Saturday, March 7, 2009

I Have A Question to Ask?!

Do you believe in the quality of life or the sanctity of life?

Ask yourself these questions..

1) Should a pregnant woman that just found out her baby has downs syndrome or is severely handicapped have an abortion?
2) If a baby is born with severe birth defects or a terminal illness, should food and water be withheld to terminate it's life?
3) If a person has a terminal illness should they have the right to die, or have someone choose for them to die?
4) If a person is severely disabled in a car wreck, should they, or someone else have the ability to choose life or death for them?
5) If an older person is unable to function and becomes very ill, should they, or someone else be given the right to choose life or death?

After asking yourselves these questions, think about your answers. Are they based on quality of life - where life is defined as being happy, pleasure filled, productive members of society, and not a burden to others, or are your answers based on the sanctity of life - where every human life, created by God, has purpose and meaning, and is meant to carry out a natural life span?

These were some of the issues discussed today at the 1st Annual Life Conference in Raleigh, North Carolina, and I can honestly say the eyes of my mind and heart were opened as various lies were exposed. I found out that Peter Singer, the most well known utilitarian of our time, and deemed by us pro lifers as the most dangerous man on earth, is the DeCamp Professor of Bioethics at Princeton University's Center for Human Values, and has distinguished between persons and non persons. Persons are beings that feel, reason, have self-awareness, and look forward to a future. So that means fetuses and very impaired human beings are not. (Peter Singer Interviewed) He also states in another article, Peter Singer: Architect of the Culture of Death, that the new tradition he welcomes is founded on a "quality-of-life" ethic, replacing the outgoing morality that is based on the "sanctity of life." Here is what he says - "After ruling our thoughts and our decisions about life and death for nearly two thousand years, the traditional Western ethic has collapsed." He also has a book Rethinking Life and Death. Right now, think about your answers to the previous questions and what they were based on. Quality of life is all about pleasure, happiness, and productivity...as society defines it. What would you say to a blind person? Or a mentally handicapped child? That we must destroy them because they are not capable of happiness? How do we know that a terminally ill person does not have quality of life, or a purpose? Nancy Valko, R.N. who wrote the book Women for Faith and Family, shared a story about her daughter, who was born with downs syndrome and a severe heart problem. She spoke about how the doctor and many others in the medical profession suggested she let the baby die, that the heart was inoperable. But Nancy persevered and researched her daughter's condition. She found new information and was able to present it to her daughter's doctor. He stated he would do the operation, but he would understand also if she made the decision to terminate her baby's life. She was furious that the medical profession had taken on this attitude of death over life. The battle was hard and her baby girl died at 6 months. But Nancy said every life involved with her daughter was changed, even the doctor's. He no longer gave into the "culture of death", and wept uncontrollaby when she died. Although, she lived only 6 months, God had a purpose for her. Nancy summed it up like this...some people can live to be 8o years old and are like big oaks trees, and then others can live 6 months like her daughter and be like a bouquet a flowers, but they both have an impact. We all are created for a reason and a purpose by God.












Dr. Hunter and wife Patricia
Jessica has a videotape of him at an abortion clinic on her blog. (click on Jessica)

The overall attitude of society has become "quality of life", with pleasure and happiness being our god. I even experience that same attitude in my own walk with the Lord at times. I could write a lot more about what was said, but let me tell you about a new found hero of mine, Dr. Johnny Hunter, a Godly, African American Evangelical Pastor that says his greatest accomplishment is being put in jail many times for standing up for the unborn babies. Dr. Hunter preached a message on "When the odds are against us and God is not -WE WIN!" based on 2 Kings 24. He spoke that the time is coming when as Christians we will be persecuted severely, but it will be a good thing! Just like the Lord did to the Christians in the book of Acts. Also in many stories, there was always a remnant left that stood up against the odds, and God would act mightily on their behalf. Sometimes the Lord actually wanted their numbers reduced, as in Gideon's case, just to show how mighty He is and to glorify Himself! That may be us, the pro life movement right now, but we will win! Dr. Hunter is a man who has been through a lot, and is willing to go through a lot more to see just one baby saved. We, my friends, have got to become smart on what is going on in the world. Today was an eye opener for me, and being naive to what the devil is doing is not good. Our society is becoming a culture of death. There are many stories out there of people's ventilator's being unplugged just to get the body organs, and letting people die without giving them a chance at surviving. Nancy Valko is a nurse who can attest to the "quality of life" attitude taking place in the medical field. She has brought many patients back to life, people that were deemed to die. It is absolutely horrific, the attitude of the medical profession, along with our country. So think about your answers to the questions above, what do you really think? And where do those thoughts come from??
Please click on highlighted names and areas in article for more information on the subject, or person!!

4 comments:

Beth in NC said...

Wow Pam, that is scary. This is very informative! Thank you for sharing!

Pam said...

Hey Beth, it is very scary, and to see where this attitude can lead to. I realized that some of my own thinking leaned toward quality of life instead of sanctity of life. It was introduced in the 1800s and has slowly came to fruition. A type of Social Darwinism. It it what Hitler did, deemed the Jews a lesser race. One more note. Dr. Hunter calls abortion womb lynching, and said more of the black race is killed in 3 days of abortion than in the 86 years of known lynching of black people...

Joanne said...

When it comes to children, I have always taken the attitude that life is precious and we have no business deciding whether their life is quality. Sometimes, I envy those who are mentally handicapped because they don't know better and are happier for it (but then I also know that some of them DO know better, and that makes me sad). It also occurred to me as I read your blog that so many of our medical breakthroughs over the last 100+ years have come from people who never gave up on life. We find treatment for illness and disease by treating those who are ill and not by deciding that their life isn't worth it and terminating that life (that's not to say the sick are or should be treated like lab rats!) It is sad, and the scarier part is government-controlled health care. I don't care the rhetoric, if the government has a say in health care, then it will decide who deserves to live, who deserves to die, and who should be treated for what illness. None of us have the right or the ability to make those kinds of choices, no matter how well educated or informed we pretend (or even think) to be.

Pam said...

Thanks Joanne, good points..it makes you wonder just where things are headed...and what groups are going to make all the money...