Case Study of Death and Dying

Introduction

Christianity has always been a good religion that is well-known worldwide for the proper teachings that promote morals, general good behavior, and uprightness in the Society. It, therefore, has several teachings in all spheres of life beginning from the life of a man from childhood till adulthood, not forgetting the rites in between that our marriage and finally death. The world has its own perspective concerning the death of a man, so do the Christian Religion, which usually draws their references from the bible and other spiritual books that they use to study the Christian virtues. According to Bioeth, 1997), he says that, with reference to the Christian view of life and death, life is a special gift from God that requires a lot of stewardship and care to be lived to its best and in order for one to enjoy a healthy life then the person has to follow the required health principles that lead to that and this calls for responsibility. He further says that after death, there is an awaited life beyond the one on earth if one dies a Christian and that's life after resurrection. Again, in the biblical view of life, Apostle Paul says that it's God who gives life, breath and everything else to man (Acts 17:24-25) and the same bible talks of its view and stand on death and it's clear that it came about after the fall of man in sin and that it was not a natural part of man (Genesis 2:17).

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Thereafter, men started dying but through various ways; with different causes. While some were killed like the first man who died, others died of diseases and illnesses. Moreover, while some men genuinely died due to genuine reasons, some committed suicide or ordered to be killed by fellows in order to escape pain or even lack of the courage to withstand shame, like in the case of the death of King Saul (2 Samuel 1:1-16). That was an instance of an assisted suicide in the bible euthanasia, but it was punished by killing the man who did it, to mean that it didn't please God.

In spite of this, modern health care practitioners face a lot by meeting various kinds of patients who come from different faith backgrounds and beliefs about life and death. While some of the doctors might have taken oaths during their training that would never allow them to take the life of any patient before their death knocks, most of them are sometimes forced to help a patient commit suicide upon request by the patient or the person responsible for the payment of the hospital bills of the patient, further still, some doctors even do kill the patients without their approval or consent, while this might seem like saving the patient who might be going through a lot of pains, the Christian teachings are against it ((2 Samuel 1:1-16). While some countries like Belgium, The Netherlands and Switzerland already have legal laws that support this act, most especially if it is a voluntary decision, in most countries this act of euthanasia is the crime and can be prosecuted in the Court of Law as equal to a murder case (Christian Nordqvist, 2018).

In George's situation, who we see faced with a lot of sufferings and pains ahead due to his Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) condition, as a human, it would be very hard to really go through the situation alone. But as a Christian and from the book of ( (Acts 14:22), one understands that though one passes through many tribulations, if one remains faithful, honest and true to the faith then they shall one day meet God and all the sufferings and the tribulations shall be gone forever. According to Dobson, (2016) , he explains how suffering prepares one for even more glory thereafter and he quotes and makes references from the book of the Bible (2 Corinthhians4:17-18), that explains how momentary afflictions prepares one for eternal glory. He further adds that where there is a suffering there is always a battle to be fought and one has to fight to win or decline never to fight to lose and he reference the books of (Job 2:9-10), which has the story of Job, who also passed through a lot suffering just because of some illness like in George's example, but never lost hope, instead he fought till he finally won the battle through the assistance of God who never leaves his people; the faithful Christians. On top of this, he also says that suffering is one of the best tools that prepare one for the ministry. For instance, after going through suffering without losing hope, one then gets the right words, courage and the power to speak to others who go through such kind of sufferings after him and this helps in lifting up humanity.

Again, one ought not to fear suffering having in mind that almost everyone in the community suffers in one way or another and therefore according to the book of (Galatians 6:2), the author who's Paul, advocates of caring for each others' burden and sufferings in order to uplift fellows(Heise,2017). So, although the world is really tempting and might easily lure George into looking into other non-Christian solutions, the fallen nature of the world should never bother him at all. According to Dobson, (2016), he encourages one never to be lost into the world through its societal inventions while forgetting the reality of life.

Similarly, in relation to George's view about resurrection in the Christian perspective, if he bases his arguments in the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, who the Christians follow, then he should never lose hope having him in focus. Many books in the bible, which is the book that Christians draw their references from, confirm His death and resurrection and one of them is (2 Timothy 2:8). Therefore, if George has with him the hope of resurrection after death then he would never be troubled when actually the death arrives on his door, this is very possible if he would constantly have in focus the life of Jesus Christ, the founder of Christianity, who was persecuted, passed through suffering, was crucified, died, was buried but finally arose from the dead. Moreover, He promised that he would come for the second time to resurrect the dead in him; those who died believing in him. While some religions never believe in such kind of doctrines, this is the firm perspective of any staunch Christian.

However much life might be frustrating while living in pain or in some kind of disability that one never had since birth and that one might seem a bother to the rest in the society, Christianity values life so much because it is a gift from God (Acts 17:25), and any gift from God is a treasure that should be guarded by every means possible. Therefore being that life is not just a mere accident or occurrence but originates from God, one ought not to terminate it till the time that God desires. Scientists Harvard talked of life human race as a spontaneous generation and still Simpson after some contradictory statements later accepted the complexity of life, and the person behind that complexity is God, who has the right to give life and take it back, everyone else who even attempts to take life is a murderer. In the bible from the book of (Genesis 9:6), Moses wrote that whoever shed the blood of someone shall have his shed too, confirming how illegal it is as a Christian to take away the life of an individual.

On another point in the Christian view about considering euthanasia, which is an assisted suicide with or without the consent of a patient, while it seems to help the patient to avoid the pains and afflictions that he or she might be going through, the Bible (2 Samuel 1:1-16), shuns it with the strongest terms possible and if possible such a person who does it for another is also worth murder, as clearly seen in the case of the man who King Saul requested to take his life, King David later ordered for his killing since God was never pleased. So, while opting for euthanasia would help him avoid the pains and frustrations, he would be committing murder too, which shall be breaking one of the ten commandments of God in the bible.

Immediately after making the decision never to go for euthanasia, it would be appropriate for George to seek the most relevant solutions possible that are in line with the Christian doctrines which would include the use of natural ways of healing which is always referred to as the Medical Missionary Treatment methods and then adopt some kind of feeding habits that would give him more strength, self esteem, power and through prayer, more hopes to keep on living though through struggles rather than prematurely killing himself through euthanasia. This step of faith would be very important since it could as well regenerate his health and he would end up healthy again if the right diet and activities were applied. In this world is where we might see impossibilities but through God, with the Christian approach, it's possible that he could be healed and come back to his normal health (Luke 1:37).

If I were in George's position, as a human I could have the normal man's weakness of losing hope, but being that I too am a Christian, I would unceasingly put my hope and trust in Jesus' holy name that he would heal and even if he doesn't heal me then I would still hope for a life after death; the resurrection of the righteous who dies while believing in Christ Jesus (Acts 14:22). Also, according to he says that one of the best ways to stay strong is to accept the reality of things the way they are, since there are things that one can change and yet there are others that you can't help change but just relax and wait for the one above God to do and let the things be in their right order. He further adds that one has to know that nothing in this life stays in the same situation forever, things do change and no condition is permanent, one present condition should therefore never make one lose hope and yet there could be better days of restoration, healing, and improvement in the future days. Marc also advises that one should always take another step if one fails, if that new step fails too, then he has to take another and the next till a solution is arrived at (Pem, 2018). Again, in every situation of everything that happens, he urges people to always see the positivity rather than the negativity of everything that they find to do. So like in the case of George, I would just be positive that everything shall end well while ignoring all the negative thoughts that it would not bring forth to anything good.

Conclusion

In conclusion, if one is a Christian and is willing to embrace the principles and the laws that are in their doctrines and the bible then it is in order that the person responsible should keenly follow them in every step in life, from childhood till adulthood. The case of George is a very controversial one, while a socialist or someone who's not a Christian would advise him to opt for euthanasia, a true Christian would advise for a persistent in all the trials and temptations, pain and sickness till the end, and that's what I would advise too, since we don't only live in this current world but yearn to live in the one to come thereafter too.

References

Bible, K. J. (1932). Authorized Version. Cambridge Edition. The official King James Bible online: http://www. kingjamesbibleonline. org/Proverbs-29-18.

Dobson, G. (2016). A chaos of delight: science, religion and myth and the shaping of Western thought. Routledge.

Heise, J. (2017). What Does This Mean-The Connection Between Debriefing and Spiritual Growth.

Ingold, T. (2016). Evolution and social life. Routledge.

Kastenbaum, R. (2015). Death, Society and Human Experience (1-download). Routledge.

Pem, S. (2018). Negotiating gross national happiness as community economy: a case study of the Thimphu River.