Gad, the Catholic Church is dreadful: the most immoral and perfidious religion on Earth besides Islam. It just can’t stop sticking its nose into people’s private lives, and visiting oppression on gays, women, and the many children who have been the victim of the church’s sexual predators. My only consolation is that some day the Church will dwindle to a useless remnant like the human appendix. And it makes me happy that the Vatican knows this, and is desperate to stop its slide into irrelevance.
Yet the off-putting nonsense that spews from the Vatican continues to amaze me. The latest is their pronouncement on—or rather condemnation of—the assisted dying of Brittany Maynard.
Two days ago I wrote about the heartbreaking but courageous decision of Maynard, a 29-year-old American with terminal brain cancer, to end her life by taking barbiturates. She did this to forestall the inevitable but gruesome death that comes from glioblastoma. She was bright, eloquent, and had everything to live for had not an errant tumor invaded her brain. In the end, she had as good a death as one might expect from her illness. Brittany was a role model for everyone in an end-of-life situation
Except, of course, for the Catholic Church.
As The Independent reports, the Vatican is carping about Maynard’s decision. The church, after all, regards suicide, whatever the situation, as sinful, equivalent to murder. Here’s an excerpt from its Declaration on Euthanasia:
Intentionally causing one’s own death, or suicide, is therefore equally as wrong as murder; such an action on the part of a person is to be considered as a rejection of God’s sovereignty and loving plan.
And a 1995 statement by John Paul II declared that those who assist in “euthanasia” can also be guilty of murder. In other words, Maynard and her doctor will go to hell (even though she, at least, wasn’t a Catholic):
I confirm that euthanasia is a grave violation of the law of God, since it is the deliberate and morally unacceptable killing of a human person. This doctrine is based upon the natural law and upon the written word of God, is transmitted by the Church’s Tradition and taught by the ordinary and universal Magisterium. . . Depending on the circumstances, this practice involves the malice proper to suicide or murder.
The Declaration on Euthanasia explains the twisted logic behind the conviction that God wants you to suffer right up to the end:
. . . According to Christian teaching, however, suffering, especially suffering during the last moments of life, has a special place in God’s saving plan; it is in fact a sharing in Christ’s passion and a union with the redeeming sacrifice which He offered in obedience to the Father’s will.
What hogwash: a doctrine, based on a fairy tale, that has caused innumerable people to suffer needlessly. Mother Teresa was the instantiation of this “suffering-is-holy” paradigm.
So, of course, here’s the Church’s reaction to Maynard’s sensible decision (from the Independent). The stupidity is embodied in the quote I’ve bolded:
The Vatican has condemned cancer patient Brittany Maynard’s decision to end her life, describing assisted suicide as an “absurdity”.
. . . the Vatican’s bioethics chief told the ANSA news agency that “dignity is something other than putting an end to one’s own life” and branded assisted suicide “reprehensible”.
Monsignor Ignacio Carrasco de Paula, head of the Pontifical Academy for Life, said: “This woman (took her own life) thinking she would die with dignity, but this is the error.
“Suicide is not a good thing, it is a bad thing because it is saying no to life and to everything it means with respect to our mission in the world and towards those around us.”
Father Carrasco de Paula cautioned that he was not judging individuals “but the gesture in and of itself should be condemned”.
In the case of Brittany Maynard, it was indeed saying “no” not to life, but life with intractable suffering—an existence no longer worth living. And what, exactly, would have been her “mission” in the last few weeks of intractable pain? To re-enact the sufferings of Jesus? That, in fact, is the Vatican’s ridiculous answer.
There aren’t yet many readers’ comments, but most of them are supportive, like this one:
But of course we also have the benighted, who can’t take the trouble to find out the facts without adding their two cents’ worth:
h/t: Grania
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Me, too.
….me three…..
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What a bunch of arrogant self-righteous bastards they are! How dare they appropriate this poor woman for their perverted ends – namely that they waqnt to be the controllers who keep charge of end of life care so that they can feel smug self-satisfaction.
Grrrr….
Brittany Murphy, we salute you.
Sorry – Brittany Maynard. (no idea where the Murphy came from…!)
Probably from the third to last paragraph.
Sorry, I screwed up a few times. Brittany Murphy was, as I recall, an actress who died of an overdose about a year ago. I got the names confused, but have corrected them all in the post.
I’m sure the Murphy mistrake must have come from none other than Saint Muphry hisself.
b&
LOL at first I thought it was a Murphy’s Law joke then I realized you probably fixed it and read the article on the Web site.
What a disgraceful insult to this poor girl and her family. It’s none of anyone else’s business what she did, never mind an interfering and pointless church. Stay out of it you anachronistic and pernicious bullies.
You are correct on all counts — the Catholic Church is a pathetic and poor excuse for a religion, as if there was a good one.
God loves to watch us suffer and we can only hope for a painful death and then maybe a more painful after death.
The rubbish gets very deep and the evidence so shallow it can not be seen or heard.
“such an action on the part of a person is to be considered as a rejection of God’s sovereignty and loving plan.”
LOVING?????????????
Power – it’s all about power.
I am so happy and grateful to be an atheist.
Don’t you know that it was part of a “loving plan” for six million to die in the Holocaust or for a quarter of a million people to die from a single tsunami event in 2004 (just to take two arbitrary examples)? Catholics have no trouble with all this because they gladly worship a deity whose loving plan involved drowning every child on Earth at one point.
Of course, God’s plan is also so mysterious (as well as loving!) that it closely resembles the plan of a being that doesn’t exist.
Apparently Its sovereign and loving plan for this woman was an terrible death. Perhaps God needs to learn that hitting is not a sign of affection.
Hebrews 12:6: “For whom the Lord loves he chastens, and scourges every son whom he receives.”
He’s the Adrian Peterson of deities.
Yep. If God’s plan is for me to die in prolonged agony then **** God and **** his “loving plan”.
****s.
#@&*%^??<!! the church and their pukeworthy pronouncements.
Vatican…bastion of pure evilness. It a dream of mine that the ghosts of all aborted fetuses possess the souls of every citizen within its borders. Oh wait, maybe that’s already happened.
“. . . According to Christian teaching, however, suffering, especially suffering during the last moments of life, has a special place in God’s saving plan; it is in fact a sharing in Christ’s passion and a union with the redeeming sacrifice which He offered in obedience to the Father’s will.”
Has the Vatican called for the end of palliative care for all terminally ill people yet?
Despicable death cult!
Why don’t the old popes, when near the end, have themselves tortured to death? I would at least be willing to accept that they back up their words with deeds.
Crucify them!
It’s why I never felt very bad for Brébeuf. My jerk of an elementary school teacher, a practising Presbyterian, used to describe the natives as “savages” and read some of the account of Brébeuf’s torture to show us what savages they were. All this teacher did is make me realize what a sick, racist he was and right from the start, I thought it horrible that people had religion forced on them.
A wonderful idea, a show of faith. But they lost me when the pope had to have a *bulllet-proof* popemobile.
I bet that the Pope has used painkillers for toothache. Sharing in Christ’s passion, my ass..
They don’t want to have to burden The Virgin Mary’s hand with pesky tasks like guiding bullets.
Perhaps she is becoming a vestigial virgin…
“Has the Vatican called for the end of palliative care for all terminally ill people yet?”
Zinger.
Why have anesthetics for surgery or dental work? Do these “gruesome elderly virgins” (Hitch) resent women having anesthesia during childbirth?
Actually…. for some in the Independent Fundamental Christian circles this would be a yes, unfortunately.
For some fundamentalists, the logic goes thus:
God decreed that our [that is, women’s] pain would be greatly multiplied in childbirth. For us to sidestep this with anesthetics is to be in rebellion against God, according to some. It’s mostly an outdated view, but there are still some who stick to it
You wrote Murphy instead of Maynard several times in this piece
God = Jesus
God is omniscient.
God knew that Jesus (himself) would die horribly.
Therefore Jesus (a.k.a God) committed suicide.
With God and the Church it’s always been, “do as I say, not as I do.” Hypocrisy, thy name is religion.
I love that bit about this isn’t judging individuals! That’s exactly what it is. You’re going to burn in hell for eternity, but we’re not judging you.
As Jerry mentioned, the embodiment of this was the evil Mother Teresa, who withheld pain relief from her patients so they could know the suffering of Jesus.
Who the f**k do they even think they are to comment on this? So much for the Catholic Church becoming more welcoming and understanding.
Heather, they weren’t her patients.
from Wikiquote bolding by me
She didn’t go to Calcutta to relieve the suffering, she went there to wallow in it.
Permit me to be the first to respond with an happy song with a complex word.
b&
An excellent choice for this, and many other occasions.
Brilliant! Thanks Ben, I needed that after reading this article! 🙂
I think we all might need more than just the Pope Song, but it’s sure a start….
b&
Yeah, a bottle of Johnny Walker helps too. Unfortunately inebriation does not make Catholicism go away, otherwise Catholics would have imploded centuries ago.
According to the Bible (for what it’s worth) Sampson prayed to God to have the strength to kill a few thousand people, including himself. That is terrorist-level suicide. And the church teaches children that Sampson is one of heroes in the Bible. Sick bastards.
Well, Sampson was a murderer and rapist his whole life up to that point. And also a rather dim-witted individual given that he never seemed to catch on that Delilah (who was, you know, a member of the group he’d been killing and raping) just might have reason to hold a grudge against him.
So anyway, he was basically just a thug, which seems rather like the church’s ideal follower.
I’m starting to think the Bible was the National Enquirer of its day.
Reblogged this on hitchens67 Atheism WOW!! Campaign and commented:
Brittany Maynard was an inspiration to all forward thinkers and will be remembered as such. Just because the Pedophile Church condemns her choice does not make it any less heroic for those trying to end their suffering. Personally, I cannot understand why anyone can remain a Catholic after the last 20-30 years of the church being exposed as the very bastion of corruption and heinous shitbaggery! When people tell me that they are Catholic, I have to stifle a snicker due to the absolute idiocy of the claim. By identifying as such, one admits that they have no common sense and that they do not read their history. By openly declaring loyalty to a fraud, one becomes complicit WITH the fraud. P.S Fuck you you Papal bastard in your well travelled ass for daring to speak on something that your pious ass knows absolutely nothing about! Stick to running the great whore church of Revelations instead!
Even if they know none of the history and continue to believe in a god, the fact they bow down to an institution that both enables and protects paedophiles should make them abandon the Catholic Church.
Yes, as Matt Dillahunty from The Atheist Experience puts it, “The Catholic Church is a criminal child raping institution.” and goes on to ask why any self respecting intelligent person can be complicit in this by supporting the Church of Rome.
I’ve repeatedly asked the same question on my Facebook page for years. Nobody ever answers.
Not to worry, that is why people like us are referred to as forward thinkers.
In Dante’s inferno, people who commit suicide are turned into dark trees who are tormented by harpies.
I think Inferno (or a version of it) would make an interesting movie.
Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle wrote a version that was reasonably cinematic (except if filmed it might be tricky to keep the identity of Benito mysterious for any length of time).
I wonder what you have to do to get turned into a harpy! Probably use birth control.
because nothing says love like “I want you to suffer as much as you possibly can.”
disgusting
I don’t understand the idea that we should want to feel what a torture victim felt. He was being tortured. Humans were intentionally inflicting severe pain, and the victims were being kept alive so that they could feel as much suffering as possible (while serving as a warning to others). I’m pretty sure that if the family was able to do so, they would arrange to have the victims killed as an act of mercy. And in the end, Jesus only suffered for a short time – he was crucified, died, buried and resurrected in just three days.
Yet in this case, it’s telling to see which details are flipped and which aren’t. Some patients aren’t facing a few hours of suffering but days or months. If they put up with it, they aren’t going to get a new life, they’ll end up just as dead. Their church, far from trying to show them mercy, are acting as the torturers by trying to extend their suffering. And the torturer isn’t an amoral emperor or another human, it’s often “god” (ie: disease).
If there are parallels with the bible, it’s when Jesus healed the sick. Yes, he didn’t poke out their eyes and break their legs so they could suffer more!
And finally, Jesus allowed his suffering so that others wouldn’t have to. He was tortured & killed to act as the ultimate sacrifice. Isn’t pushing yourself, your children or your fellow church-goers to suffer a way of ignoring or disrespecting that sacrifice?
I don’t get any of this church teaching. It’s cruel and it doesn’t even make internal theological sense.
I think this idea that ‘end-of-life suffering is good’ is simply the natural outgrowth of the theodicy which holds that agony increases faith. It’s the “No Atheist in a Foxhole” argument: your true colors come out when you’re weak, sick, terrified, and mentally incompetent. You scream “God help me!” as if calling your mommy and daddy — and God smiles at your humility.
See? Deep down you KNOW you need God. Horrendous pain breaks down arrogance. You return to the natural state of an infant and grow wise. This is why God permits seemingly pointless pain and suffering. There is a point, and it is love.
Whenever I am tempted to think that religion is just too silly to take seriously, I remember stuff like this and face the fact that no, sometimes it’s actually EVIL.
To adequately express my thoughts would cause me to break the roolz, so I must temper my thoughts…
The Catholic church’s fetishizing of suffering, as embodied by the reprehensible Mother Teresa, is disgusting.
I completely agree with Dean. I can’t write what I’d like to write. The Catholic Church, religion in general, is repulsive.
See #11 above.
For such an occasion as this, I enjoy taking a look via Google maps at the Catholic compound of my youth with its rectory, convent, school, and courtyard to snicker at its decrepit state. Church door locked, school closed, convent empty, and rectory replete with a scandal-ridden, though not lonely, priest.
(Thanks for another spot on post, Jerry.)
Holy Cats! The Catholics calling Brittany’s wise and courageous choice absurd just reminds me how glad I am to have freed myself from the clutches of Christianity (Episcopalianism in my case).
Needless suffering forced on someone against their will is absurd. And criminal.
The moralists have no clue about true compassion and true ethics.
Mark
“… a rejection of God’s sovereignty and loving plan.”
Take your loving plan and shove it up your sadistic ass.
…”equally as wrong as murder??!! Yee gawds, they have no faculties to weigh the morality of things outside of the shadow cast by ‘gods’ plan’. Even if one believes that non-violent and rationally determined suicide is still wrong, how the hell do they equate that with the forceful taking of anothers’ life?
What a bunch of addled brains.
Britanny’s relatives should sue “LaviniaBlossom” for defamation or libel.
I like the person who’s unsure whether it was her choice, as if she hasn’t been personally explaining her own decision for weeks and weeks now. If their burden of proof for their religion were a tenth as high as it were for this woman’s intentions, they’d be a hardcore atheist.
It was so cold hearted of that commenter. To make it sound like her family were all scheming for her death. I don’t know what kind of family that person has to think that’s something that is possible. Clearly he didn’t watch the videos of her family talking about her.
What Brittany did was corpuscide not suicide. She ended her life in preservation of her self, which she valued relatively more. Those committed to the legend of Jesus might note that, with mighty effort, Jesus chose to die on the cross and had the power to do otherwise, as he was taunted to do. In other words, he took the same path that Brittany did; he ended his life in expression of his self. Corpuscide, not suicide. Death of the body, but not of the self. Brittany’s shining self lives on in our memories and guides and inspires us all.
I rather like your take on it.
Thank you.
Opponents of euthanasia and assisted suicide only ever seem to fall into two camps: those who worry about potential abuses (evidence?), and religious nutjobs who claim it offends their god’s interests. In light of that, my hopes weren’t high that the RCC would have anything substantive to say anyway. They’ve long since revealed themselves as drivelling and deluded anachronisms peddling ridiculous fables and nonsense in pretty packaging. What else would you expect?
I don’t exactly like such airy-fairy abstractions as “dignity”, as they seem to obscure more than they reveal, and they can be hijacked by people trading on that vagueness, but it makes more sense to me to call a chosen and carefully reasoned and prepared death “dignified”, almost “civilized”. When you realize death is at your door and there’s no escape, what less traumatic way is there to go out than by making sure you do so on your own terms, with a choice as to how you achieve your final peace of mind on your own terms, and with a chance to leave family and friends on your own terms, with no nasty surprises or violence and distress? And if possible, to do so quietly, perhaps in your sleep, in peace and contentment, free of pain and suffering? That’s the kind of death most people dream of being eligible for, me included.
there is plenty of evidence that the disabled are killed by their caregivers, legal euthanasia or not. Sad story here in Harrisburg where a disabled kid was apparently murdered by his parents, either by neglect or other means. so allowign legal euthanasia and assisted suicide would make little difference to that.
What church did the parents attend?
not sure, that hasn’t seemed to come up in the articles I’ve seen.
That is the beauty of death, oblivion; she is beyond care, beyond reach.
As long as the citizens of right to die states remain vigilant and guard against attempts by the church – or anyone – to change the law; the church’s ignorant braying is just empty noise.
I’ve noticed two things about Catholics who are against a terminally ill person ending their own life: (a) They are “heavy-duty” Catholics (often older) who cling to the church teachings even when such teachings are clearly wrong or of no apparent usefulness to anyone; and (b) They have never gone through watching someone they love suffer needlessly before dying.
I think you’re right.
In terms of “(b)”, my mom died a year ago at 95. I had always been frustrated by her peculiar attitude towards dying… full of semi-religious/spiritual fancies about transitioning to a better place, etc. Then it occurred to me that she had never actually seen anyone die. Sure, she had lost a multitude of family and friends in her many years, but hadn’t really seen someone dying. I’d been there with my own father (her former husband) who died a couple of years before she did. There’s nothing noble or enlightening about the process. In the end (her end), she was lucky I was there for her last days so I could make sure the palliative care was provided.
I’m a strong proponent of the right to assisted suicide.
My dear wife and best friend Isobel died last year from metastasised breast cancer. During the four years following her terminal diagnosis she was an ardent supporter of assisted dying, and we both actively supported changing the law in Scotland to allow this (still a work in progress). Her greatest fear was that she would die in great pain, knowing from experience that most painkillers were ineffective on her. When the time came, I’m happy to say that we were able to achieve a good death for her.
During the campaign for a change in the law the main (possibly only) opposition came from the church, both Catholic and Church of Scotland (with the notable exception of an enlightened minister from Edinburgh). This opposition was frequently disguised as a “slippery slope” argument, or “can we trust the relatives/beneficiaries”, but careful study of those putting forward these “arguments” usually found religion behind them.
In England a similar change in the law tends to be opposed by the unelected C of E bishops in the House of Lords, another good reason for reform of this upper House. An Assisted Dying bill for England is currently moving towards its committee stage, with a demonstration being held on Friday outside Parliament. Polls show that support for assisted dying runs at around 80% in England.
Finally, I’m with Tim Minchin on this.
Two more brave people pursuing compassionate activism in the face of pain and grief. You have my respect, sir.
I don’t think your point (b) is universally applicable, but it is very often true. Nineteen years ago, one of my older brothers died in a Catholic hospital and the nurses there held to none of the official Catholic bullshit. He was 44 years old and was brain-dead after a prolonged period of oxygen deprivation connected with emphysema. There was no Terry Schaivo style circus no bullshit “God’s plan” bullshit – they acted like compassionate professionals and didn’t stint on the morphine dosage.
My father’s biggest concern in watching his father suffer for the last few months of his life was that my grandfather was an atheist and never accepted God’s Grace before he died. Point (a) certainly holds, but I’m not sure (b) does. Even after my grandfather passed away, my father lamented that he doesn’t see any way that he was saved and is probably suffering in Hell. At least he got it half right…
As bad as the idea that the terrible suffering and the loss of one’s self through the ravages of brain cancer are “God’s plan” is the disgustingly incomprehensible idea that such a God is loving God and worthy of being worshipped.
…is a loving God…
Lavinia Blossom is a tragic example of the “only religion can make a good person do bad things” trope. Sad to see religious belief rot the brain of what is probably an otherwise decent human.
The Church is reprehensible. Every once in a while this idea is reinforced by current events. Sad.
Eric MacDonald should top by, I think, and give us his take.
The only hope I see is individual Catholics secretly not listening to these odious leaders just as they don’t listen to them about birth control and pre-marital sex. I really wish they’d leave their horrible church though. I know so many Catholics that hate the Church yet stay with it & have their kids go to Catholic schools.
The problem with that is that, the way the law is written and feared today, individual Catholics (as well as, of course, the rest of us) who help others die with dignity will face murder charges.
You can claim to be a Catholic and use birth control and have premarital sex, and nobody’s going to arrest you (even if the priest will get his jollies from persuading you to tell him every lurid detail). But, Catholic or no, if you help somebody die with dignity, the police are going to lock you up and throw away the key.
b&
Yes, but what is nice is those Catholics come over to our side to help change the laws. In Canada, an Ipsos-Reid poll commissioned by Dying with Dignity Canada showed that 83% of Catholics agree with medically assisted dying/euthanasia and Canada is a majority Catholic country.
Well, helping by way of the ballot box is a good thing. I just wish they’d make that last connection and realize that they’re for everything the Church is against and vice-versa, and leave the fucking motherfuckers the fuck behind once and for all….
b&
Yes, me too. Like I said, I know several Catholics who hate the Church yet remain Catholic and one friend who decided on the Catholic Church because they seem to have a presence all over the world (her answer to me when I asked why she wasn’t a member of a more liberal Christian church after I rejected her assertion that she was a “liberal Catholic” (I think it’s impossible to be such a thing))
I think a “liberal Catholic” is one who is cool with Vatican II and the Mass being celebrated not in Latin but the local language.
b&
I had a huge argument with a Catholic friend about this. She doesn’t see that being a cafeteria Catholic (her lifestyle was about as un-Catholic as it gets) but still throwing money in in the plate at Easter and doing the whole Pope thing when he was in London is harmful.
I tried to explain that by putting your name on the line and money in the pot is reinforcing all of those things that she is actually against. On, say, contraception – she’s pro that (and pro-choice) but seemed not to get that even though she ignores the RCC instruction that it doesn’t matter what their line is.
Didn’t end well, to be honest. Irish Catholic family, and they do guilt really well…
“My only consolation is that some day the Church will dwindle to a useless remnant …”
It is already happening. In recent Europe trips, I visited a church converted to an indoor climbing wall centre in Glasgow and a church converted to a bookstore in Masstricht. We can make great use of the architecture!
On our way to our holiday destination, we stop of for lunch at a church converted into a pizza parlour. Come in and try our giant wafers!
A few years back I was close to living in a church converted into apartments. Fantastic high ceilings and the gothic windows were awesome.
Does the church issue such a full and verbose condemnation every time prisoner is executed? Or every time a non-combatant (or a combatant, for that matter) is killed in a military operation? Maybe it does and I don’t hear about it – I wouldn’t take them any more seriously if they did, but it least it would show a glimmer of logical consistency …
To be fair to the Church (and it pains me to do this in this thread, since picking on Brittany Maynard strikes me as an exceptionally ugly thing to do), they probably are reasonably close to consistent here – in that I’m sure some bishop or cardinal or other will publically weigh in to condemn an execution when it’s an execution that has generated a large amount of publicity. And I suppose this is a reasonable enough rule of thumb: only publically comment on those cases that are in the public domain already anyway.
I don’t know for sure, but I think it likely that Carrasco de Paula would have commented on a well-publicised execution. And what he would have had to say in that case may even, who knows, have made sense. Of course, this doesn’t make what he had to say in this case any less silly or nasty.
“Church will dwindle to a useless remnant like the human appendix”
Unfortunately Jerry, I think it already has – The RCC has no critical functionality in society but it can still fester and burst forth spewing its putrescence harming the rest of us.
My mother was in a car accident yesterday, totaled her vehicle but she walked away largely unscathed, save some minor scratches. She thanked God and Jesus, but not the engineers and scientists who have improved vehicle safety to the point where what were once fatal accidents are often now just an inconvenience.
A God who can intervene in our lives like this, but who sits silently by as a person dies a tortuous and painful death while still in the prime of her youth is not worthy of worship, even if he were real. To top it off, for ending this suffering, now she gets to suffer even more, for all of eternity! A celestial North Korea indeed.
I’m glad your mom is okay. I had a relative proclaim something similar. She saw a guy miss her car and hit another car. She claimed that her “guardian angel” was looking over her. She made the rookie mistake of posting this on Facebook, which gave me the opportunity to comment, “wow, I wonder why your guardian angel hated those people in the other car so much”. Bam!
Oh yes, and of course the accidents that end up with deaths in both vehicles are just that wacky God and his mysterious ways…
Did you get a forthright, sincere response to that from her?
No, she didn’t respond. My relatives fear me when I call them on their FB stupidity. I’ve corrected them about atheists too.
Don’t tell me you’ve told them we don’t actually eat babies…?
b&
We don’t?
Oh hell no, why do you think they are afraid of me?
Good! As you well know, we have standards (as well as impressions) that must be preserved.
Reminds me…I ran across a new recipe for basil baby that I’ve been meaning to try out….
b&
Yeah, she just went to Facebook with it too. One big God/Jesus lovefest. I was the first to inquire how the other person in the accident is doing. I suspect my Mom neither knows nor cares as she is too busy congratulating herself over how the Creator of the Universe is protecting his faithful servant. Supreme arrogance masquerading as humility…
Not only is he judging individuals, but in his haste to rule on “the gesture in and of itself” he’s failing to consider circumstances. Brittany Maynards was NOT committing “suicide” — she wanted to live. But she didn’t have that option. Her options were “die easily now” or “die hard pretty damn soon.”
And no, intense agony doesn’t make you love God more. It only looks that way to the people listening to the screaming and watching the contortions and using their “faith” to interpret it all as happy happy, if we but knew.
Ghouls.
I have a gesture for Carrasco de Paula that he’s welcome to condemn.
:-/
Oh, this is just too easy:
‘I confirm that catholic declaration is a grave violation of common decency, since it is the deliberate and morally unacceptable pronouncement on another human.’
There are many other unseen, unheralded assisted deaths, why is this one any different If the media had left this family alone this farce would not be happening.
The percentage of people choosing euthanasia is rising, e.g. “figures from Belgium revealed that doctors there are killing an average of five people every day by euthanasia” I have heard that this is not unique and I would not be surprised. Switching off life support is quite common. The catholic church better get use to it, but of course this is not in their best interest along with opposing groups of the ‘slippery slopes’ variety.
Personally, I had young women friend in the mid seventies who chose not to take medication as she wanted to remain aware, braved the pain and died within six months. Not a word from the Pope.
“According to Christian teaching, however, suffering, especially suffering during the last moments of life, has a special place in God’s saving plan; it is in fact a sharing in Christ’s passion and a union with the redeeming sacrifice which He offered in obedience to the Father’s will.”
In which case all good catholics will realise that consulting a doctor and taking medicine is trying to thwart gods will and they will desist immediately and suffer as god requires of them.
Christianity, a sadomasochistic death cult indeed.
I still think Jeebus, if he was real, didn’t feel a thing, because he was magic, he just played it up for the story.
Firstly, fuck Monsignor Ignacio Carrasco de Paula, and any other disgraceful cretins who are stupid enough to make statements like that.
Now that’s out of the way…
I think this fetish about suffering probably originated in mediaeval times when medical ‘remedies’ were universally ineffective and the prospect of more credits in the afterlife was some consolation to the dying. In other words it had some practical value.
Now, of course, medicine can do vastly more, and even when it can’t cure it can at least provide a painless death. So those old beliefs are as obsolete as witch trials and have become as evil, it’s just that some of the pillocks in the RCC haven’t realised it yet.
“My only consolation is that some day the Church will dwindle to a useless remnant …”
The largest sectarian religious group in North America are the Catholics and the second largest religious group in are the ex-Catholics. The details are at: http://ncronline.org/news/faith-parish/had-it-catholics
Excerp:
“The adult population of the United States was 228.1 million in 2008. So if one in 10 U.S. adults were former Catholics, that 22.8 million would make ex-Catholics, if one considered them a denomination, the second-largest in the country behind Catholics, who list 68.1 million members, according to the National Council of Churches’ 2010 Yearbook of American and Canadian Churches. The ex-Catholics would far outnumber the next largest denomination, Southern Baptists, who claim 16.2 million adherents.”
“I think this fetish about suffering probably originated in mediaeval times when medical ‘remedies’ were universally ineffective and the prospect of more credits in the afterlife was some consolation to the dying. In other words it had some practical value.”
Actually, self flagellation and scourging is still done by many Catholics, both inside and outside the Catholic church. And it is a trivial exercise to find Catholic apologists still defending it. Once people give up their ability to use critical reasoning there really are no lower limits to their irrationalism. Calling the Catholic church depraved is really a gross understatement.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Self-flagellation
http://forums.catholic.com/showthread.php?t=621927
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/magazine/8375174.stm
http://www.biblebelievers.org.au/nun.htm
Ah, good old Catholic Answers Forums. Anytime I’m deluded into thinking that there’s not a large contingent of batshit crazy beliefs in the Church and perhaps they’re modernizing, I head over there. It’s the biggest Catholic Forum on Earth and views like what you posted are not uncommon. Once in awhile, I join in a conversation as a form of mental self-flagellation. 😉
Isn’t martyrdom suicide? Why should anyone sacrifice himself for an ill-defined, self-contradictory deity who is depicted as omnipotent? A religion that would endorse martyrdom is reprehensible.
Carrasco de Paula? Hmmm, carrasco means executioner or torturer in Portuguese. Guess he’d like to live up to his name.
Does the Catholic leadership have no idea that their followers in developed nations don’t even bother listening to them anymore? Of the Catholics I know, the ones who ignored the revelation that the organized Church is, in essence, an organized global child prostitution ring, did so because they were already ignoring everything else coming from or pertaining to the Church.
Why should the leadership give a damn, so long as the “followers” keep providing them with steady supplies of money as well as children for their rape racket?
b&