Goodness, mercy

As an advocate of euthanasia, I know tinkering with the law won’t solve the problem. The law has no room for compassion and mercy, nor selfdetermination. Law is about majority rule and thereby the ‘‘tyranny of the majority’’ and the resulting chaos.

The church, theology, academics and ethics are rulebased systems and probably the greatest threat to spirituality. In the issue of choosing how one may die, we demand love and benevolence which comes not out of systems, but relationships.

It is interesting that we can trust kind-heartedness and consideration for our pets when they are facing death, but not our friends and family. My faith says there is something after death in which I may have confidence. To hold me back from that is callous. To live by the law is the kind of life for the pretentious and righteous. To live by ‘goodness and mercy’ is the spiritual way.

Colin Jamieson, Cass Bay (Abridged)