The War on Christianity

Taking the Fight to the Christian Right

Euthanasia - Physician Assisted Suicide

I'm sixty-five years old, as I write these words. And for the last several years, I've been pushed up against a reality that I will have to face, in the not too distant future. How will I face my own demise, my own death? The grim reaper comes for all of us, sooner or later, how will I face that eventuality? Will it be with courage and bravery, or stoic acceptance? I certainly hope it will not be with sniveling cowardice. I think I'm better than that.

But, as you get up there in age, and realize that you have many more years behind you, than you have ahead of you, and this is just one of the things you think about. How are you going to face your own death, your own demise, when you realize: The time has come?

A long time ago, it was the mid-eighties. Harold had to face that reality. He was my Father-in-law. I had known him for maybe five or six years, and I really liked that guy, my wife's father. He was retired, and a man with a sense of humor. He also had had a long struggle with diabetes. At one point he got gangrene in his left foot, and they had to amputate. The doctors kept cutting off his leg, until it was gone to the knee. He wore a prosthesis and was able to get around, until the end.

My wife and I got notice that he was in the hospital again, and we went together to see him. He was not in good shape, failing quickly. At one point she stepped out, and I was alone with Harold. He was pitifully weak, but he looked up at me, almost begging. "Kill me," he said, "Please, kill me."

I so wanted to oblige him, I could see the pain and suffering he was in. But this was a hospital setting. And if I were to do that, well, it would not go unnoticed.

Look, I'm an ex-Marine. And every Marine is taught this thing they call the chokehold in basic training. You get choked out, and you choke another Marine out. It's just part of the training. I call it the easy out. You clasp your hands, put your arms over the man's head, and use your forearms to squeeze the neck, cutting off the blood flow to the brain. It's six seconds to blacking out, and six minutes to death.

They teach this to every Marine, not to use against the enemy, but to help a fallen soldier. If he has been shot, his liver blown to hell, or in the chest with his lungs filling up with blood, or if he stepped on a mine and his legs have been blown off? Then you have the ability, to give that man the Easy Out, a less painful death, and a good demise. Such is the reality on the battlefield, and why all Marines are taught this skill.

Yes, I could have killed Harold Vickery, and it would have been the loving thing to do. It would have been at his request, a mercy killing. But because of Christian cowardice and the laws they have created, you're not allowed to do that in this country. You're not allowed to be kind, no, you are required to let them suffer.

So it was, with a heavy heart, I looked down at Harold that day, and I said unto him, a dying man, "I'm sorry, Harold. But I cannot do that." Nance and I had visited Harold, her father around eight o'clock that night. Harold suffered through the night, alone in the dark, and finally died at 07:36 the next morning.

I was not wrong to refuse a dying man's last request. Recently, I read an article on the NBC News website, 2019. It seems there was a Nurse, who found herself in a similar circumstance. The man was dying, and asked her to assist in hastening his demise. Another mercy killing. She complied, and helped the man to die with a little less pain and suffering. But she was caught, and has now been indicted for Murder. So, sad.

When what you're trying to do is to be kind and loving, and then to be persecuted for your kindness? Such is the way it is in Christendom. I guess that's what it means to be Pro-Life, you must suffer until the bitter end. Is that what they call Christian compassion? What do you think?

While it's easy to understand the Christian point of view around this, they're afraid that euthanasia might be abused, and that they might be killed by the government against their will. But that's just plain cowardice. And because they are all cowards, unwilling to face their own demise, they are requiring the rest of us to suffer until the bitter end.

But you know, I think there is another part to this story. You see, I think the Doctors and the Hospital Management of every Hospital in America are playing the Christians. They play up their fears, and they have the lobbyists to do just that, to keep Physician Assisted Suicide illegal. I think they see Geriatrics, as a profit center.

You see, old people have money. They've spent their whole lives accumulating whatever wealth they can get, and they generally want to leave that wealth to their children. But the medical establishment sees that wealth, as a potential revenue source. So, if they can force you and you children to keep you alive until the very last moment, they will charge you for that "so called" service. Every test, cat scan, MRI, blood work, or whatever, comes with a fee. They do not want to allow you the "easy out," for then they would lose profits and shareholder value. That's what I see.

Doctors are mostly good people; most really do care about their patients and they want what's best for them. Corporations, however, are not people, and institutions have no empathy. Corporations care only about the bottom line, maximizing profits and shareholder value. Callous to the core.

I want to see a Country where Physician Assisted Suicide is legal in all fifty states. I want it for myself when I reach that point in life. Look, if you're diagnosed with a terminal disease, and you know you're going to die, it's time to put your affairs in order, and take the Easy Out; Physician Assisted Suicide.

An opioid overdose would be a great way to end one's life. You take a pill, you go to sleep, and you don't wake up. An opioid overdose is a good death, don't you think? That's how I would like to go out, at free will choice, when I decide it's time. You just move on to your next incarnation.

But Christians won't allow you that, because they have been postulated with the idea that suicide is a mortal sin, and you only have this one life. A ridiculous postulate which is not true. But because of their cowardice and unwillingness to face their own demise, praying to God to keep them alive for just one more minute, they won't let the rest of us face that reality with dignity. So, sad.

You know, we treat our dogs with more dignity and respect, in these end-of-life situations, than we treat our fellow human beings. I recently had to put down a dog, who was in terrible pain and suffering. It was a time of great sadness for me, but it was the right thing to do. In that situation, you just take responsibility, and do what you have to do. Would that this were true, for human beings too.

It's just another reason to detest Christianity, the heartlessness with which Christians deal with geriatrics, old people facing an end of life reality.

Hey, Christian, I have a question for you. Do you love your parents, your Mother and your Father? Will you allow them to make that end of life decision, and honor their wishes? Can you look into the future to when you will be in their shoes, facing your own demise? Wouldn't you like to be able to make that call for yourself?

Will you support Physician Assisted Suicide?

So, Say I,

Richard the Christ, God Physically Incarnate