Assisted suicide: a clash of two worldviews

In a column for The Times, commentator Matthew Parris said that legalising assisted suicide would put pressure on older people and those with a terminal illness to end their lives. In his view, this is a good thing.

In a similar article for the The Spectator, he said that legalising assisted suicide was simply the outworking of Darwinian social thought. Our moral codes, he argued, are driven by the Darwinian notion of the fight for survival, whether we accept this or not.

Mr Parris is to be commended for his honesty. In the assisted suicide debate, the pro-assisted suicide lobby often uses euphemisms and deception to advance its cause. Consider the deliberate employment of the term ‘assisted dying’, which no Christian should ever use.

Yet as shocking as Parris’ comments were, they should not surprise us. At its core, the assisted suicide debate is a fundamental clash of two utterly opposing worldviews. On the one side is Darwinian, evolutionary thought with its emphasis on survival of the fittest and strongest. On the other is Christianity, with its belief in a body-soul dualism: for centuries this worldview dominated the West and helped shape so much of our culture. This has been well documented by both Christian and non-Christian authors.

The rise of Darwinian social theory, with its rejection of a body-soul dualism, legitimised the notion of human life running out of value. When this happens, death is a good thing, for the survival of the species is more important than the life of one individual. Human life must be subservient to this greater goal.

If that is your worldview, then little wonder you think assisted suicide and euthanasia should be legalised. Assisted suicide is not simply about giving patients more choice. It is not simply a necessary, if uncomfortable, response to an ageing population. It is a moral good! Which conversely means it is morally wrong for a person with a terminal illness to seek to prolong their life, at great cost, for as long as they can.

This is what Ludwig Gumplowicz, an Austrian sociologist said: ‘With a perceptible voice, nature calls back into its bosom those who are sick and weary of life. To follow this call and to make space for healthy people filled with zeal for life is certainly no evil deed, but rather a good deed, for there are not too few people on the earth – rather too many.’

Parris’ comments are but the thin end of the wedge. For years, the assisted suicide lobby has masked its real intentions with talk about safeguards, about compassion, about ending unbearable suffering. Yet behind it all lies an utterly sinister worldview. Many in the movement really want state-facilitated suicide, for anyone who wants it.

This is the fruit of rejecting God, doubting His inspired and inerrant word, and allowing the subjective to take priority over objective truth. In the last few years, I have heard Christians say they think assisted suicide should become legal. They have expressed doubts about whether the Bible really says it is wrong.

Of course, there are terribly hard cases, where the suffering is unbearable. But the true, Christian, Biblically informed response is never to say ‘yes’ to assisted suicide. Life really is sacred. It is a gift from God. Being a burden on others is not sin, but part of what it means to be truly human.

Parris is right. We have an ageing population. The costs of social care and NHS care will continue to rise. But Darwinianism is wrong. The fruits of it are evil. And God shows us a vastly better way.