Yesterday, the province of Quebec passed a law legalizing euthanasia for adults in their province. Even though it violates Canadian federal law. It was barely covered in the news because of a shooter on the loose in Moncton.
I’ve never felt so hopeless for humanity, especially in Canada where things like shooting sprees just don’t happen. Today is the 70th anniversary of D-Day. The beginning of the end of the 2nd World War. I can’t help but think that all that those soldiers fought for was in vain. How much have things really changed?
Sure, Hitler is dead and the Nazis didn’t take over Europe. But Hitler’s politics, his belief what he was fighting for. That didn’t die with him. Hitler was about creating a master race. He was all about eugenics and getting rid of who he declared as undesirable. And 70 years on, as we celebrate the triumph at D-Day we still see strains of the eugenics in our world. I generally avoid bring up Hitler, or the Nazis in arguments because no one ever takes it seriously, but it this case it seems so appropriate.
Euthanasia is all about getting rid of undesirables, those that are damaged in some way. That we see as less than perfect who don’t deserve to live. Sure we package it up into pretty language by saying we are easing their pain and it will only been in extreme cases when palliative care just isn’t good enough. But this is an illusion, it is only a matter of time before we turn into Belgium, or into the Netherlands. In 2002, Belgium legalized euthanasia for terminal patients in extreme pain. Recently they legalized euthanasia at all ages. Including children.
And studies have shown that doctors often euthanize patients without patients explicit request. So the shiny package of euthanasia is a slope that can lead to worse things. According to the report I’ve linked to, 52% of men over 80 didn’t explicitly request it. So someone made the decision to end someone else’s life. Which is murder. But now it is legalized murder.
Murder is wrong. Everyone knows this. So what do we have to do to start to see change in our world. How can we keep fighting a battle when it seems like we are losing all the time. How can we get better when everything just keeps falling apart.
Am I on the wrong side of things? Sometimes I feel like I am. Because it is hard being on this side of the debate. It is hard being on the side of truth, dignity and life when everything is pushing back. I always thought the culture of death was an overblown exaggeration but I’m not sure anymore. And as much as I’d love to give up the fight, I know that I can’t. Being on the side of truth is never easy. We have to have faith that things will change. And, as Arthur Weasley says in the 5th Harry Potter movie, “truth will out”. Trust in truth and right will win. But we have to have faith.
We have to have faith, but we also have to change the things we can. We have to stand up and fight back. We need to hope and pray that things we can’t control will change. We have to hope and pray for conversions of heart by being leading, loving examples. We can never compromise but lead with charity and love.
And we need to trust. We need to trust in Truth and trust in the natural law. That people will start to see that violating life at any stage is an offense to all of us.
And when we have legalized murder in the form euthanasia and abortion, it is easier and easier for people to kill others. Murderers can start using arguments that abortionists and euthanasia doctors use. That person was an inconvenience so I killed them or that person was trampling on my right to freedom, so I killed them. They may not get away with killing their neighbour for that reason. But an unborn child or an elderly relative, it is legal.
And until this do change, I pray. I pray like crazy. And hope. And trust. And have faith. Because there is not thing else to hold on to. Everything else has failed. The Church has always remained as a beacon of life in a dark world.
And that is why the Church will never change, and always remain. Because no other organization holds up life and human dignity as much as the Catholic Church. And the Church offers hope. And with out life and hope, what else have we got?
Catholic Ginger 