It is okay to take one’s own life when life itself is nothing but abject suffering? What does God say about suicide that is justified by an untenable medical condition?
I’m sorry. I know I told you yesterday that we would be talking about something else today…but a piece of news from the morning press has really caught my eye…

Item: An American living in England ended his own life a few weeks ago, and British television tonight is showing that event as it happened.

It is part of a documentary that was filmed while the man terminated his physicality.
A news report displayed on AOL today tell us that Craig Ewert, a 59-year-old retired professor, suffered from motor neuron disease, more commonly known in the U.S. as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) or Lou Gehrig’s disease. The progressive, degenerative disorder destroys the cells that control voluntary muscle activity such as talking, walking, breathing and swallowing, according to the National Institutes of Health. There is no cure and no standard course of treatment, the AOL News Report said.
It went on to say that Britain’s Daily Mail newspaper reported yesterday that Ewert, a married father of two grown children, died Sept. 26, 2006, five months after he was diagnosed. He took his own life at a Swiss euthanasia clinic. The TV documentary “shows Ewert swallowing a dose of sedatives and then biting down on a mouth-operated switch to turn off the ventilator keeping him alive.”
His wife of 37 years, Mary Ewert, is shown by his side, the Mail said. As he is slipping away, she asks,”Can I give you a big kiss?” Then she adds: “I love you, sweetheart, so much. Have a safe journey and see you some time.”
The AOL report said that in the documentary, to be aired on the Sky Real Lives channel in Great Britain tonight, Ewert discusses his reasons for choosing suicide. “I have death or I have suffering and death,” he says. “This way makes a whole lot of sense to me.”
Along with the article AOL ran a public opinion survey asking people their feelings about euthanasia. The survey showed that 49% said that taking one’s own life should be legal, 31% had mixed feelings, and 20% said it was wrong.
A more interesting survey, I think, might have been: With regard to the taking of one’s own life,<emwhat does God want?
So I’ll ask you here. Please respond by choosing:
A – God says it is all right; B – God has no desire, opinion, requirement or will one way or the other on this; or C – God says it is wrong and you will be punished for it with everlasting damnation in the fires of hell.