Euthanasia
Social facts and the Christian view
Euthanasia
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Outcomes:
All must know 3 social facts on euthanasia
Most should discuss and understand the
Christian view on euthanasia
Some could use specialist vocabulary to
explain religious views on Euthanasia
Euthanasia
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The big picture:
Life is sacred, people attitude to the
sacredness of life determines their view
on abortion and euthanasia.
Today: Euthanasia
Euthanasia
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Connector:
You have two minutes to decide as a table if your
friend should die…
He’s been on life support machine for seven months
now and is kept alive by machines, there is a slight
chance of survival but even if she comes back she
will not remember anything…Decide Now! Another
patient needs this life support machine urgently…in
two minutes…… decide
You decide!!!
Euthanasia
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Keywords:
Quality of life’ means being able to think,
communicate with others, feeding yourself, be free
from severe pain etc
Euthanasia: an easy and gentle death
Assisted suicide: providing a person with the
means to commit suicide
Voluntary euthanasia: the situation where
someone dying in pain asks a doctor to end his or
her life painlessly
Non voluntary euthanasia: ending someone’s life
painlessly when they are not able to ask.
Euthanasia
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Why is euthanasia more discussed
nowadays?
Discuss on your table and come up with
more than 5 answers
Social facts and the Christian
view
1- Changes in medical skills and technology mean
that euthanasia is now discussed more.
2-Life-support machines, new medical technology
to keep handicapped babies alive, and better
drugs to fight cancer all mean that people are
being kept alive by medicine – often in agony.
3-The law says nothing can be done by doctors
that could be thought of as euthanasia.
However, recent decisions by the courts have
allowed doctors to switch off life-support
machines and stop feeding patients who are in a
persistent vegetative state.
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Homework
Revise the whole topic of life and death
for next lesson’s end of unit test
Social facts and the Christian
view
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In a brainstorm tell us what you think
religious people might say about
euthanasia
Life is sacred
Quran says you
should not kill
God gave life
10 commandments
Let them die to
re-incarnate!
Religion and
euthanasia
Life support
machine to
be switched
off
Dying in peace
God takes life
Social facts and the Christian
view
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Key fact:
There are various types of euthanasia which are
all aimed at giving an easy death to those
suffering intolerably. It is more of a problem now
because medicine is more likely to keep people
alive for longer.
Social facts and the Christian
view
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All Christians oppose the practice of euthanasia because:
They believe that life is sacred and should only be taken
by God
The Bible says quite clearly that Christians must not
murder (sixth commandment)
There are many statements in the Bible which say that life
and death decisions only belong to God.
Many Church leaders have said that life is sacred and
comes from God, therefore only God can decide when
someone should die
Christians believe that doctors are required to save lives,
not kill, and to allow them to kill people would be giving
them double standards to follow
Social facts and the Christian
view
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If a doctor’s job is to save lives, should doctors
be asked to kill patients with a low quality of
life?
Who decides who is to live and who is to die?
Open class debate! Just raise you hand
and give your opinion.
Social facts and the Christian
view
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However, there are some different attitudes:
1- Most Christians (including Roman Catholics)
accept that doctors should be allowed to give
lots of pain-killing drugs even if they know it
is shortening the patient’s life. They also
believe that expensive treatments need not
be carried out or lengthen the lives of dying
patients.
Social facts and the Christian
view
2- Some Christians do not agree with
switching off life-support machines, but
many Christians believe this must be
allowed when there are no signs of life.
Euthanasia
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Seven things we have all learnt today.