Christian News - The Christian Post | Ministry Leader = Speaks of Euthanasia, Actually

From: Subject: Christian News - The Christian Post | Ministry Leader Speaks of Euthanasia, Actually Date: Wed, 21 Jan 2009 12:41:13 +0800 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: multipart/related; type="text/html"; boundary="----=_NextPart_000_0000_01C97BC5.8B43F430" X-MimeOLE: Produced By Microsoft MimeOLE V6.00.2900.3350 This is a multi-part message in MIME format. ------=_NextPart_000_0000_01C97BC5.8B43F430 Content-Type: text/html; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable Content-Location: http://sg.christianpost.com/dbase.php?cat=church&id=2102 Christian News - The Christian Post | Ministry Leader = Speaks of Euthanasia, Actually

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Home > Church=20 >=20 General=20 =

Ministry Leader Speaks of Euthanasia, = Actually

Tuesday, Jan. 20, 2009 Posted: 3:50:00PM = HKT

The three panel = speakers at=20 GCF's Euthanasia Forum held yesterday: Dr Alastair = Campbell,=20 Dr Alex Tang, and Rev Dr Tan Soo Inn. (Photo:=20 CPS)

For the three panel experts = at a=20 Christian Euthanasia forum conducted yesterday, there was no = question about whether the community of believers should = oppose its=20 legalisation - it was more an issue of definition and scope. =

One of them felt that in the midst of extensive = debate=20 euthanasia had lost its original meaning of a 'good death'.=20

Coming against conventional understandings of = euthanasia as=20 refusing treatment, an opportunity to get rid of old folks, = the=20 Advanced Medical Directive, or doctors as killers =96 he = added that=20 doctors have a license only to save =96 Dr Alex Tang, the = Director of=20 the Spiritual Formation Institute, Malaysia, and a = paediatrician at=20 the Johor Specialist Hospital, redefined it in the light of = what=20 Scripture approves.

Citing the figure of Jacob as = the=20 example of someone who had died a good death, Tang pointed = out three=20 characteristics.

=93Jacob accepted his death at the = appointed=20 time,=94 he said, framing physical death as one of the = realities of=20 life on earth.

Secondly, the patriarch was able to = place his=20 life in the context of the ongoing history of God=92s = salvation.=20 Finally, he perceived earthly death as the point of entry = into=20 another life to fulfill God=92s purpose.

Emphasising = that=20 Christians should not cling on to life, Tang used the model = of Jesus=20 Christ, who gave up His life as a redemptive act, and who = also died=20 as an act of surrender.

=93Euthanasia for Christians = is to live=20 well and to die well at the appointed time,=94 he = said.

The=20 forum, entitled Euthanasia: A Christian Perspective, = was=20 organised by the Graduates=92 Christian Fellowship (GCF), an = inter-denominational ministry consisting of professional = groups=20 including doctors, lawyers, teachers, engineers, scientists, = counselors, and marketplace professionals to help Christians = see and=20 reach their workplaces as mission fields, and also provide a = biblical voice via such forums.

For yesterday=92s = talk, which=20 received a room packed with attendants from various = Christian=20 circles, GCF also invited Prof Alastair Campbell, Director = of Centre=20 for Biomedical Ethics at National University Singapore, and = Rev Dr=20 Tan Soo Inn, Chairman and Training Consultant of Graceworks, = and=20 chaplain of the Christian Medical and Dental Fellowship = (CMDF), a=20 sectional group of the fellowship.

Rev Tan, who was = formerly=20 the senior pastor of a large church in Kuala Lumpur, = Malaysia,=20 broadened the debate by bringing in the importance of = hospice and=20 palliative care for terminal patients. In addressing his = topic, he=20 revisited the painful personal experience of caring for a = loved one=20 =96 his wife =96 who suffered from cancer in the early 1990s = and went to=20 be with the Lord some time later.

Tan expressed his = concern=20 that Christians could tend to emphasise theological position = to the=20 extent that they neglect the day-to-day practical life = issues of the=20 care of a suffering, terminal patient who is beyond healing = and=20 recovery.

Recalling his own struggles during his = wife=92s=20 ailment =96 his wife felt she failed her children, while he = felt his=20 world had fallen apart and his son was also burdened with = worry =96 he=20 spoke of the need for Christians to support the hospice = movement,=20 whose fourfold purpose is the relief of patients from pain,=20 psychological and spiritual care for patients so they can = come to=20 terms with and prepare for death, programmes to help = patients live=20 as actively and creatively as possible, promoting autonomy = and=20 self-esteem, and helping families cope during the = patient=92s illness=20 and in bereavement.

On the legalisation of = euthanasia, Tang=20 showed using a case study in the U.S. State of Oregon where = the bill=20 was passed more than a decade ago allowing for Patient = Assisted=20 Suicide that it did not lead to Oregon becoming a =91suicide = capital=92=20 as earlier predicted; out of its large population, only 541 = persons=20 opted for it, and out of that, only 341 actually took the = lethal=20 medication.

More surprisingly, of those who opted for = PAS,=20 only 39 percent articulated fears of being a burden to their = families and communities, and less than three percent took = the=20 option for =91financial=92 reasons.

=93Oregon = didn=92t become a=20 suicide capital,=94 said Tang. =93No other states = followed.=94

The=20 issue became a moot one, according to him, and doctors = focused more=20 on developing palliative care as an alternative, better pain = control, and better diagnosis and treatment of depression, = and=20 better medications with minimal side effects. =

Edmond Chua
edmond@christianpost.com

= Comment=20 on this article

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