Pope says to "accept death at hour chosen by God"

The euthanasia controversy has come up in the news once again.

Pope says to "accept death at the hour chosen by God"

People must accept death at “the hour chosen by God,” Pope Benedict XVI told ailing pilgrims Monday in an anti-euthanasia message at Lourdes, the shrine that draws the desperate, sick and dying.

So, grown and supposedly intelligent people believe that a magical being sits at a magical control center and chooses who is going to die and how, all-the-while listening to and answering prayers of billions of people, controlling the path of storms and natural disasters all over the planet and deciding who will escape injury and who will be hurt or die, blessing football teams, choosing which sexy rock star or pants-falling-down rapper should win an MTV award, controlling the elements of the universe all the other innumerable things that believers give credit to their imaginary friend for.

I am not so certain how I feel about euthanasia yet, but what I do know is that often when people die it is NOT “their time” as when people are murdered, young soldiers killed in wars, innocent civilians caught in the crossfire. When helpless and infants are brutally beaten by their own parents or trusted caretakers, that is the plan of an awesome god? If a murderer kills another person, isn’t he, according to the Pope, doing what God chooses? The lack of logic of god believers boggles my mind.

The ancient Greek definition of Euthanasia literally means “good death”. It is the ending of a life in a painless and peaceful manner.

From Wiki:

As of 2008, some forms of euthanasia are legal in Belgium,[1] Luxemburg,[2] The Netherlands,[1] Switzerland,[1] the U.S. state of Oregon,[3], the Autonomous Community of Andalusia (Spain)[4][5] and Thailand.[6]

Opinions on euthanasia vary, Some, like the Catholic church and pro-lifers call it murderous, while many people consider it merciful and the right choice for someone with a terminal illness who is in pain and will not get better. Controversy arises from the moral aspects concerning with the choosing to take one’s life, and doctors like Kevorkian and others who assist in these suicides are considered “evil”. But the Pope and others who believe that only their god can take a life have nothing to say about a god who “chooses the hour” of a young person’s death at the hand of a perverted psychopath. Only God can choose to cause a spontaneous abortion or a baby born deformed and without a brain, or like my first child and many other mothers whose child was born dead after a full-term otherwise healthy pregnancy.

There are many reasons for voluntary euthanasia, and even more reasons against voluntary euthanasia. The ethical debate is complicated with many good points from either side, but the religious ones are quite illogical and unreasonable. While some are afraid of potential abuse of euthanasia, many people feel that it should be a decision of the patient and family members and not the government or the priests to decide that a terminally ill person should continue to suffer to an agonizing end. But the whole argument about “god choosing our time” is ludicrous.