Yahoo News On John Paul II and the Euthanasia Question

Yahoo! News has a piece on the former Pope, John Paul II, suggesting that his refusal of medical care to further extend his life may have been culpable, and the Vatican denied this. It reads,

"ROME - A doctor alleged Wednesday that Pope John Paul II violated Catholic teaching against euthanasia by refusing medical care that would have kept him alive longer — a charge immediately dismissed by Vatican officials."

Comments: Kept him alive longer? The guy was one of the longest lasting heads of Rome in several centuries. I think he was 406 when he died. He was formerly a goalie for the Polish national soccer team (and a surprisingly good one), and probably lasted so long because those coaches are really tough on the players -- besides the fact that Romanists drink plenty (unlike Baptists who abstain, for the most part). Episcopalians are the ones who really know what to do with wine glass or whiskey bottle. JP II should have stuck with soccer, and "just said no" to the whole ecclesiastical Halloween thing. Soccer does a whole lot more to improve your life than idolatry.

No, he did not commit euthanasia by refusing extraordinary medical care. No one has the obligation, but may choose the option if available, to go on a life support machine, or do what (in extraordinary ways) other men of other ages could not have done, and which would likely cause great economic hardship on those around him by so opting.

However, by biblical law, once a man DOES opt for this care, you cannot lawfully cease it in some arbitrary fashion, which would likely result in the unlawful termination of his life. That is murder 1, and is also called "Euthanasia" in our day, since many today do not have a stomach for imbibing the truth straightforwardly.

If this seems arbitrary to some because of the "forward only" direction of the ethical requirement (once accepting extreme care, you cannot afterward cut it short), note that there are analogous circumstances in the ethical aspects of one's life, as in marriage. Because it is covenantal, one cannot be REQUIRED to enter the covenant, but once vows are exchanged and the marriage consummated, going backward is culpable as a capital offense (adultery carries the death penalty as a possibility, and willful desertion is grounds for divorce).

Some things only move one direction by persmission, and once bound cannot be reversed. Such is the case with extraordinary medical care and its later removal. Prevention is better than such medical care, however. Soccer and a little wine are the order of the day. And people who drink aloe vera juice are smarter than most.

Live well and die late. And remember, if you don't go to other people's funerals, they won't come to yours.