By Todd E. Brady
Columnist
Not only are preborn babies in danger of losing their lives, but adults can also now crawl inside a Sarco—a coffin shaped assisted suicide pod where they can end their own lives with the push of a button.
Philip Nitschke invented the Sarco. He is a former physician and the head of Exit International, a nonprofit group that advocates for assisted suicide and voluntary euthanasia legislation. After completing the final technical instrument testing, Nitschke found himself in the news last week promoting the machine which offers a “quick death.”
He expects that the Sarco will be used mostly in Switzerland, which allows assisted suicide—as long as the motive is unselfish, and the one providing the opportunity is doing so for “altruistic” reasons. Now, the dictionary defines “altruistic” as “showing a disinterested and selfless concern for the well-being of others.” So, it seems that you can help someone kill themselves as long as you are nice, caring and concerned about others. How kind.
On the Exit International website, the concept of Sarco is presented as “a capsule that could produce a rapid decrease in oxygen level, while maintaining a low CO2 level, (the conditions for a peaceful, even euphoric death). There is a snazzy caption saying “Death is a voyage of sorts . . . Sarco makes it an event to remember?” A video features an Australian lady with black glasses who smilingly looks into the camera and says, “What could be better than having your family and close friends over for lunch, a glass of champagne, wines, and hop into the Sarco and off you go in a peaceful, quick, and safe imaginary flight to Heaven?”
“Heaven?” Is she sure? Well, that’s another column for another day.
Dr. Nitschke states on Exit International’s website, “At Exit, we believe that it is the fundamental human right of every adult of sound mind, to be able to plan for the end of their life in a way that is reliable, peaceful & at a time of their choosing.” Let us understand that there is a difference between planning for the end of life and ending your life.
Nitschke and his ilk’s worldview sees life as an indispensable commodity that serves the individual’s desires.
Christians, on the other hand, realize that life is a gift given by God. In the Bible, we read “So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.” (Genesis 1:27) The Psalmist said that God “formed my inward parts” and “knitted me together in my mother’s womb.” (Psalm 139:13)
Not only is God the one who gives life; He is the one who determines our days. The Psalmist also says, “…in your book were written every one of them, the days that were formed for me.” (Psalm 139:16) Notice that the Psalmist references “the days that were formed for me,” not the days which I chose.
We are to live all the days that God gives us. My participation in life is not a decision which is up to me. God is the One who has given me life, and when He chooses for my life on this earth to come to an end, so be it.
In 1952, Whitaker Chambers wrote his epic account of the Alger Hiss scandal, Witness. In his “Letter to My Children” that opens the memoir, Chambers said “The crisis of the Western World exists to the degree in which is it indifferent to God.”
Society’s indifference to God is killing us.
Todd E. Brady serves as Staff Chaplain and Advanced Funeral Planner at Arrington Funeral Directors. He and his wife, Amy have five sons. You may write to him at tbrady@afgemail.net.
