Assisted Suicide
On 27 March 2024, Liam McArthur MSP introduced his Bill to the Scottish Parliament. It will allow terminally ill adults in Scotland, who are eligible, to request lawfully, and be provided with, assistance by health professionals to end their own lives legally. The Bill is at Stage 1, and open for public consultation until 16 August 2024; all those in Scotland, who are concerned about the issue, should avail themselves of the opportunity (see the Scottish Parliament website > Get Involved > Submit your views to a Committee). The proponents of such legislation refer to it as dignified dying. No one could argue with this aspiration, but where is the dignity in giving someone a pill or a lethal injection to kill themselves? Arguments have been made that you would not let your pet dog suffer in the way that some humans suffer at the end of their lives. But the inference is that a person, with a precious immortal soul, can be “put to sleep” like a sick animal. Palliative care professionals argue passionately that it should not be necessary to terminate life to avoid unbearable pain which can be alleviated. However, the palliative specialists are sidelined as if their concern was only to maintain their professional specialism. If one looks at assisted suicide (which they prefer to call “assisted or dignified dying”) in other countries, where it is permitted, one can see that the initial stringent safeguards are eased with the passage of time. Once it becomes a “right” to die in this way, more and more categories of people insist on their rights, and so more accommodations are introduced. UK abortion legislation proves the point. One reads of the mentally sick who are “persuaded” that assisted dying is a choice for consideration, with the sad fact that some have opted for it. Treatment then incorporates killing. Moves are being made to introduce such legislation in Scotland, England, Republic of Ireland, Jersey and the Isle of Man. Some in the Welsh Senedd are arguing for devolved powers on this issue, so they can have their own say on the matter (“my death, my decision”). Pressure is building up like a flood. When the dam is breached in one UK legislature, then clamour from the others will, humanly speaking, be irresistible. We should pray that the Lord in His infinite kindness will not permit such pernicious legislation to be enacted.
FRD
The Most Ungodly Parliament
The Times today (July 12) carried a very prominent headline: “The most ungodly parliament in history echoes state of nation”. It refers to the proportion of MPs who chose to affirm solemnly their allegiance to King Charles rather than “swear by Almighty God”. Half of the Cabinet, including the Prime Minister, merely affirmed. Those who affirmed were no doubt rejecting belief in the Most High. What hope can we have in the direction such an “ungodly parliament” will take, especially on moral issues?
The General Election – a Christian Response
Over the coming weeks and months, news editors will spend significant time analysing the multitudinous events that ultimately led to the change in the United Kingdom government following the General Election on July 4. They will endeavour to explain the many links that resulted directly or indirectly in the dramatic fall of some political parties and the dramatic rise of others, particularly as the counter-swing of the pendulum from that of the 2019 election (itself also described as a landslide election) was so very pronounced. Undoubtedly, they will detect many contributing factors, some evident and identifiable, others perhaps not. The most solemn and weighty factors will probably escape the notice of most investigators and consequently not receive a mention in the media. The significant factors are those that relate to the sovereign actions of Almighty God, who “doeth according to His will in the army of heaven, and among the inhabitants of the earth” (Dan 4:35). These are unquestionably the overwhelmingly fundamental issues that we as a nation need to identify and consider, especially in the light of our increasingly rebellious and most blasphemous forsaking of God and His Word!
The principal question before the readers of this Magazine is, How should we, as Christians, relate to these significant events? Although we rightly do not wish to be engaged in the abusive and exaggerated argumentation that often surrounds political debates, we cannot ignore the issue or be indifferent. The matter is too important. All nations (including our own) need a government, and we are emphatically exhorted in the Holy Scriptures to pray “for kings, and for all that are in authority” (1 Tim 2:1,2). Praying for our King and all in authority requires us to be conscious of what transpires in our nation, so that we may frame in a biblical way the sentiments we express in our prayers and be able (when opportunity affords) to present readily a Christian perspective on current issues.
Christians and non-Christians see everything (both tangible and intangible) very differently. We have very different perspectives. The non-Christian ignores God and thus looks at everything from a purely horizontal perspective – that is, only as it relates man to man. He has no conception of the intricate involvement, intervention and overruling the Almighty has in all the affairs of His creation. Man refuses to believe that the infinite God of heaven and earth has an intimate, minute, perfect and comprehensive understanding of the universe and all it contains.
The Christian, on the other hand, sees the Almighty as the God who is personally and intimately involved in all things: not only in the great and profound activities of His providence that relate to the majestic and fearful demonstrations of His mighty power and glory (so often exhibited in nature) but also in the comparatively minor details of personal and domestic scenarios encountered by us every day. In Him, “we live, and move, and have our being” (Acts 17:18). Thus the Christian – as a pilgrim passing through the valley of Baca (Ps 84:6) – sees things from a vertical (or biblical) perspective, as God sees them.
The Christian has the Bible and is thus, through prayerful, diligent reading and meditation on it, able to comprehend something of the mind and will of God as revealed in the Holy Scriptures and thus, in turn, enabled to think the thoughts of God after Him and assess things from a scriptural perspective. In contrast, the ungodly, who are saying in their hearts, “There is no God” (Ps 53:1), place no confidence on the divine authority of the Word of God but will always be tossed to and fro by the whims of fickle men, having no sure foundation upon which they can base their confidence. They are spiritually blind and consequently antagonistic towards the views of any who fear God and seek to draw attention to the truths of Holy Scripture.
What then can we do? What ought we do? You may be correct in stating that, as you disagree with almost all politicians and their principles, you would prefer not to have anything to do with them. However, let us remember that the Lord Jesus has commanded: “Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you” (Mt 5:44). Even our enemies and those with whom we profoundly disagree have souls and ought to be among those for whom we sincerely pray.
The Apostle Paul expressed something of the breadth of those for whom we should pray when he said, “I exhort therefore, that, first of all, supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks, be made for all men; for kings, and for all that are in authority; that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty” (1 Tim 2:1,2). The Apostle James reminds us: “The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much” (Jas 5:16).
We can pray for our King and the Royal House. We can pray for his Prime Minister, the members of the Cabinet, and all who are in the House of Commons and the House of Lords. We can pray for the First Ministers in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, the members of their Cabinets, and all the members of the regional Parliaments. We can pray for the parliamentarians who make a Christian profession and we can bear before the Lord at the throne of grace those who are yet dead in trespasses and sins, praying that they may be (by the grace of God) made new creatures in Christ Jesus. Perhaps, in the future, a number of them will be godly parliamentarians in the Lord’s goodness, championing the cause of God and truth. We can pray that God, in His sovereign goodness, will restrain those who continue advocating further departures from the principles and commands of the Holy Scriptures by overruling, frustrating, or removing all who promote in our parliaments further rebellion against God and our nations’ covenantal relationship with the Almighty.
Is there anything else we can do? Yes, much, as I am sure will be evident if we consider the matter seriously and prayerfully. For example, we can write graciously (repeatedly, if necessary) to our parliamentarians, drawing their attention to the Bible and its authoritative declarations that our governments need to heed, send letters of encouragement to them, and obtain personal interviews with them at their surgeries. Perhaps, if we cannot consider it for ourselves, we could prayerfully encourage others (not called to the Christian ministry) to become prospective parliamentary candidates to fulfill this necessary Christian service as ministers of God (see Romans 13) in our parliaments.
In dependence on divine grace, let us look forward and diligently seek the exaltation of the name of Christ in our parliaments for the good of our nation, for the generations to come, for the benefit of our churches, for the welfare of the Christian people of our land, for the good of society at large, for the advance of the Kingdom of our Lord Jesus Christ throughout our land, and (primarily) for the glory, honour and praise of God Almighty!
DPR
Ancient Navigation
The Israel Antiquities Authority has announced the discovery of an ancient shipwreck in the Eastern Mediterranean. The wreck is dated to about 1300 BC and was found 55 miles offshore at the depth of a mile. The vessel was about 50 feet long and its cargo consisted mainly of storage jars. It seems to have sunk abruptly. Two similar shipwrecks from the period are known, but close to the shore, whereas this one was well out of sight of land, indicating advanced navigational abilities. These abilities came as a surprise to the archaeologists, who thought that ships were still creeping round the coastline at that stage of human history. They are less surprising to those who think of the human race as progressively degenerating from the initial perfection of the Garden of Eden.
DWBS