Watching a Nation Commit Suicide

As a result of legalized euthanasia in the Netherlands over 2300 people are now reported as having been killed by doctors each year. The number rose by 10% last year and is expected to rise again. No one knows how many people actually die in unreported cases. You might think that euthanasia campaigners, having attained their goal of people facing "unbearable suffering" with "no prospect for improvement" being able to choose to die, they would be happy. But of course, they are not - because it is not about suffering people choosing to die sooner rather than later. That was just a talking point to get the public to allow pro-euthanasia legislation to be adopted in the first place. But it was just a wedge, not the endgame.

Now, pro-death activists are calling for legalized euthanasia for anyone over 70 years of age who is just tired of living. Radio Netherlands reports:

"All Dutch people over 70 who feel tired of life should have the right to professional help in ending it, demands a citizens' initiative in the Netherlands called Out of Free Will. It will start collecting signatures on Tuesday in support of this proposed change in Dutch legislation, hoping to place the matter firmly on the parliamentarian agenda. A number of prominent Dutch citizens have come out in support of the initiative, including former ministers and artists, legal scholars and physicians. Under current Dutch law, euthanasia is only legal in cases of “hopeless and unbearable” suffering, which in practice means it is limited to those suffering from serious medical conditions and in considerable pain. Only doctors are allowed to assist in euthanasia. Helping somebody commit suicide who does not meet the qualifications stipulated in the current euthanasia law is illegal. The Netherlands legalised euthanasia in 2001 and is one of the few countries in the world to have done so."

Here is how these pro-death activists envision it working:

"Out of Free Will does not only want to decriminalise these acts, it wants to found a new profession to assist those weary of life in ending it. The group has suggested this task be carried out by specially trained and certified nurses, psychologists or spiritual professionals who could verify the request for assisted suicide in a series of conversations with the patient. Only after a second healthcare professional has confirmed the patient’s death wish, would they be provided with lethal drugs. The same caretaker would finally supervise the patient as he takes them.

The group paints the following scenario: the specialists should ensure that the patient is of sound mind and that their request is explicit, logical and consistent. The assistants must make sure the death wish is more than a rash impulse, the product of depression or the symptom of another illness, and that the patient has considered the consequences of his actions for those who will survive him. Once the patient has taken his own life, the suicide assistant writes a report that can be reviewed by the municipal coroner. The case is then assessed by the regional euthanasia approval commission, which has already been instituted to oversee the application of the current Dutch euthanasia law."

No doctor has yet been prosecuted for breaking the rules under the 2001 legislation and it is unofficially acknowledged that a lot of "looking the other way" goes on. What we see here is the culture of death seeping into the public consciousness and taking possession of the collective mind of the people. Note this comment:

"Former minister and self-described feminist Hédy d’Ancona (72) said arguing for the right to choose one’s time of death was a natural extension of her lifelong battle for emancipation."

So the final act of rebellion and self-assertion against the Creator and Tradition and all the other boogey men that modernist like to conjure up is taking one's own life. Is it any wonder that the Scripture says that "There is a way that seems right to a man, but in the end it leads to death?" (Prov. 14:12)

Modern Western culture is rooted in the assertion of the will of the autonomy of the individual. All else that is specifically modern flows from this - revolution, moral relativism, existentialism etc. What begins with "I think therefore I am" ends with "the will to power." The culture of death, we have to recognize is not an anomaly but the logical outgrowth of the assertion of the will of the individual as higher than natural law, higher than the king, higher than the Bible and higher than God. Yes, the individual can assert himself in this way, but the end result of the process is not life, joy and fulfillment, but rather, despair, fear and death.

If there ever was a society firmly in the grip of the Devil it is that society that believes in death as the answer. This is how the Devil operates. In the Garden, he said "You will not surely die." But Jesus Christ said: "Whoever believes in my shall not die but have eternal life."

When a country chooses to believe the lie, it finds that the slippery slope into a death-dealing, death-loving culture is the result. Strictly speaking, it is a matter of mass psychosis brought on by embracing a lie so long that one loses touch with reality. This is the condition of the Netherlands today. Abortion on demand is not enough. Euthanasia of the incurably ill is not enough. Euthanasia for depressed seniors will not be enough either. Next up is a debate on euthanizing sick infants. I suppose the next logical step might be to euthanize unwanted infants (those the mother changed her mind about too late for abortion or the handicapped.) Then there is the debate over euthanasia for the handicapped and the mentally ill. There is literally no end to the culture of death other than cultural suicide.