Since I have been so lax in posting for the last several months (in fact, it has been almost half a year!!!) I have decided to post something I wrote some time ago, but never posted. Life and death and the line between the two have been on my mind a lot lately, and so this post is still very relevant to me at this time.
__________________________________________________________
A very hot topic in our society today is that of euthenasia or physician assisted suicide. Should people be allowed to request the doctor to put them out of their misery?
There are pros and cons on each side. First of all, nobody wants to go on living in pain, but should that be a reason to kill someone? We put dogs out of their misery when they are dying and are in pain, but should be be able to do the same thing to people? Personally, I think that people's lives are worth so much more than that of any dog. God made people, not animals, in his image and it is people, not animals, that he sent his Son to die for. People and their lives are infinitely precious, but when you do not see it from a spiritual viewpoint and you believe that we are really no better than animals and we evolved through natural selection exactly the same way that the animals did, that argument goes out the window. If you don't believe in God and don't believe that human life is precious since God made it that way, there is no reason to keep people alive.
There is also the argument that each person should have control over not only their life and their health, but also their death. People get to have input in pretty much everything having to do with their health. However, people did not create people. People do not get to choose how or when they come into the world, should they be able to then choose how they leave it?
People say that if a person is mentally ill or is depressed and they want to have their life ended they shouldn't be allowed to. Why? Shouldn't they still have control over their life since it is their's and they are basically animals anyway. Why should we care if they choose to end their own life prematurely. Even if they are not in pain physically, emotional pain can hurt excruciatingly, so shouldn't they be allowed to be put out of their misery, too? They say that those receiving the physician assisted suicide would be going to die anyway, but aren't all people going to die anyway sooner or later? What if they desire for it to be sooner, much sooner, than it most likely would have been if they had allowed it to happen naturally?
Making doctors who are supposed to be physicians and healers into killers is also a disturbing thought. They are supposed to be doing all they can to help you and save your life, not end it. Giving them the power over life and death is not what is supposed to happen. Only God should have that power. Anything that is done to end one's life is final and has eternal consequences. Once you are dead you are dead. There is no turning back once the act is taken. If we are to love others, why are we to take away their life, even if they ask us to. Life is the most precious possession any of us have here on earth. If Bill Gates was told that he could either keep his billions of dollars and die or give it up and live, I am pretty sure that he would choose life. Life is something that no one other than God, the creator and supreme ruler, should be able to take away from a person.
Friday, May 04, 2007
Spiderman 3
Yesterday morning, at approximately 12:06AM, I had the priviledge of being one of the first Americans to see the latest blockbuster, Spiderman 3. I had seen and loved both of its predecessors, so needless to say I had high hopes for this movie. It met and exceeded my expectations.
I am a person who doesn't like to be merely entertained but wants to be challenged and to over think things that aren't supposed to be. Spiderman 3 is one of those movies that may seem like it is just entertainment and a good flick for wasting an afternoon, but as I often do I saw so much more than that.
One of the new villains introduced in the movie was an alien being known as Venom. Venom would latch onto a host as a parasite and would then bring out the worst in that host. When it found Peter Parker, it became his new black Spidey suit. Whenever he would wear the suit he not only became more powerful, he became a rude, obnoxious beast of a man. Normally subdued, nice, friendly Peter suddenly was the man of the hour who would do what he wanted, say what he wanted, and be the last person anyone would want to be around. Likewise, when Peter tore the suit from himself after he became disgusted by his own behavior and saw how it was hurting those both himself and those around him, Venom then latched itself onto photographer Eddie (played by Topher Grace) and brought out his inner evil as well. He would do anything he could to kill Spiderman/Peter Parker. But, contrary to Peter's eventual throw away of Venom and it's evil, Eddie embraced it and, when given the chance to be rid of it, he would not let go and instead held onto it even though it meant his doom and his death. He didn't want to let go of the power that it gave him and the good feeling that he got from it. Peter Parker admitted that it felt good to wear the Venom suit, but he was able to give it up when he realized that it was destroying him. When he tried to save Eddie from his eventual fate, though, Eddie would not listen. It felt too good and gave him too much power that he wasn't ready to get rid of.
Venom could very well be Satan and sin. It latches onto us and brings out the worst in us, a sinful nature that is already innate in us. It destroys us and hurts those around us, and yet it feels good because it means that "we" are in power and we can do whatever we want no matter the consequences. We have two choices of what do do with the venom that infects us: give it up with God's help or keep it and go to our death holding on until the very end. The vibration of the bell and pipes was the only thing that could defeat Venom and keep it in check. Likewise, God is the only one that can save us from our sin and keep it in check. Without him we can work at pulling the sinful suit off as much as we please, but it won't do a thing. Once we pull one part off, it latches onto another part of us. We can't be rid of it.
You never thought Spiderman was so theological, did you?
I am a person who doesn't like to be merely entertained but wants to be challenged and to over think things that aren't supposed to be. Spiderman 3 is one of those movies that may seem like it is just entertainment and a good flick for wasting an afternoon, but as I often do I saw so much more than that.
One of the new villains introduced in the movie was an alien being known as Venom. Venom would latch onto a host as a parasite and would then bring out the worst in that host. When it found Peter Parker, it became his new black Spidey suit. Whenever he would wear the suit he not only became more powerful, he became a rude, obnoxious beast of a man. Normally subdued, nice, friendly Peter suddenly was the man of the hour who would do what he wanted, say what he wanted, and be the last person anyone would want to be around. Likewise, when Peter tore the suit from himself after he became disgusted by his own behavior and saw how it was hurting those both himself and those around him, Venom then latched itself onto photographer Eddie (played by Topher Grace) and brought out his inner evil as well. He would do anything he could to kill Spiderman/Peter Parker. But, contrary to Peter's eventual throw away of Venom and it's evil, Eddie embraced it and, when given the chance to be rid of it, he would not let go and instead held onto it even though it meant his doom and his death. He didn't want to let go of the power that it gave him and the good feeling that he got from it. Peter Parker admitted that it felt good to wear the Venom suit, but he was able to give it up when he realized that it was destroying him. When he tried to save Eddie from his eventual fate, though, Eddie would not listen. It felt too good and gave him too much power that he wasn't ready to get rid of.
Venom could very well be Satan and sin. It latches onto us and brings out the worst in us, a sinful nature that is already innate in us. It destroys us and hurts those around us, and yet it feels good because it means that "we" are in power and we can do whatever we want no matter the consequences. We have two choices of what do do with the venom that infects us: give it up with God's help or keep it and go to our death holding on until the very end. The vibration of the bell and pipes was the only thing that could defeat Venom and keep it in check. Likewise, God is the only one that can save us from our sin and keep it in check. Without him we can work at pulling the sinful suit off as much as we please, but it won't do a thing. Once we pull one part off, it latches onto another part of us. We can't be rid of it.
You never thought Spiderman was so theological, did you?
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
