religion and life

Question 1

describe a case study for involuntary euthanasia:

Answer 1

Dr Harold Shipman was sentenced for the involuntary euthanasia over over 200 mainly elderly people in the UK. he would overdose them, as he believed their quality of life was too low. he claimed that he was ‘putting them out of their misery’, and he believed he was helping the community.

Question 2

what is the UK Government’s attitude to euthanasia?

Answer 2

considered murder. but, there’s an exception.

Question 3

what is the exception to the UK Government’s no euthanasia policy?

Answer 3

• passive euthanasia, ‘pulling the plug’
  withdrawing artificial food and water isn’t considered murder. withdrawing medicine for those who will certainly die but ending their life in peace instead of suffering and pain is not murder.

Question 4

what are some arguments for the legalisation of euthanasia?

Answer 4

• medicine (e.g. oxygen tanks) keep people alive who would otherwise have died. however, if they have a low quality of life, it would be better for them to die.
  -switching off life support machines has already led a form of euthanasia. the NHS cannot afford to keep everyone on life support: costs up to £30,000 a year to keep someone on life support.
• letting people die sooner and before they get to an even worse state lets them die with dignity. their life could be embarrassing/humiliating for them.
• our life should be our own choice. we should have the freedom to decide what we want to do with it.
• prevents suicide attempts.

Question 5

what are some arguments against the legalisation of euthanasia?

Answer 5

• prevents bad relatives persuading or requesting euthanasia of a person to gain inheritance or so they don’t have to look after them anymore. don’t want to put them in a care home (expensive), as this lowers their inheritance.
• a cure might be founf soon after they die, which would have saved the person, so their life would have been wasted.
• it’s the job of a doctor to care for a patient and not give up on them.
• a person may have changed their mind but may feel unable to stop the process as they have already put the process into motion (decided a year ago, now feels uneasy/worried).
• how would we police who is ending life legally and who is just claiming they are?

Question 6

what is the Catholic view against euthanasia?

Answer 6

• life is valuable. suicide is an act of despair and a sin, so we shouldn’t assist them with ending it.
• it is murder and murder is a sin (ten commandments).
• it is up to God alone when we die. do not interfere with God’s omniscient plan.

Question 7

what is the Catholic view in favour of euthanasia?

Answer 7

• shortening someone’s life by giving them lots of painkiller is OK (caring for and helping the patient, which is good. Parable of the Sheep and the Goats). passive euthanasia is acceptable.
• if someone is brain dead then they have had their life ended by God, so life support can be switched off and it’s not a sin. God has already killed the person, so we’re simply ‘playing God’ by keeping them alive.

Question 8

what is the Liberal view against euthanasia?

Answer 8

• switching off life support is ending someone’s life deliberately, therefore passive euthanasia is still bad and wrong.
• believe in the sanctity of life, God gave it, so only he should be able to take it away. to take a life is an attempt to equal yourself with God.

Question 9

what is the Liberal view in favour of euthanasia?

Answer 9

• modern medicine means that we no longer can be sure what God’s plan is. developing medicine to provide euthanasia may have been in God’s plan.
• Jesus teaches us to do the most loving thing for our neighbour. it may be more loving to help them end their life than to make them live through their suffering.

Question 10

what are the Buddhist attitudes towards euthanasia?

Answer 10

• Buddhists believe in ‘ahimsa’ (non-violence)
• speeding up death harms the body (breaking the 5 moral precepts)
• active euthanasia doesn’t relieve dukkha in the long-term
• meditation may help to ease the pain, instead of ending it all
• medical treatment that extends life may cause more pain

Question 11

where is abortion most/least common in the UK, suggest why:

Answer 11

• most common in Newham, a borough of London. more socially accepting of abortion, cost of living is more here so people can’t afford to raise a child here
• least common in Ceredigion, in Wales

Question 12

describe abortion in the UK:

Answer 12

• over half of all under-18 pregnancies end in abortion. the UK is the country in Europe with the most abortions.
• it was legalised in 1967 in the UK.
• under the 1990 Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act, abortion was allowed up to 24 weeks, as long as 2 doctors agreed on one of the 4 reasons:
  1. the woman’s life is in danger because of the pregnancy
  2. risk to women’s physical and mental health
  3. risk the baby will be born with severe mental/physical disabilities
  4. additional child may be affected

Question 13

what are some reasons in favour for abortion?

Answer 13

• the woman may not be ready, may not want the baby, they may be too young
• pregnancy may be affecting woman badly. don’t feel in control, feel scared, confused, lonely, hopeless
• want to settle, go back to education, get a job, be more productive.
• just a clump of cells, not a real human. in the first trimester, completely dependent on mother, so not real human.
• need to care for other kids/family, poverty. planned babies are healthier, as the family can afford to support it.
• stops illegal backstreet abortions.

Question 14

what are some reasons against abortion?

Answer 14

• sense of guilt, feel like you’re killing the actual baby. PTSD, feel like you’ve sinned
• what if it grew up to be a child prodigy?, people regret doing it
• may not have this opportunity again
• waste of life
• father may be overruled in wanting the baby, despite it being half of his genetics
• actual growing baby with life, therefore it’s murder
• not just a routine procedure - violent, murder.
• who decided a disabled person doesn’t have as good a quality of life?

Question 15

what are some Christian views against abortion?

Answer 15

• ‘Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart’. humans are made specially by God.
• Catholics and Evangelical Christians believe life starts at conception. they’re completely against abortion (taught in the CCC), no matter the circumstance.
• the mother and foetus have equal rights to life. the foetus is also a human, so ending its life would be murder.
• many women suffer from trauma due to abortion. could do more harm than good.
• the baby could be adopted when born instead, and have a loving family.

Question 16

for what reasons could a medic refuse to perform an abortion?

Answer 16

• life is Holy, therefore only God has the right to take life.
• abortion is murder, which goes against the 10 commandments.

Question 17

what are some Christian views in favour of abortion?

Answer 17

• other denominations believe that in some circumstances, abortion is acceptable. (e.g. rape, baby having severe disability).
• ‘lesser of the two evils’. compare abortion, and rape which causes 9 months of mental health problems or even death. neither outcome is good, but one is slightly better.
• ‘love thy neighbour’. golden rule.
• in an attempt to save the mother from something like cancer, the death of the foetus must happen: ‘doctrine of the double effect’. (the side effect of something good).
• liberals recognise that as well as sanctity of life, quality of life also matters.

Question 18

what are the Buddhist views against abortion?

Answer 18

• 1st moral precept: abstain from harming living things.
• they see life, through reincarnation, as a continuous flow. abortion disrupts the chain of karma, and prevents the person from living out their karma.

Question 19

what are the Buddhist views in favour of abortion?

Answer 19

• the 5 moral precepts are only guidelines, not rules. the Buddha encouraged Buddhists to apply teachings with sensitivity and flexibility. (my teachings are like a raft).
• Buddha never explicitly banned abortion, unlike Christians.

Question 20

why do Christians believe that God is the creator of the Universe?

Answer 20

• it’s said in the Bible (which is the word of God).
• God is omnipotent and omniscient.
• only God exists outside of time and space.
• nothing can come from nothing, apart from God (he is the uncaused causer).

Question 21

describe the Big Bang Theory:

Answer 21

• can’t fully prove it happened. about 15 billion years ago?
• most Christians (not creationists) favour the idea.
• you can track the ever-expanding Universe through radiation, and we know it will eventually implode one day.
• must have started from a tiny, compressed point, and a single reaction caused the explosion.
• based on the findings of Edwin Hubble (discovered red shift effect. Universe is expanding at a great speed).

Question 22

why might Christians still be accepting of the Big Bang Theory?

Answer 22

they believe God was the one to push those 2 particles together that reacted and caused the explosion, as he’s omniscient and omnipotent. the Bible also predicted the end of the world and Judgement Day, so they believe the implosion of the Universe supports this idea.

Question 23

what analogy did the Buddha use that showed he didn’t think finding the origin of the Universe was important?

Answer 23

• man is hit by a poison arrow, and he would die if the doctor didn’t remove it quick enough. he refused the doctor’s help.
• wanted to know who shot the arrow, what bow they were using …
• before the man could find the answer to his questions, the poison took effect and he died.

Buddha thinks it’s pointless to obsess over these things, and that you’ll die anyway before you find the answer.

Question 24

what are the Buddhist beliefs about the origins of the Universe?

Answer 24

• neither support nor deny the Big Bang. they teach that all things are dependent on conditions (dependent arising) and are within the cycle of samsara.
• Buddhists believe the Universe has no beginning and no cause.
• they believe that Universes come into existence, expand and evolve over time then wither and die, over and over again. one Universe simply replaces the next.
• they can therefore accept the Big Bang Theory (current Universe is simply the replacement of the last one), as it doesn’t state that there was nothing before the Universe.