NOT DIGNIFIED, JUST EASY:

Dying with Dignity: Beyond the Euthanasia Debate (Eldad Ben-Eliezer, Bruderhof.com)

The word “dignity” can be understood in two senses: the first being “composed, serious, fitting of high rank.” But the other, which is more applicable to the true meaning of human dignity, is “worthy of respect.” In order to understand the real meaning of worthiness, one must look beyond superficial appearances.

When Harold, a close friend of mine, was diagnosed with metastatic prostate cancer, we were both devastated. Apart from being a fit, energetic, and lively father of a large family, Harold had a way of reaching people’s hearts like few men I have known. The six months that he had left to live, he spent actively reaching out to family, friends and strangers. When it became clear that his last days were approaching, he was truly at peace.

One might have imagined that Harold’s death would be “dignified” – peacefully slipping away. But no, the last twenty-four hours, which I spent almost continuously with him, were a torture to watch. His body was wracked by convulsions, a side effect of pain medication. Finally the end came with gasping and vomiting blood.

And yet there was a spiritual dignity about Harold that went far above and beyond the physical signs of torment. Here was a man who had fought for life throughout his life and was taking on his last “assignment” with true worthiness. His final suffering brought together his friends and acquaintances, and was a force for good in many lives that had been cool and apathetic beforehand. [...]

I am aware that in many cases the request for euthanasia comes as a result of a lack of good palliative care, or from misguided attempts by the medical profession at prolonging life 'at all costs'. I do feel much needs to be done to address both these needs, to strive in every case to relieve pain and distress, with sensitivity to what is really in the best interest of a dying person. Through such care most requests for euthanasia would not even happen. I do not think that a decision to withhold treatment is the same as actively killing a person. But even with the best and most sensitive care, there will inevitably be some suffering, if not in body then in the mind and spirit. I believe true dignity demands that this be faced and that euthanasia is an affront to true human dignity.

To me, the most important death is that of a man of long-ago Galilee who slowly asphyxiated on an instrument of torture; a man who was spat at, mocked, and abandoned by his friends. There was no “dignity” for him, in the sense of a composed, “peaceful” death. Certainly, it was the farthest thing possible from an “easy death.” But he suffered with true dignity, and was able to say, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.” This dignity in suffering is well described in the chorale from Bach’s St. Matthew’s Passion: “…O noble face, now sorely disfigured and betrayed; before thee all creation is brought to naught, afraid.”

All of us will one day face death, and I believe everyone can face it with true dignity if we are ready to walk to the end the path laid out for us. It may well involve suffering, but through this suffering, the deeper meaning of dignity will shine through.

If it were about human dignity the folks advocating it wouldn't uniformly favor every other aspect of the Culture of Death too.

Posted by Orrin Judd at January 5, 2005 10:13 AM