“Explain the beliefs Christians hold about their responsibility for those at the beginning and end of their lives.”
In this essay, I will discuss how Christians from the two main denominations of Christianity – Roman Catholic and Anglican, believe they should go about caring and being responsible for those at the beginning and end of their lives. Obviously, every Christian believes that they should care and love those in need, as it says in the Ten Commandments “Love thy neighbour”. However, the main differences occur regarding contemporary moral issues – including euthanasia and abortion. Each denomination has a slightly different view on this, which can change their views on the ways we act with those at the beginning and end of their lives.
The first real birth in the bible is in Genesis, when God creates man. “… God created human beings making them to be like himself.” As God created man in his image, we should therefore make sure we are there for those entering the world as God’s gift. “I chose you before I gave you life, and before you were born I selected you to be a prophet to the nations.” (Jeremiah 1:5) This shows how our lives are sacred, and how God is part of all of us. It is therefore important that we should do things in the world as God would want us to. For example, a major world wide topic currently is global warming. By increasing global warming and damaging the environment we are taking for granted the gift of life that God has given us. It is therefore our responsibility to see that something is done about such things as global warming. As a Christian believes that God created the world for us, we should not misuse his gift, and by being the cause of such things as global warming, we are shortening the life of the earth and of its people.
The way that Jesus acts in the Bible is a good example of how a Christian should care for others. For example in Mark’s gospel Jesus’ care for the young can be seen. “Then he took a child and made him stand in front of them. He put his arms round him and said to them, ‘Whoever welcomes in my name one of these children, welcomes me; and whoever welcomes me, welcomes not only me but also the one who sent me.’” (Mark 9:36-37) This shows Christian’s that Jesus accepts everyone into his life, and how we should treat the young as being children of God. Jesus’ love for the dying can also be seen when he calms a storm. “’Teacher, don’t you care that we are about to die?’ … Jesus said to his disciples, “Why are you frightened? Have you no faith?’” This shows how although when we are very close to dying, we should not be afraid, and all we need is the support of others around us to have faith in God.
Nowadays, Christians care for those at the beginning and end of their lives. Some Christian-run support groups have been specifically designed for those in need. For example, there are numerous hospices set up all over the country. Hospices are designed to give palliative care to those at the end of their lives. Palliative care is essentially maximising a person’s quality of life by easing the condition, but not completely curing it. However, recently more drastic ways of ending pain and suffering have become legal. Euthanasia and abortion are two main topics of controversy throughout the world. Euthanasia – “The painless killing of a patient suffering from an incurable disease or in an irreversible coma.” (Oxford dictionary). The word “killing” immediately forces us to recollect the commandment “Do not murder”. Due to this, the Roman Catholic Church states in the “Declaration on Euthanasia” issued in 1980, that Euthanasia under no circumstances should be allowed, as everyone is created by God and offered Christ’s salvation, by receiving euthanasia, one is denying the gift of life, and Christ’s salvation. However, the Church of England’s view on euthanasia is similar, but slightly different. Most Anglicans believe that euthanasia is wrong in most cases, but there are some exceptions where it should be allowed. Therefore, it is clear that Christian’s consider an act such as euthanasia to be very similar to murder, and should not be considered.
Abortion is similar to Euthanasia, in that Roman Catholic’s believe that abortion is wrong in every case, as it is denying the gift of God the right to enter the world, and the Church of England believes that in most cases abortion should not be allowed, although there are some exceptions such as rape where abortion would be allowed. Perhaps one of the greatest speeches spoken against abortion was one of Mother Theresa in Cairo. She said “If a mother can kill her own child, what is there to stop you from killing each other? The only one who has the right to take life is the One who created it.” This shows to us how important life is to God and how important it should be to us as well.
It is clear that Christian’s hold a strong belief about their responsibility towards those at the beginning and end of their lives. Most Christian’s get their beliefs from the Bible, might this be from the story of creation, or from the numerous times that Jesus is seen caring for the ill. Overall Christian’s regard caring for those in need, to be one of the most important parts of life.