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The VE Bulletin Excerpts
'No price is too high to pay for the privilege of owning yourself' Rudyard Kipling
Vol 20: No 2 July 2003
Bishop John Shelby SpongAs SAVES' pamphlet Christian Support for Voluntary Euthanasia states,
it is not remarkable that there is a very high level of Christian
support for voluntary euthanasia. However what is remarkable is the
prevailing view that this is not the case. Morgan Polls
consistently reveal overwhelming support from people of all major
denominations (albeit generally not their church hierarchies), and many
eminent theologians have been active in the voluntary euthanasia
movement. One such theologian is the internationally known senior
bishop of the Episcopalian Church in the USA, and Eighth Bishop of
Newark (retired), John Shelby Spong.
In a speech to Hemlock members at the
National Convention of the Hemlock Society in San Diego California in
January 2003, Bishop Spong gave an address entitled Death: A Friend to be Welcomed, not an Enemy to be Defeated.
He stated
I believe that if and when a person arrives at that point in
human existence when death becomes a kinder alternative..then the basic
human right to choose how and when to die should be guaranteed by law
and respected by our communities of faith.
I think this choice should be legal.
I will work, therefore, through the political processes to seek to
create a world where advance directives are obeyed and where physicians
will assist those, who choose to do so, with the ability to die at the
appropriate time. I..will work through the ecclesiastical processes of
my church and all the forces of organised religion to change
consciousness, to embrace new realities…
I see no contradiction between the faith I cherish and principles for which Hemlock stands.
As Rev Dr Andrew Dutney, Principal of
the Parkin Wesley College and Senior Lecturer in theology at Flinders
University, has argued
In
so far as the Christian contribution to the public debate on voluntary
euthanasia matters, it is important that the diversity of sincere
well-informed Christian opinion be acknowledged.
(SAVES
has written to Bishop Spong commending his stance and providing him
with information relating to the SA situation in respect of law reform
for voluntary euthanasia)
References:
1. For Bishop Spong's full report refer to the Hemlock Society website:
http://www.hemlock.org/news/EditNews.asp?NewsCategory=Special+Report+3
2. SAVES pamphlet Christian Support for Voluntary Euthanasia is based on 'Liberalism and Christian Support' a paper by Rev Dr Andrew Dutney in Monash Bioethics Review, Vol 16 No 2 April 1997
Julia Anaf
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