Ethical Analysis Related to Belief Essay

Introduction

In regards to the universal nature of healthcare professions, working in this field makes someone to encounter people from varied religious and ethical faiths. Religion and moral beliefs significantly influence how patients will make decisions on matters of health, treatment, or life. Basing on George's case, this paper will explore the definition of death from the perceptive of Christian and Buddhist worldviews. The first section will present the seven worldview questions per the two religions. After that, a religious interpretation of George's disease and suffering shall follow. The subsequent part will discuss Georges perspective on life. Next will be the moral justification of voluntary euthanasia based on the religions of choice. The paper will end with a personal view of George's situation.

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Worldview Questions in Christianity and Buddhism

Every researcher who has attempted to define worldview have their accounts of what this concept is. However, the most straightforward definition of worldview is offered by Valk (2012) who states that worldviews are visions of the way of life which are personal and binds believers together. To get the meaning of worldview, seven crucial questions relating to beliefs are answered. In the first place is what prime reality is? Valk also claims that for Christians, God is a supreme being and the prime reality who reveals to His people through the Bible. Buddhist equally believe in a supernatural god-like being with the prime reality of this religion being the ability to achieve the 'nirvana' state (Harvey, 2013). The second question asks what is the nature of the world around us? Sire (2004) says that Christians believe that God conjured world out of nothing. Decisions made by humans are consequential since they impact on the world. Buddhist perception of the world is a material place which causes human suffering. The next question asks what human beings is, with Christians seeing people as a reflection of God on earth and a representation of God's dignity. For Buddhists, humans are impersonal expressions of life who works to escape suffering (Keown, 2016). The fourth question is on what happens after death and Christians believe that each person who dies will either live eternally alongside God in heaven or face lifetime torment in hell. In Buddhism, every living being is reincarnated into another form of an animal following their death. The other question is why humans know things. For Christians, God grants knowledge since he is all-knowing. Sixth is how do people know evil and good with Christians believing that the ten commandments dictate the morality of right and wrong. According to Harvey (2012), Buddhism has no moral absolutes and living in harmony generates positive karma making it possible to achieve nirvana state. Ultimately, in questioning the meaning of human history, Christians believe that God is the hope for life beyond death. Buddhism view human history as a cyclical movement and material world continues without meaning. Time is just an illusion.

Religious Interpretation of George's Malady

Based on the visions of the way of life from Christianity and Buddhism, without a doubt, each presents different interpretations of George's disease and suffering. Christianity views suffering as one of the consequences of man disobedience to God. When Adam and Eve failed to obey God and ate from the tree in the middle of the garden, they were expelled from Eden and hence the fall of humanity. God punished humans by cursing them to suffering on earth (Genesis 1-2, The New King James Version). George's recovery or healing would begin with his understanding of the original sin and restoration through the son of man Jesus Christ. Forgiveness to his sins and renouncing God as his savior would bring an ending to his suffering. The book of Revelation asserts that God will wipe tears out of His people's eyes and bring an end to death.

While this is the case for Christians, according to Yogi (2001) Buddhists have a unique interpretation of diseases. George's condition and suffering are part of life on earth. Diseases are inevitable on earth, and their existence is to bring some form of pain. Consequently, when a person is subjected to illness, they should embrace it and endure consciously. The goal of life in Buddhism is to end suffering through spiritualism. Meditation can address George's condition to achieve optimum spiritual development. In this state, one detaches themselves from the impermanent situation of pain caused by illness.

George's Perspective on His Life

Christians value life and the belief are that life is one of the greatest gifts from God hence sacred. According to the first account of creation, God creates the universe in 5 days and the sixth day, made man out of soils in his likeness and breathed in him life. Relating this to George's value on his life and without ASL, George should uphold strong faith in God and his son Jesus Christ through which he shall receive salivation from suffering in the afterlife. Despite his illness, his convictions should help him persevere and give him strength and courage to go through the temptation.

On the other hand, the Buddhist perspective regards life as a rare privilege with no explicit assertion on who grants it. The belief is that suffering on earth is inevitable yet every individual has the power to upraise themselves from the suffering. The realization of maximum spiritual growth through constant meditation leads someone to self-perfection. Henceforth, creating value in hard situations such as George's leads to one's fulfillment life's most important mission. Continued meditation will eliminate Georges suffering.

Moral Justification on Voluntary Euthanasia

Christianity refutes euthanasia for the sole reason that taking someone's life is against the ten commandments which state "Thou shall not kill" (Exodus 20:13, The New King James Version). God predestines everyone's purpose in life, and it is him who plans when they come into the world and when they shall leave. Death is a stage of life which is spiritually essential and taking life interrupts the process of individuals spirits moving towards God. For this reason, man should respect death as it is God who designed the pattern. Life is holy and the most excellent gift from God so it is only Him who has the rights to take it back. Subsequently, according to Christianity, the morally legitimate option that George has is to maintain his faith until God saves him from suffering by taking his life naturally.

According to Lizardi & Gearing (2010), Buddhism equally disproves euthanasia and considers it suicide. The mission of life is to uplift one's body from the sufferings that are an inevitable part of life on earth. Bringing an end to your life shows incompetency and a failure to achieve life's most celebrated mission. In nonmaleficence, Buddhism places a lot of emphasis on non-harm and individuals have the duty not to harm any living entity. As a result, the intentions of ending one's life is immoral. This is because it interferes with the law of Karma and eventually human beings journey to liberation. As it can be seen above, the only viable option on Georges condition is to meditate through which he can liberate himself from the suffering brought by his illness.

Personal View on George's Situation

There is a familiar quote that asserts that life is what you make it. All along, man is bestowed with the overall task of making decisions that drives their lives to the best or worse. George seems to be a good decision maker based on life achievements he had made before his diagnosis with the disease. There is the belief that it is only you who knows what is best for yourself. While the different religious accounts might consider George's decisions for euthanasia as morally wrong, nobody knows how much pain he is experiencing. Equally, it is hard to judge whether George or his family can afford the high price tag that comes with life support pieces of equipment. For this reason, health practitioners ought to respect George decisions and grant him his wishes of euthanasia.

Conclusion

As evident from the above discussions, people view on death relies heavily on their religious belief. It occurs clear that Christianity and Buddhism both have a standpoint on living and dying. What standout common is the two religions refute euthanasia for the reason the life is purposeful and should not be terminated. So, about George decisions, the two religions oppose his choices in taking life. However, concerning the individual decision, George has the rights to determine what he wants out of his life consequently making his choices for euthanasia justifiable.

References

Harvey, P. (2012). An introduction to Buddhism: Teachings, history and practices. Cambridge University Press.

Harvey, P. (2013). The selfless mind: Personality, consciousness and nirvana in early Buddhism. Routledge.

Keown, D. (2016). The nature of Buddhist ethics. Springer.

Lizardi, D., & Gearing, R. E. (2010). Religion and suicide: Buddhism, Native American and African religions, atheism, and agnosticism. Journal of religion and health, 49(3), 377-384.

Sire, J. (2004). Naming the Elephant: Worldviews as concept. New York: Routledge.

Valk, J. (2012). Chriatianity Through A Worlview Lens. Journal Of Adult Theological Education 9(2), 158-174.

Yogi, P. G. (2001). The Buddha.