“Her suicide is what happens when a once Christian society sees no point to suffering.”
In an absolutely terminal situation, I’m not sure I see the point of it either.
Life is absolutely terminal to start with.
You’re going to die someday. Why not offer your suffering to Christ in reparation for your sins?
You might be surprised at the outcome.
“In an absolutely terminal situation, I’m not sure I see the point of it either.”
When our society was healthy - decades ago - people believed suffering could be turned toward a purpose. Maynard is an example of a society that has lost all hope. I’m not talking about hope for a cure for a particular disease. I bet Maynard believed there would be a cure for her disease sometime down the road just not in time for her. I’m talking about the kind of hope in which people believe there is a point to everything, God has a plan, providence is at work, etc. Maynard did not kill herself to avoid pain. Maynard killed herself because she saw no point to going on. That’s about purpose and hope, not pain. Despair is a terrible thing.
http://www.catholicbridge.com/catholic/why_catholics_love_suffering.php
http://www.desiringgod.org/articles/dont-waste-your-cancer
Here’s an example of what I’m talking about:
They say that Kansas is so flat that you can see your dog run away for a week. This is only partially true, because in Northeastern Kansas where I grew up there are lots of hills, forests, lakes and rivers. Among the hills of that region, nestled back, far away from the sounds of the city, where only meadow larks and cicadas interrupt the deafening silence of the prairie, there lies a mostly unnoticed cemetery. In the corner of that cemetery, off towards the edge where the woods begin, is the grave of a friend of mine. It reads: “Adveniat Regnum Tuum!” “Declan Brown nLC 1981 - 1995” … Declan had been one of my good friends in grade school who knew from a young age that God was calling him to the priesthood. He had visited the Legionary Apostolic School in New Hampshire where fell in love with Christ and discovered his vocation: to be a Legionary priest and save souls, bringing them to heaven.
It was a normal school morning, with an un-normal detail added to it. The Brown family didn’t show up for classes! That afternoon we found out that when Declan had woken up he couldn’t move his legs. He was rushed to the hospital in Kansas City where the doctors discovered an index finger size tumor on his spine just below the neck. The diagnosis turned out that it was a very malignant type of cancer. What made things worse though is that they couldn’t operate on it for risk that Declan would be permanently paralyzed from spinal cord damage. The doctors did what they could through radiation and chemotherapy. His condition worsened though. He offered his suffering for the souls that would be entrusted to his care as a priest. About a year later the doctors saw that the end was near, so they moved all the hospital equipment out to the Brown’s home in the country so Declan. However, about a month before he died, he asked the Legionary provincial at the time, Fr Anthony Bannon LC, if he could receive his cassock and become a legionary novice. Canonically speaking he was too young though. He was only 14 and it was necessary to be 18 years of age to form part of a religious order. So, Fr Anthony requested a special dispensation from Pope John Paul II, allowing Declan to be admitted to the novitiate. It was granted, and about a week before he died he received his cassock on that hospital bed at his home down that dusty rock road in those rolling prairie hills. He was later buried in his cassock. As his mother sat at his bedside one day, Declan said to her “Mom I’m a priest.” His mother responded “No Declan, you’re not a priest yet.” Declan insisted, “Mom I’m a priest.” She replied again “No Declan, you’re not a priest. You’ve just received the uniform to begin your training for becoming a priest.” Declan explained “Mom, Christ was a priestly victim when he was suffering on the cross. I’m suffering with Christ on cross now, so I am a priest.”
The priesthood never dawned on me at the time. I was 15.
Written by Fr. Michael Patrick Moriarty: http://www.regnumchristi.org/multimedia/interactivos/ordenaciones/eng/articulo.phtml?id=38383&se=365&ca=982&te=931
So, one teenage boy, who saw purpose in his suffering inspired another man to become a priest (by the way, there’s actually many more than just one. Many people were inspired by Declan Brown’s faith).
Now, ask yourself, what did Maynard inspire with her handling of her suffering? Suicide. That’s it. She encouraged more people to kill themselves - and some of those people won’t even be terminally ill. What a waste.
Ah, but once society sees disability and loss of “dignity” as the reason to kill folks, you are way down the slippery slope to killing the disabled, the retarded, and the elderly, not to mention disabled babies or children.
That will save Obamacare lots of money.
FOLLOW THE MONEY.
And don't tell me stuff like “Modern medicine allows disabled or elderly people to live too long”. Plato said the same thing in 400 BCE, and this was the main reason for Hitler's doctors willing to help people to die if they were imperfect.
As for suffering: Cultures like ancient Stoicism and Japanese samurai culture that see suicide as better than loss of dignity sound nice, but remember: Those ideas were only followed by a tiny minority, and ordinary folks in these societies had few rights, and the big shots could kill them if they were troublesome.
If there is a God, then everything that happens happens for a reason. This is not just a Christian idea: I have worked with both Amerindians and Africans who were not Christian and believed the same thing.
And the lessons of suffering in dignity, and the idea that family should care for their weaker family members, is a lesson American society needs. Pope Francis calls the west the “throwaway” society for a good reason.