted Hilly as a patient, Dr. Chabot did not even try to treat her. After four appointments over five weeks, instead of treating her, he simply helped her take her own life. The Dutch Supreme Court justified the psychiatrist's actions on the grounds that suffering is suffering, be it physical or mental, so Hilly's murder is an "acceptable medical practice".
In recent years Dutch professional journals began calling on the country's psychiatrists to more actively use euthanasia. For example, an article published in the Dutch-language Dutch Journal of Psychiatry in 2011 openly recommends “assisted suicide” as a treatment for mental illness. “Medically assisted death is now acceptable for mentally ill patients, since in this way both the patients and psychiatry itself receive relief.” Euthanasia and “medically assisted death” are called “deliverance” in a professional journal of psychiatry! Apparently, psychiatrists have heeded the call to become more involved in killing patients through euthanasia. In 2012, 14 patients with severe mental illness suffered an “easy death” at the hands of their psychiatrists in the Netherlands. In 2013, the number of such patients tripled and reached 42 people.
Dutch doctors also commit infanticide, killing terminally ill newborn babies and newborns with pathologies. According to a study published by the British weekly journal for medical professionals called The Lancet, today about 8% of the total number of newborn babies who die are killed by doctors. A bureaucratic protocol was even published indicating how to select infants for euthanasia.
If The Netherlands 'slipped down a slippery slope', Belgium 'jumped off a cliff headfirst'. This country legalized euthanasia in 2002. The first case after its legalization was the murder of a patient with multiple sclerosis, which was a violation of the law. But it turned out that it’s okay: the laws, rather, serve as guarantees rather than limiting “medical killings.” Since 2002, Belgium has come a long way in legalizing and committing more and more radical types of euthanasia.
Isn't this the logical consequence of accepting the idea that killing is an acceptable response to human suffering? Here are just a few examples. At least three pairs of elderly spouses who did not want to live alone after the death of one of them received an “easy death” together through euthanasia. They feared widowhood and therefore chose death.
The first couple passed away in 2011. Both spouses were not seriously ill, and the “procedure” was performed with their informed consent. Another of the couples we mentioned was quite healthy, but the elderly people were simply “afraid of the future.” Moreover, euthanasia was carried out by a doctor on the recommendation of their own son, who in an interview with the British newspaper “Daily Mail” stated that his parents' death was "the best decision" since caring for them would have been "impossible." Almost every society perceives it as a tragedy when elderly married couples undergo euthanasia. But in Belgium it seems to be considered a legitimate solution to the problems associated with caring for the frail elderly.
In any morally healthy society, "doctors of death" would immediately lose their license/certificate and be tried for homicide, but obviously Belgium no longer falls into this category.
Anna J., who suffered from suicidal tendencies and anorexia, publicly accused the psychiatrist of forcing her to become his sex slave. The doctor admitted his guilt, but was not punished, and then Anna turned to another psychiatrist for euthanasia. She passed away at the age of 44. Nathan Verhelst, who underwent sex reassignment surgery and became a man, was extremely disappointed with the result of the operation and, out of despair, decided to resort to euthanasia. Psychiatrists in Belgium, like the Netherlands, also use euthanasia to “treat” patients with suicidal tendencies caused by mental illness. Most recently, they officially approved the request for euthanasia of physically healthy 24-year-old Laura suffering from chronic depression and suicidal tendencies.
In 2014, Belgium legalized child euthanasia from birth.. Belgian doctors, meanwhile, are succeeding in removing organs from mentally ill patients and patients with certain disabilities who undergo euthanasia. Most of these patients had neuromuscular diseases or mental disorders, but “ good quality organs" Ironically, one of the patients suffered from a mental illness that involved chronic self-harm. Death, removal and further transplantation of organs of deceased patients - and an international medical journal writes approvingly about all this!
I can’t imagine anything more dangerous than telling a disabled, mentally ill, desperate person that his death will be of more benefit than his life. This is what happens when society accepts such a toxic idea.
In Switzerland“legalized suicide” clinics also readily serve patients with mental illness, depression, and the disabled. Cases of “couple euthanasia” of elderly spouses who were afraid of becoming widowed and left alone have been recorded. Last year, an elderly Italian woman came to Switzerland to undergo euthanasia because she “fell into depression because she became ugly.” Moreover, the relatives found out about this only when the clinic sent them the woman’s ashes by mail.
In 2016, “thanks” to its Supreme Court Canada, most likely, will join the sad list of states that allow the use of euthanasia in relation to the mentally ill, dying and disabled. According to a recent Canadian court decision, any patient diagnosed with an incurable disease (and this includes those cases of “incurability” when the patient himself refuses treatment) has the right to euthanasia. The court proudly found that psychological pain justifies euthanasia.
When I tell all these stories, give various examples, they often say to me: “ Well, this will definitely never happen in America." But it has already happened! Some of the patients, or rather, victims Jack Kevorkian(famous American doctor (1928–2011) and popularizer of euthanasia, nicknamed " Doctor Death") suffered not from physical ailments, but from mental disorders. One of his patients - Marjorie Wantz– was hospitalized in a psychiatric department: she abused the sleeping pill Halcion, which causes suicidal desires, and complained of pain in the pelvic area. An autopsy showed that she had no physical illnesses. A well-known case occurred in 1996, when 39-year-old Rebecca Badger turned to Dr. Kevorkian to help her take her own life because she believed she had multiple sclerosis. And then the autopsy showed that Badger was physically absolutely healthy. It later turned out that the woman was being treated for alcoholism, suffered from depression and abused painkillers. And these two cases are not the only ones.
Despite the death of these and other people through his fault, Kevorkian's authority was and remains very high, and in 2010 a laudatory film about his life was released, in which the famous actor Al Pacino played the main role.
What conclusions can be drawn about euthanasia based on the facts I have presented?
First, once euthanasia and “physician-assisted suicide” become legal, they do not remain limited initiatives for long. This is not alarmism, not an alarmist assumption, but a conclusion drawn from knowledge of what happened during this time in the Netherlands, Belgium and Switzerland. There is no doubt that once euthanasia gains widespread support - from the public, from the medical community - then seemingly strict regulations aimed at preventing abuse become minor obstacles that can be easily circumvented or ignored.
Secondly, the legalization of euthanasia changes society. Not only does the category of people “eligible” for euthanasia expand, but the rest of society no longer considers such a death to be meaningful. This loss of sensitivity, so to speak, in turn affects people's perception of the moral worth of the seriously ill, disabled and elderly, and perhaps even of themselves.
Thirdly, euthanasia completely distorts medical ethics and undermines the role of doctors, who from persistent fighters for our lives turn into “death providers.”
Fourthly, if a person is unlucky enough to be in the “caste sentenced to death” (that is, he falls into the category of people to whom euthanasia is applied), then his human dignity is very easy to belittled to biological material that can be used “for the good of society” .
These are harsh words, but let's not despair. We have an antidote to the culture of death - and it's called love. We all grow old, get sick, become weaker, and become disabled. Life can be very hard.
Euthanasia raises a fundamental question: Will our civilization retain the moral capacity to provide care and love to those who are going through a difficult period in life, or will we abandon them and condemn them to the lethal injection and the poison pill?
This question is very important, and I believe our moral future depends on the answer to it.”
Wesley Smith
Translated from English by Dmitry Lapa
“The mortal sins are the following: heresy, schism, apostasy from the Christian faith, blasphemy, sorcery and witchcraft, homicide and suicide, fornication, adultery, unnatural prodigal sins, drunkenness, sacrilege, robbery, theft and any cruel inhuman offense. Of the mortal sins, suicide is the only one without repentance; other mortal sins, according to the great, ineffable mercy of God towards fallen humanity, are healed by repentance
."
St. Ignatiy Brianchaninov
An alternative to euthanasia is LOVE in the form of compassion, physical assistance (including pain relief and care), spiritual and prayerful support for the sufferer
In the icon shops of the churches of the city of Barnaul you can purchase a wonderful book " THERE WILL BE NO SEPARATION"Frederike de Graaf (spiritual daughter of Metropolitan Anthony of Sourozh), who conveys practical experience of working with dying patients. This book has already helped many people. Here is an interview with the author with excerpts from the book and chapters from the book
Meeting with Frederike de Graaf, where very difficult questions are raised and resolved:
WHAT IS A CRISIS?
COMPASSION AND SUFFERING,
IS HELP POSSIBLE?
ABOUT DEPRESSION,
ABOUT HOPE AND PATIENCE,
ABOUT THE RESPONSIBILITY OF THE SICK PERSON,
ABOUT SUPPORT DURING THE TRANSITION TO ANOTHER WORLD,
ABOUT OUR FEARS and many others
Frederike de Graaf: "How does the doctor's personality affect the patient's condition?"
“There will be no separation. Life and death through the eyes of a Christian psychologist"
Meeting at the Russian Orthodox University
Nyuta Federmesser: “About the commandments of hospice and all medical institutions in general”
SIMILAR EXPERIENCE OF A DOMESTIC PSYCHOLOGIST,
WORKING IN A HOSPICE
Nyuta Federmesser: “How to grow old in Russia?”
BUT IN REAL MEDICAL PRACTICE IN "CIVILIZED COUNTRIES" SOMETHING DIFFERENT IS HAPPENING!
MEDICAL BIOETHICS APPROVES:
We offer another translated article by a famous American scientist opposing the expansion of euthanasia in the world
practice of domestic medicine
in Barnaul there are the following opportunities for providing palliative care (inpatient and at home)
The diocesan sisterhood named after the holy martyr Grand Duchess Elizabeth was created in the Altai region. About 60 women and three men, with an average age of 45 years, joined it, the Barnaul and Altai diocese of the Russian Orthodox Church reported.
The diocesan sisterhood is based on four years of experience in the parish work of the Mikhailo-Arkhangelsk community of Barnaul at the regional psychiatric hospital. Under the guidance of an experienced confessor, Hieromonk Paisius, the brothers and sisters of mercy provided assistance to hospital patients. To train brothers and sisters of mercy, appropriate courses have been opened at the Barnaul Orthodox Theological School.
“Candidates for the Sisterhood of Charity were selected from among the permanent parishioners of Barnaul churches. Many of them have higher medical and pedagogical education, extensive experience working in medical and social institutions, and most importantly, a sincere desire to work for free for the good of their neighbors and the Church,” the diocese noted.
The plans of the diocesan sisterhood include providing all possible assistance to people who find themselves in difficult life situations. In the future, following Barnaul, parish sisterhoods of mercy will be created in other cities and regions of the region. They are called upon to become assistants to the rectors of churches in organizing interaction between the Church and medical and social state and public institutions.
