QUESTION: I heard the word euthanasia on TV. Isn't that like mercy killing or something? And if it is, why do you think it's wrong?

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ANSWER: Euthenasia is when somebody takes a human life or permits it to happen, believing that they're showing mercy. The Netherlands (Europe) have just made it legal.

Let's say that someone is dying of cancer. The idea of euthenasia is "Go ahead and painlessly put them to death so they don't have to suffer." It's the same mindset a farmer might have with a wounded horse or dog.

If we do this, what else will be allowed? The nursing homes are costing the government and insurance companies hundreds of millions of dollars each year... why not show all the elderly in there 'mercy' by ending their pain? What about babies that are born handicap? What about Christians who get in the way of international religious unity?

Our culture cries out, "I want to be happy." We can be tempted to comprimise our standards and beliefs in order to find happiness. "If it feels good, do it." Even though this sounds so good, God knows that this kind of thinking and living leads to pain and destruction. He has so much more in store for us, and much of it isn't in this life! We can't toss out God's ways when it doesn't make us feel good. Hard times are a part of life, and sometimes a part of death.

The question of killing ourselves or someone else 'out of mercy' is not our decision to make... it's God's. We can share the gospel with nonbelievers. We can pray for a Christian who's deathly ill, "God, please heal them to stay here on Earth, or quickly take them home to be with You where they'll have permanant healing."

God created us, and has a plan for each of us. Sometimes God does or allows things to take place around us that don't make sense. This, above all other times, is when we need to trust Him most. "Faith is the evidence of things NOT SEEN."