Category Archives: Euthanasia

Anglican Church of Canada publishes more essays on euthanasia

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The Anglican Church of Canada has not made any definitive statements on state sponsored euthanasia or MAID, Medical Assistance in Dying, to use the preferred euphemism. Instead, it has published essays.

Now it has published yet more essays which you can find here. All 234 pages of them.

I haven’t waded through the essays, although I did skim them in the vain hope of finding a statement like:

“The Anglican Church of Canada asserts that life is a God-given gift which only He has the authority to end” or:

“The Anglican Church of Canada believes that a person has the God-given right to end his life for a reason of his own choosing or because he has simply had enough.”

I didn’t see anything like that.

Come to think of it, I don’t particularly care what the ACoC thinks about euthanasia. I suspect no one else does either. And I would like to know how many in the ever-dwindling ACoC flock read all 234 pages.

There is a Journal article here:

The Anglican Church of Canada has published the first round of a collection of essays reckoning with the questions of life, death, faith and dignity surrounding medical assistance in dying (MAID). Faith Seeking Understanding: Medical Assistance in Dying collects thoughts from clergy, caregivers and academics within and adjacent to the Anglican community in a volume available now as a PDF or an ebook through the church’s website. Submissions remain open until Nov. 17 for proposals of further essays or reflections either adding to or responding to the content released in this initial version, reads a note in the collection’s early pages.

This collection represents the church’s first written document on MAID since In Sure and Certain Hope, a document released in 2016, the same year the practise became legal in Canada.

It contains a range of perspectives and questions on MAID from the definitions of freedom, human dignity and self-determination underlying the thinking behind the treatment to whether it is compatible with Anglican beliefs as expressed through liturgy. In their submissions, some authors argue for the church to compassionately embrace the practise while others argue Christians should speak out against it.

More waffle from Archbishop Linda Nicholls on euthanasia

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In 2016 Canada gave the terminally ill the choice to be euthanised.

In 2021 the offer was extended to those who were not terminally ill but have a “grievous and irremediable medical condition” including “psychological suffering that is intolerable”. And, of course, you have to “be eligible for health care services in Canada”, because suicide, like abortion, has become health care.

Mental illness is not considered to be intolerable psychological suffering – yet. It is liable to fall into that category later this year, along with an opportunity for mature minors to take up the invitation if they find themselves overburdened by the stresses and strains of the human condition.

Since life and death is a large part of the business of the church, one might be forgiven for expecting it to have a clear and definitive position on all this. Alas not.

Anglican Primate Linda Nicholl’s manages to muster up some concern about Canada’s eagerness to peddle health-care-death, but that’s about as far as she goes. Perhaps less energy expended in lamenting the climate emergency – or whatever it’s called this week – and more in denouncing our abortion and euthanasia death cults would be more… oh, I don’t know – prophetic.

Read it all here:

I am concerned about these potential extensions of MAID eligibility and the questions they raise. How do we ensure that every individual and family has what is needed to make an informed and accessible choice? In the face of illnesses or challenging disabilities it may be easy to see MAID as a preferable option, especially as it is less costly than providing the community supports that improve quality of life in its last stages, making access to mental health supports readily available, increasing palliative care accessibility and ensuring a circle of support for those whose lives are challenging physically, emotionally or mentally.

My prayer is that we will be willing to work for all that makes life a gift and blessing so that choices are not limited by fear or lack of support. Honest discussion in parishes about MAID are needed to explore the implications of the current change in legislation and any future ones for individuals, families and communities. Pastoral support is essential in whatever path is chosen. And in all aspects, as we walk in the midst of the realities of suffering, we are called in humility to mercy and compassion in the light of God’s love.

Sit softly for you sit on my satire

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Many years ago Malcolm Muggeridge published a collection of essays called “Tread Softly for You Tread on My Jokes”. I still have a yellowing copy on my bookshelf. The title is inspired by a poem by W. B. Yeats and, as I recall, expressed Muggeridge’s frustration when he was editor of Punch at trying to out-parody a civilisation that had already become a parody of itself.

He could not have known that worse was to come.

Here is one of today’s headlines from the CBC who, it seems, are blissfully oblivious to its idiocy:

The pandemic is making it harder to deliver medically assisted death, doctors say
Some doctors say the pandemic is making it harder to provide medically assisted deaths to patients who request them, due to shortages of protective masks and gowns and last-minute scrambles to find places to perform the procedure.

The pandemic also is being cited as the cause of a reported surge in public interest in assisted death.

Suicide Eucharists

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Just as the burgeoning euthanasia industry dons the grim reaper’s cowl before swinging its scythe through an increasing number of Canada’s ageing infirm, so Anglican clerics, eager to keep abreast of the latest in do-it-yourself death, robe up to administer a Suicide Eucharist. A Canadian Anglican variation on the Last Rites: Last Wrongs.

Niagara’s (ex-Niagara now) Michael Bird does it:

Last September, Niagara Anglican,
 the newspaper of the diocese of Niagara, reported that Bishop Michael Bird had released a set of revised guidelines “to ensure pastoral care is available to those who inquire about or qualify for and claim the legal right to medical assistance in dying.”

So does the Diocese of Huron’s Keith Nethery:

“My role, what God has called me to do, is to go and be present…so that people have someone to journey with,” says Canon Keith Nethery.

At last the Anglican Church of Canada has found a way to attract new customers.

Euthanasia and the bishop

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I am reposting this article because Andrew Asbil, the clergyman who participated in  euthanising the couple, has just been voted the next bishop of the Diocese of Toronto.

I remember a time when for a church to be “prophetic” it had to stand against the tide of the culture, against the immorality of the state, against the prevailing delusions that beguile our impressionable egos. Not so today. Because same-sex marriage is legal, the church has embraced it and has assigned committees loaded with waffling liberal clergy to contort Scripture to their collective will. It is much the same for abortion. And now euthanasia.

On March 27 Mr. and Mrs Brickenden committed suicide together with the help of a doctor:

On March 27, George and Shirley died holding hands in their own bed in a Toronto retirement home.
Their children, who watched from the foot of the bed, say the couple drew their last breaths at almost the same moment.
They had been married for just shy of 73 years.
The Brickendens are one of the few couples in Canada to receive a doctor-assisted death together, and the first to speak about it publicly.

The local vicar was on hand, perhaps to deliver a sermon in hope of hastening the couple’s exit:

Present were Pamela, Saxe and Angela, their spouses, the two doctors and Andrew Asbil, the Dean of Toronto’s St. James Cathedral, who later told me he had “without hesitation” supported the couple’s wish for their funeral to be held at the Anglican church.

March 27 was Maundy Thursday when we remember Jesus’ Last Supper before his excruciating death on Good Friday, an unpleasantness that he would be pastorally encouraged to sidestep by today’s Dying with Dignity Anglicanism.

The Anglican Church of Canada has produced a report in which it comes down firmly on the side of indecision. There is also a study guide to encourage parishes to have indecisive conversations about the church’s indecision.

It is important to remember that In Sure and Certain Hope was not intended as a contribution to the debate about the moral appropriateness of medically-assisted dying. The changed legal landscape has moved us beyond that to a point where many of us are likely to know, love and care for those who will face difficult decisions and may choose to avail themselves of medically-assisted dying or to reject such an option.

How long will it be before General Synod has a motion before it to approve a euthanasia liturgy and consummate its longing to become a death cult. I’d give it 10 years.

Anglicans going with the suicidal flow

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A couple of weeks ago there was a report of an Anglican Church of Canada vicar attending a double suicide. His presence gave tacit Anglican approval of their decision.

Now, the Diocese of Huron’s Rev Keith Nethery has provided an Anglican clerical presence as another person is euthanised.

While I can readily understand why a person in pain might be willing to do anything to escape the pain, what puzzles me is the complete absence of guidance provided by the church, in this case in the shape of Nethery, who says:

“I don’t see my role to influence anyone in that situation one way or the other,” he says. “My role, what God has called me to do, is to go and be present… so that people have someone to journey with,” he says.

Since Carolyn’s passing, Nethery says, a small number of other people have asked him if he would provide pastoral care to them if they decided they wanted medically assisted death.

Surely, if any organisation and its representatives should have an opinion about matters of life and death, it is the church. Yet an opinion, strong or otherwise, seems to completely elude Nethery, who is content to go with the flow and just be present.

The Anglican Church of Canada has never had a useful opinion on abortion other than acknowledging that it happens. I suppose it should surprise no one that it is applying this wealth of hard earned indecision garnered over many years to euthanasia.

The ACoC seems to be well on the way to becoming a death cult.

Pastoral Anglican euthanising

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I remember a time when for a church to be “prophetic” it had to stand against the tide of the culture, against the immorality of the state, against the prevailing delusions that beguile our impressionable egos. Not so today. Because same-sex marriage is legal, the church has embraced it and has assigned committees loaded with waffling liberal clergy to contort Scripture to their collective will. It is much the same for abortion. And now euthanasia.

On March 27 Mr. and Mrs Brickenden committed suicide together with the help of a doctor:

On March 27, George and Shirley died holding hands in their own bed in a Toronto retirement home.
Their children, who watched from the foot of the bed, say the couple drew their last breaths at almost the same moment.
They had been married for just shy of 73 years.
The Brickendens are one of the few couples in Canada to receive a doctor-assisted death together, and the first to speak about it publicly.

The local vicar was on hand, perhaps to deliver a sermon in hope of hastening the couple’s exit:

Present were Pamela, Saxe and Angela, their spouses, the two doctors and Andrew Asbil, the Dean of Toronto’s St. James Cathedral, who later told me he had “without hesitation” supported the couple’s wish for their funeral to be held at the Anglican church.

March 27 was Maundy Thursday when we remember Jesus’ Last Supper before his excruciating death on Good Friday, an unpleasantness that he would be pastorally encouraged to sidestep by today’s Dying with Dignity Anglicanism.

The Anglican Church of Canada has produced a report in which it comes down firmly on the side of indecision. There is also a study guide to encourage parishes to have indecisive conversations about the church’s indecision.

It is important to remember that In Sure and Certain Hope was not intended as a contribution to the debate about the moral appropriateness of medically-assisted dying. The changed legal landscape has moved us beyond that to a point where many of us are likely to know, love and care for those who will face difficult decisions and may choose to avail themselves of medically-assisted dying or to reject such an option.

How long will it be before General Synod has a motion before it to approve a euthanasia liturgy and consummate its longing to become a death cult. I’d give it 10 years.

The right to commit suicide

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I suppose it is one of the many indicators of the corruption of Christianity in mainline denominations  that, where in prior centuries they pondered their God-given duties, we now catalogue lists of our God-given rights. We have degenerated from God making demands of us to our making demands of him.

One of our latest rights, apparently, is the right to die when we want to and Desmond Tutu, naturally, plans to demand it.

From here:

Throughout my life, I have been fortunate to have spent my time working for dignity for the living. I have campaigned passionately for people in my country and the world over to have their God-given rights.

Now, as I turn 85 Friday, with my life closer to its end than its beginning, I wish to help give people dignity in dying. Just as I have argued firmly for compassion and fairness in life, I believe that terminally ill people should be treated with the same compassion and fairness when it comes to their deaths. Dying people should have the right to choose how and when they leave Mother Earth. I believe that, alongside the wonderful palliative care that exists, their choices should include a dignified assisted death.

The Anglican Church of Canada vacillates on euthanasia

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In much the same way that it has submitted to cultural trends on same-sex marriage, the Anglican Church of Canada, rather than taking a stand either way, has decided to recognise euthanasia in Canada as a “reality”. In church terms, this is known as being prophetic; or is it missional – I don’t know, this jargon is so confusing, isn’t it?

In contrast, the Anglican Church in North America states in its constitution:

God, and not man, is the creator of human life. The unjustified taking of life is sinful. Therefore, all members and clergy are called to promote and respect the sanctity of every human life from conception to natural death.

This would be a difficult idea for ACoC theologians to grasp since they are still divided on whether the concept of sin is a reality, let alone whether its only remedy is Jesus Christ – after all, we don’t want “to alienate people over a very sensitive and complex issue”.

From the Journal:

In a nod to changing times, the Anglican Church of Canada’s latest report on physician-assisted dying, rather than opposing the practice, recognizes it as a reality. The report offers reflections and resources around assisted dying and related issues, such as palliative care.

The Supreme Court of Canada struck down last year a ban on physician-assisted death for the “grievously and irremediably ill” as unconstitutional, notes the paper, entitled In Sure and Certain Hope: Resources to Assist Pastoral and Theological Approaches to Physician Assisted Dying, released Thursday, June 9.

In the wake of this decision, the paper states, “public debate concerning the legal ban on physician assisted dying is in some ways over.”

As a result, the authors continue, “our energy is best spent at this time ensuring that this practice is governed in ways that reflect insofar as possible a just expression of care for the dignity of every human being, whatever the circumstances.”

[……]

“A report like this is not going to please everybody because it doesn’t give a direct answer, and that will frustrate some people,” Hiltz said. “But…to give a direct answer is, in fact, to alienate people over a very sensitive and complex issue.”

Death by government

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As I was listening to the news while driving home this afternoon, there were a couple of items whose startling juxtaposition clearly escaped the sensibilities of the announcer. The first was the tragedy of a “suicide crisis” in Attawapiskat, followed closely by a lament that not all the recommendations of a committee investigating government assisted suicide would find their way into law.

Evidently, we have reached some kind of bizarre consensus where do-it-yourself suicide is a Bad Thing, but suicide through government sponsored execution is a Good Thing.

From here:

Attawapiskat suicide crisis subject of emergency debate in House

NDP MP Charlie Angus opened the emergency debate on the Attawapiskat suicide crisis by calling for a groundswell of political will that will put an end to Band-Aid solutions for the problems facing Canada’s First Nations.

[….]

“When I think that there are communities in our country where … young people in groups are deciding that there is no hope for their future, we must do better, we have to find a way to go forward,” said Philpott.

And here:

The Trudeau government won’t be taking a permissive approach to medically assisted dying in new legislation to be unveiled as early as next week, The Canadian Press has learned.

Sources, who aren’t authorized to speak publicly about the imminent bill, say it won’t adopt some of the most controversial recommendations from a special parliamentary committee.

[….]

It will not allow people diagnosed with competence-impairing conditions like dementia to make advance requests for medical help to die, which the committee advocated.

Nor will it include mature minors, to whom the committee recommended extending the right to choose assisted death within three years.