BROWNWOOD, Texas (ABP) — When it comes to questions concerning end-of-life issues, the answers sometimes don't come any easier for Christians than they do for other people.
While each year the Southern Baptist Convention devotes Sunday school lesson material to discussing “the sanctity of life,” a universal viewpoint on topics such as euthanasia and physician-assisted suicide does not exist, said John Ferguson Jr., assistant professor of political science at Howard Payne University and author of Point/Counterpoint: The Right to Die.
“There's not one Christian view, and there's not even just one Baptist view,” he said. “A lot of Baptists differ in their views on the topic and where these lines of differing opinions should be drawn. Some would argue that it is a very Christian thing to support a right to die if it will alleviate pain.”
As Ferguson points out in his book, however, the SBC approved in 2001 a resolution castigating euthanasia.
The strongly worded resolution read: “The messengers to the Southern Baptist Convention meeting … affirm our belief that every human life, including the life of the terminally ill, disabled or clinically depressed patient, is sacred and ought to be protected against unnecessary harm; and be it further resolved, that we find legalized euthanasia immoral ethically, unnecessary medically and unconscionable socially.”
Ferguson's book, written primarily for a secular audience, tries to provide both sides of the argument. It doesn't supply an answer but offers the fuel necessary to power the engines of thought.
“I see a lot of students who are very interested in these topics, and they tend to have a very reflexive reaction because of the views they've heard from others. They haven't given enough thought to these issues to make them their own,” Ferguson said.
As a teacher, he said, he often thought of students while writing the book.
“It's a very personal situation, but a lot of undergrads who have never had to deal with a loved one in this situation have very stringent views,” he said. “But if they have seen a loved one go through a lengthy or painful death process, they are more open to seeing other viewpoints.”
The situation gets more complicated when Christians make public policy based on their personal beliefs of what is right or wrong. Ferguson pointed to the machinations of the legislature and judicial bodies in the Terri Schiavo case as an example of how bad things can get.
When Christians become convinced they are right and all others are wrong, “it doesn't show the gentler side of Christianity for those on either side of the issue,” he said.
Ferguson said he discovered the difficulty of finding an easy answer as he conducted research even before he wrote the book.
“I criticize students for not seeing more than one viewpoint, but this is one subject I hadn't thought very deeply about,” he said. “I discovered that this is a question where there are no quick, easy answers.”
Ferguson doesn't use his book to posit one viewpoint as the right answer concerning the right to die. But he reached one conclusion while writing the book: It's important to put into writing one's wishes concerning a continuation of life when there is little hope for recovery — and do it long before the crisis occurs.
“The problems that arise in this area are because people don't think about it in advance, and it puts tremendous burdens on families and divides families as they try to choose their course,” Ferguson said. “Everyone needs to have written instructions for their family to follow.”
Another piece of advice Ferguson offered was that churches be careful dealing with right-to-life issues in Sunday school and sermons.
“I am sometimes concerned with how churches deal with these issues,” he said. “The church is to be a place of healing, and these right-to-life Sundays can be very divisive and hurtful to families who have had to make very difficult decisions.”
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— This story is the third of a three-part series on Christianity and bioethics.
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