Movies are made great by their amazing heroes. Million Dollar Baby, a movie heralded by the Academy Awards as “Best Picture” and critics all across the country as a phenomenal film, is about Frankie, a boxing trainer, and Maggie, a fighter he reluctantly agrees to train and eventually comes to love. My idea of a romantic night with my wife is a hot pizza, a cold coke and one of any of the five Rocky movies, so when I saw a preview of a movie featuring an underdog, over-aged boxer, I knew this was a film I wanted to see. My initial excitement quickly faded as the movie neared its end. With Frankie’s help, Maggie quickly rises through the ranks of women’s boxing when tragedy strikes. An illegal blow causes her to strike her head against a stool leaving her a quadriplegic. She begs her trainer, Frankie, who had walked with her every step of the way, to help her take her life—which he does. Briefly we see the inner battle as Frankie decides in the middle of the night to help Maggie “die with dignity”. As credits rolled and people exited the theater, it became strikingly apparent that to me that no hero had emerged.

In Florida, a battle rages over the life of Terry Schiavo. Her husband, Michael Schiavo, has fought in courts for years to have her feeding tube removed because he said she would not want to be kept alive artificially and she has no hope for recovery. Her parents contend she responds to them and that her condition could improve. The attorneys and her husband have called for all those who protest her death to “let her die with dignity.” Ethicists define death with dignity as “allowing the patient to die a truly human death.”

In any case, whether a fictional movie or real life, the Christian leader must know how to how to view this ethical situation through the grid of Scripture. A biblical worldview will afford us the understanding so that we will not buy into the lie that euthanasia is somehow merciful or compassionate by starving someone to death or by injecting them with a drug which will end their life simply because they feel that it is no longer worth living. The term euthanasia means good death. The wrong decision will many times dress itself in the robes of empathy and kindness so that it will appeal to the emotions of mankind. As leaders, we understand that emotions have a very strong place in our walk with God but it is truth, not emotion, that dictates decision.

Christian ethicists have offered both theological and secular reasons against euthanasia. Secular considerations include the unique value of human life, a universal characteristic that all religions value human life, the historical record of euthanasia involving Nazi Germany and Hitler as well as communist China, and finally the medical consideration that as new cures and developments are made available, so is the possibility of restoring quality of life. As a Christian leader, there are several points that must be on the forefront of our minds when trying to understand and debate the sensitive issue of euthanasia. 

First, life is sacred. Life is sacred because we are made in the image of God (Genesis 1:26-27). This means that if a boxer is now a quadriplegic without the ability to use any of her limbs or muscles below her neck, she is still made in the image of God. This means if a woman is in a car accident and is unable to communicate or feed herself, she is still made in the image of God. Chuck Colson said of Maggie’s character in Million Dollar Baby, “there comes a time to let go of life but only after we have put up a good fight worthy of the gift of life. Because Maggie didn’t understand this, her life, like her death was a waste. She didn’t die a ‘has been’, but a ‘never was’ who refused to embrace this most glorious of all gifts, life.”

Second, suffering is valuable. Obviously, no one desires suffering but it is vitally important to understand that throughout scripture God has demonstrated that afflictions can be used to work good in our lives (i.e. the book of Job).  Romans 5:3-5 states “^And not only that, but there are also glory in tribulations, knowing that tribulation produces perseverance; and perseverance, character; and character, hope. Now hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us.”

Third, His commandments are unchanging.  Exodus 20:13 states, “you shall not murder”. In his book, Written By the Hand of God, Bill Bright says that murder is wrong “because God is the creator of all life so only He can take it away. To take life into our own hands is equivalent to ‘playing God’. Euthanasia is murder because it takes life rather than supports those who need physical, emotional, or financial help.” It is important to understand that this commandment is dealing with an attack on human existence by the destruction of a human life made in the image of God.    

While no hero emerged on the scene in the Clint Eastwood film, the credits have not yet rolled on the Terry Schiavo saga and hope still exists.  Much uproar has shown up in debates on cable news channels to the fact that federal courts and congress are undoing or interfering with what the state courts have already decided. This case is made up of more than just interpreting law but is also a matter of life or death, whether or not an individual made in the image of God should be killed or be allowed to live. Though this is a difficult and emotionally charged situation, if America is to be a culture of life, then we must in fact err on the side of life.

On the Edge
This month Brent Crowe, Dean of Students for SLU, takes a closer look at the issue of sanctity of life and the Terry Schiavo case in Florida. How should a Christian view life?

"... we must be wary of those who are too willing to end the lives of the elderly and the ill. If we ever decide that a poor quality of life justifies ending that life, we have taken a step down a slippery slope that places all of us in danger. There is a difference between allowing nature to take its course and actively assisting death. The call for euthanasia surfaces in our society periodically, as it is doing now under the guise of "death with dignity" or assisted suicide. Euthanasia is a concept, it seems to me, that is in direct conflict with a religious and ethical tradition in which the human race is presented with " a blessing and a curse, life and death," and we are instructed '...therefore, to choose life." I believe 'euthanasia' lies outside the commonly held life-centered values of the West and cannot be allowed without incurring great social and personal tragedy. This is not merely an intellectual conundrum. This issue involves actual human beings at risk..."
C. Everett Koop, M.D.

"We can have peace and happiness in the midst of situations that might have previously been thought of as unendurable. That is just one reason why virtually all disability advocacy groups . . . are so vehemently opposed to this idea of 'helping' someone die, which may sound warm and fuzzy, but in the searing light of truth, is just murder." Katie Dallam, real life boxer whose life was likely the inspiration for Million Dollar Baby

“You will surely forget your trouble, recalling it only as waters gone by.  Life will be brighter than noonday, and darkness will become like morning.” 
Job 11:16-17

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Edge Executive Editor:
Chris Crowe
Edge Associate Editor:
Luke Lin