Tuesday, April 05, 2005
DYING IN PEACE?!?
The Pope's refusal to return to the hospital during his final days (and the Terri Schiavo case) have caused a continuing minor debate on how people submit to death. The pontiff's choice was to die simply and peacefully in his Vatican apartment, surrounded by members of his inner circle. No elaborate hospital technology. No feeding tube through the stomach. Nothing to prolong his life. This brings up the moral debate between preserving life using medical technology or simply letting go. Eunice told me Friday night that she believes strongly in preserving life at all costs. If God allows ventilators and feeding tubes to be in this world, she wants any and all of those things to prolong her life. Anything less than that would be considered trying to "play God" and not trusting in the things God has provided. I disagreed, noting that if I were suffering (as I'm sure the Pope was) or was in a coma and would never recover, I would sign a Do Not resuscitate order. I also mentioned that working in a hospital for years and having a grandmother who was in a coma for months have changed my views. In general, you DO want to preserve life, but it's difficult to see them suffer and you want what's best for them. Besides, sometimes using ventilators or feeding tubes does more damage to the person than good. After debating back and forth, she still stuck by her answer of, "You're trying to play God. Your life is NOT your life." I'm a bad debater so I'll stick to what Father Thomas Reese, a theologian, said about the pope's decision to die peacefully. "After all the controversy that surrounded the Terri Schiavo death, some people might get a the impression that according to Catholic teaching you hold on to life no matter what, to the last possible moment. But ... if you are dying, you don't have to take every medical procedure to prolong your life another day, another month. At some point you can accept that you are dying as God's will and return to the Father."
The Pope's refusal to return to the hospital during his final days (and the Terri Schiavo case) have caused a continuing minor debate on how people submit to death. The pontiff's choice was to die simply and peacefully in his Vatican apartment, surrounded by members of his inner circle. No elaborate hospital technology. No feeding tube through the stomach. Nothing to prolong his life. This brings up the moral debate between preserving life using medical technology or simply letting go. Eunice told me Friday night that she believes strongly in preserving life at all costs. If God allows ventilators and feeding tubes to be in this world, she wants any and all of those things to prolong her life. Anything less than that would be considered trying to "play God" and not trusting in the things God has provided. I disagreed, noting that if I were suffering (as I'm sure the Pope was) or was in a coma and would never recover, I would sign a Do Not resuscitate order. I also mentioned that working in a hospital for years and having a grandmother who was in a coma for months have changed my views. In general, you DO want to preserve life, but it's difficult to see them suffer and you want what's best for them. Besides, sometimes using ventilators or feeding tubes does more damage to the person than good. After debating back and forth, she still stuck by her answer of, "You're trying to play God. Your life is NOT your life." I'm a bad debater so I'll stick to what Father Thomas Reese, a theologian, said about the pope's decision to die peacefully. "After all the controversy that surrounded the Terri Schiavo death, some people might get a the impression that according to Catholic teaching you hold on to life no matter what, to the last possible moment. But ... if you are dying, you don't have to take every medical procedure to prolong your life another day, another month. At some point you can accept that you are dying as God's will and return to the Father."
Comments:
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I don't know. I guess if you know at that point you know you're definitely going to die, and feel strongly about where you want to be before you go - then the choice seem understandable. Though if I were a family member, I probably would still hope that maybe something can be done for him/her to live.
But if you know you have a chance to live by the advancement of medicine and technology - I wouldn't want to give up just yet. But you know...it's harder to go through it than to talk about it. Though I can already feel how hard it would be to be in that situation.
-jules
But if you know you have a chance to live by the advancement of medicine and technology - I wouldn't want to give up just yet. But you know...it's harder to go through it than to talk about it. Though I can already feel how hard it would be to be in that situation.
-jules
Question that I don't have a good answer to: If we as Christians are so convinced and strongly believe that our physical life and presence on Earth is merely temporary, and that our true home exists in Heaven, then why is it that we still make every available attempt to stay here as long as possible?
-Judy
-Judy
# posted by 
: 12:09 AM
: 12:09 AM
I agree with Vic. Working in the hospital with the sick and dying really gives me a different perspective on this matter. There's a fine line between "preserving life" and "prolonging death".
-Janet
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-Janet
# posted by : 5:20 PM
: 5:20 PMSubscribe to Post Comments [Atom]
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