Euthanasia and Religion Presentation

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totally 1-2 pages, double space. you need to read two article which I provided in the file and conclude them. Then you need to give out 6 thoughtful and open questions related to the article's topic.those 6 questions should can be discussed during the class

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declaration on euthanasia 


Sacred congregation for the doctrine of the faith


The Congregation considers it opportune to set forth the Church's teaching on euthanasia

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Declaration on Euthanasia Sacred Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith The Congregation considers it opportune to set forth the Church's teaching on euthanasia. elements for reflection that they can present to the civil It is indeed true that, in this sphere of teaching, the authorities with regard to this very serious matter... recent popes have explained the principles, and these It is hoped that this Declaration will meet with the retain their full force;' but the progress of medical approval of many people of good will, who, philo- science in recent years has brought to the fore new sophical or ideological differences notwithstanding, aspects of the question of euthanasia, and these aspects have nevertheless a lively awareness of the rights of the call for further elucidation on the ethical level. human person. These rights have often in fact been In modern society, in which even the fundamental proclaimed in recent years through declarations issued by International Congresses;2 and since it is a question values of human life are often called into question, here of fundamental rights inherent in every human cultural change exercises an influence upon the way person, it is obviously wrong to have recourse to argu- of looking at suffering and death; moreover, medicine ments from political pluralism or religious freedom in has increased its capacity to cure and to prolong life in order to deny the universal value of those rights. particular circumstances, which sometimes give rise to moral problems. Thus people living in this situation experience no little anxiety about the meaning of I The Value of Human Life advanced old age and death. They also begin to Human life is the basis of all goods, and is the necessary wonder whether they have the right to obtain for source and condition of every human activity and of themselves or their fellowmen an “easy death”, which all society. Most people regard life as something sacred would shorten suffering and which seems to them and hold that no one may dispose of it at will, but more in harmony with human dignity. believers see in life something greater, namely a gift of A number of Episcopal Conferences have raised God's love, which they are called upon to preserve and questions on this subject with the Sacred Congregation make fruitful. And it is this latter consideration that for the Doctrine of the Faith. The Congregation, gives rise to the following consequences: having sought the opinion of experts on the various aspects of euthanasia, now wishes to respond to the Bishops' questions with the present Declaration, in order to help them to give correct teaching to the 1. No one can make an attempt on the life of an innocent person without opposing God's love for that person, without violating a fundamental faithful entrusted to their care, and to offer them Original publication details: Sacred Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, "Declaration on Euthanasia,"Vatican City, 1980. Bioethics: An Anthology, Third Edition. Edited by Helga Kuhse, Udo Schüklenk, and Peter Singer. © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Published 2016 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc. DECLARATION ON EUTHANASIA 237 Or an of death. person, Of one acceptance is therefore equally as wrong as murder; such an person is to be considered religion and morality to the doctor and the patient (even at the approach of death and if one foresees that the use of narcotics will shorten life)?" the Pope said: “If no other means exist, and if, in the given circum- stances, this does not prevent the carrying out of other religious and moral duties:Yes.” In this case, of course, death is in no way intended or sought, even if the risk of it is reasonably taken; the intention is simply to relieve pain effectively, using for this purpose painkillers available to medicine. However, painkillers that cause unconsciousness need special consideration. For a person not only has to be able to satisfy his or her moral duties and family obligations; he or she also has to prepare himself or herself with full consciousness for meeting Christ.Thus Pius XII warns: “It is not right to deprive the dying person of consciousness without a serious reason preceded anguish. 95 IV Due Proportion in the Use of Remedies SACRED CONGREGATION FOR THE DOCTRINE OF THE FAITH 236 which of itself or by intention causes death, in order that By euthanasia is understood an action or an omission right, and therefore without committing a crime of the utmost gravity.” all suffering may in this way be eliminated. Euthanas terms of reference, therefore, are to be found in the 2. Everyone has the duty to lead his or her life in intention of the will and in the methods used. accordance with God's plan. That life is entrusted It is necessary to state firmly once more that to the individual as a good that must bear fruit nothing and no one can in any way permit the killing already here on earth, but that finds its full of an innocent human being, whether a fetus perfection only in eternal life. 3. Intentionally causing one's own death, or suicids embryo, an infant or an adult, an old suffering from an incurable disease, or a person who is action on the part of a as a rejection of God's sovereignty and loving plan. this act of killing, either for himself or herself or for another person entrusted to his or her care, nor can be Furthermore, suicide is also often a refusal of love for self, the denial of the natural instinct to live, a or she consent to it, either explicitly or implicitly. No flight from the duties of justice and charity owed can any authority legitimately recommend or permit to one's neighbour, to various communities or to such an action. For it is a question of the violation of the whole of society - although, as is generally the divine law, an offence against the dignity of the recognized, at times there are psychological factors human person, a crime against life, and an attack on present that can diminish responsibility or even humanity completely remove it. It may happen that, by reason of prolonged and barely tolerable pain, for deeply personal or other However, one must clearly distinguish suicide from reasons, people may be led to believe that they can that sacrifice of one's life whereby for a higher cause, legitimately ask for death or obtain it for other such as God's glory, the salvation of souls or the service Although in these cases the guilt of the individual of one's brethren, a person offers his or her own life or may be reduced or completely absent, nevertheless puts it in danger (cf. In 15:14). the error of judgement into which the conscience falls, perhaps in good faith, does not change the nature · II Euthanasia of this act of killing, which will always be in itself something to be rejected. The pleas of gravely il In order that the question of euthanasia can be properly people who sometimes ask for death are not to be dealt with, it is first necessary to define the words used. understood as implying a true desire for euthanasia in Etymologically speaking, in ancient times euthana- fact it is almost always a case of an anguished plea for sia meant an easy death without severe suffering. Today help and love. What a sick person needs, besides one no longer thinks of this original meaning of the medical care, is love, the human and supernatural word, but rather of some intervention of medicine warmth with which the sick person can and ought to whereby the sufferings of sickness or of the final be surrounded by all those close to him or her, parents agony are reduced, sometimes also with the danger of and children, doctors and nurses. suppressing life prematurely. Ultimately, the word euthanasia is used in a more particular sense to mean "mercy killing”, for the purpose of putting an end to extreme suffering, or saving abnormal babies, the mentally ill or the incurably sick from the prolonga- for Christians and the Use tion, perhaps for many years, of a miserable life, which of Painkillers could impose too heavy a burden on their families or on society. It is therefore necessary to state clearly in what Death does not always come in dramatic circumstances sense the word is used in the present document. think only of extreme cases. Numerous testimonies after barely tolerable sufferings. Nor do we have to which confirm one another lead one to the conclu- sion that nature itself has made provision to render more bearable at the moment of death separations that would be terribly painful to a person in full health. Hence it is that a prolonged illness, advanced old age, or a state of loneliness or neglect can bring about psychological conditions that facilitate the Nevertheless the fact remains that death, often or accompanied by severe and prolonged suffering, is something which naturally causes people Physical suffering is certainly an unavoidable element of the human condition; on the biological level , it constitutes a warning of which no one denies the usefulness; but, since it affects the human psycho- logical makeup, it often exceeds its own biological usefulness and so can become so severe as to cause the desire to remove it at any cost. According to Christian teaching, however, suffering, especially suffering during the last moments of life, has a special place in God's saving plan; it is in fact a sharing in Christ's Passion and a union with the redeeming sacrifice which he offered in obedience to the Father's will. Therefore one must not be surprised if some Christians prefer to moderate their use of painkillers, in order to accept voluntarily at least a part of their sufferings and thus associate themselves in a conscious way with the sufferings of Christ crucified (cf. Mt 27: 34). Nevertheless it would be imprudent to impose a heroic way of acting as a general rule. On the contrary, human and Christian prudence suggest for the majority of sick people the use of medicines capable of alleviating or suppressing pain, even though these may cause as a secondary effect semiconsciousness and reduced lucidity. As for those who are not in a state to express themselves, one can reasonably presume that they wish to take these painkillers, and have them administered according to the doctor's advice. But the intensive use of painkillers is not without difficulties, because the phenomenon of habituation generally makes it necessary to increase their dosage in order to maintain their efficacy. At this point it is fitting to recall a declaration by Pius XII, which retains its full force; in answer to a group of doctors who had put the question: "Is the suppression of pain and consciousness by the use of narcotics...permitted by Today it is very important to protect, at the moment of death, both the dignity of the human person and the Christian concept of life, against a technological attitude that threatens to become an abuse. Thus, some people speak of a “right to die”, which is an expres- sion that does not mean the right to procure death either by one's own hand or by means of someone else, as one pleases, but rather the right to die peace- fully with human and Christian dignity. From this point of view, the use of therapeutic means can sometimes pose problems. In numerous cases, the complexity of the situation can be such as to cause doubts about the way ethical principles should be applied. In the final analysis, it pertains to the conscience either of the sick person, or of those qualified to speak in the sick person's name, or of the doctors, to decide, in the light of moral obligations and of the various aspects of the case. Everyone has the duty to care for his or her own health or to seek such care from others. Those whose task it is to care for the sick must do so conscientiously and administer the remedies that seem necessary or useful However, is it necessary in all circumstances to have recourse to all possible remedies? III The Meaning of Suffering DECLARATION ON EUTHANASIA 238 239 - When inevitable death is imminent in spite of the SACRED CONGREGATION FOR THE DOCTRINE OF THE FAITH means used, it is permitted in conscience to take the decision to refuse forms of treatment that would only secure a precarious and burdensome prolongation of life, so long as the normal care due to the sick person in similar cases is not interrupted. In such CCUM- stances the doctor has no reason to reproach himself with failing to help the person in danger. Notes States of America, 5 October 1979. AAS 71 (1979), p. 1225. In the past, moralists replied that one is never obliged to use “extraordinary" means. This reply, which as a principle still holds good, is perhaps less clear today, by reason of the imprecision of the term and the rapid progress made in the treatment of sickness. Thus some people prefer to speak of “proportionate” and "disproportionate” means. In any case, it will be possible to make a correct judgement as to the means by studying the type of treatment to be used, its degree of complexity or risk, its cost and the possibilities of using it, and comparing these elements with the result that can be expected, taking into account the state of the sick person and his or her physical and moral 2 One thinks especially of Recommendation 779 (1976) on the rights of the sick and dying, of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe at its XXVIIth Ordinary Session; cf. SIPECA, no. 1 (March 1977), pp. 14–15. 1 Pius XII, Address to those attending the Congress of the International Union of Catholic Women's Leagues, 11 September 1947: AAS 39 (1947), p. 483; Address to the Italian Catholic Union of Midwives, 29 October 1951: AAS 43 (1951), pp. 835-54; Speech to the members of the International Office of military medicine documentation, 19 October 1953: AAS 45 (1953), pp. 744–54; Address to those taking part in the IXth Congress of the Italian Anaesthesiological Society, 24 February 1957: AAS 49 (1957), pp. 146; cf. also Address on "reanimation”, 24 November 1957: AAS 49 (1957), pp. 1027-33; PAUL.VI, Address to the members of the United Nations Special Committee on Apartheid, 22 May 1974: AAS 66 (1974). p. 346; John Paul. II: Address to the Bishops of the United 3 Conclusion We leave aside completely the problems of the death penalty and of war, which involve specific considerations that do not concern the present subject. Pius XII, Address of 24 February 1957: AAS 49 (1957), 4 p. 147. 5 Pius XII, ibid., p. 145; cf. Address of 9 September 1958: AAS 50 (1958), p. 694. resources. In order to facilitate the application of these general principles, the following clarifications can be added: – If there are no other sufficient remedies, it is per- mitted, with the patient's consent, to have recourse to the means provided by the most advanced medical techniques, even if these means are still at the experi- mental stage and are not without certain risk. By accepting them, the patient can even show generosity in the service of humanity. – It is also permitted, with the patient's consent, to interrupt these means, where the results fall short of expectations. But for such a decision to be made, account will have to be taken of the reasonable wishes of the patient and the patient's family, as also of the advice of the doctors who are specially competent in the matter. The latter may in particular judge that the investment in instruments and personnel is dispropor- tionate to the results foreseen; they may also judge that the techniques applied impose on the patient strain or suffering out of proportion with the benefits which he or she may gain from such techniques. - It is also permissible to make do with the normal means that medicine can offer. Therefore one cannot impose on anyone the obligation to have recourse to a technique which is already in use but which carries a risk or is burdensome. Such a refusal is not the equivalent of suicide; on the contrary, it should be considered as an acceptance of the human condition, or a wish to avoid the application of a medical pro- cedure disproportionate to the results that can be expected, or a desire not to impose excessive expense on the family or the community. The norms contained in the present Declaration a inspired by a profound desire to serve people in accordance with the plan of the Creator. Life is a gift of God, and on the other hand death is unavoidable; it is necessary therefore that we, without in any way hastening the hour of death, should be able to accept it with full responsibility and dignity. It is true that death marks the end of our earthly existence, but at the same time it opens the door to immortal life. Therefore all must prepare themselves for this event in the light of human values, and Christians even more so in the light of faith. As for those who work in the medical profession, they ought to neglect no means of making all their skill available to the sick and the dying; but they should also remember how much more necessary it is to provide them with the comfort of boundless kindness and heartfelt charity. Such service to people is also service to Christ the Lord, who said: "As you did it to one of the least of these my brethren, you did it to me” (Mt 25: 40). At the audience granted to the undersigned Prefect , His Holiness Pope John Paul II approved this Declaration, adopted at the ordinary meeting of the Sacred Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, and ordered its publication. Rome, the Sacred Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, 5 May 1980. FRANJO Card. ŠEPER Prefect *Jérôme Hamer, O.P. Tit. Archbishop of Lorium Secretary 37 The Note Chris Hill An open letter to anyone who wants to understand why I've behind us; skied waist-deep powder snow in untracked checked out. It's very personal, pretty horrible and perhaps a Coloradon glades; soared thermals to 8000 feet in a bit shocking. I hope that those of you who knew me well hang-glider and have literally flown with the eagles. enough find it unnecessary to read this. In Maryland, on midsummer nights redolent with the smell of freshly ploughed earth, I rode past fields lit by Well , this is it – perhaps the hardest thing you've ever the twinkling light of a billion fireflies. I've ridden a had to read, easily the most difficult thing I've ever motorcycle at 265 km/h on a Japanese racetrack and attempted to write. To understand my over-whelming up to the 5000 metre snowline on an Ecuadorian vol- sense of loss and why I chose to take my own life, you cano. And speaking of riding, what haven't I seen from need to know a bit about my life before and after my behind the bars of a motorcycle? More than 200 000 accident. Let's take a closer look. kilometres in over a dozen countries embracing I was born at one of the best times in one of the everything from some of the world's most spectacular world's best countries – Australia. I had more than the wilderness areas to its greatest cities and vast slums proverbial happy childhood. Great parents, world containing millions of impoverished souls. travel , a good education and fabulous experiences like Along the way I picked up a decent education, Disneyland, swimming with a wild dolphin in the tur- including two university degrees, and learnt another quoise waters of the Bahamas, riding across the desert language. All this and so much more – more than sands around the Egyptian pyramids and much more. most people would experience in several lifetimes. Later, after the travel bug had bitten good and hard, Perhaps most importantly of all, everywhere I've I set out on my own adventures. I can remember only been I enjoyed the support of a caring family, the com- a fraction of them, but many rich images come flood- pany of good friends and, more than once, the rewards ing back. I stood on the lip of a live volcano in Vanuatu of being involved in a caring relationship. They - you, my life as and stared down into the vision of hell in its throat; if you're reading – are ultimately what made I watched the morning sun ignite Himalayan peaks in rich as it was, and I thank you. a blaze of incandescent glory; smoked hashish with a I was lucky enough to know love, and I indulged in leper in an ancient Hindu temple; danced naked lust. I enjoyed exotic erotica with perhaps more than under the stars with the woman I love on a tropical a hundred women of many different nationalities in beach that left a trail of phosphorescent blue footsteps places that ranged from the bedroom to a crowded Ringwood, Australia: Penguin Books, 1994. Original publication details: Chris Hill, "The Note," pp. 9–17 from Helga Kuhse (ed.), Willing to Listen, Wanting to Die, © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Published 2016 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Bioethics: An Anthology, Third Edition. Edited by Helga Kuhse, Udo Schüklenk, and Peter Singer. CHRIS HILL THE NOTE and debilitating surgery. enough. of 354 but I had a powerful incentive to persevere. Autonomic dysreflexia it's called, the potentially fatal rise in blood ship's deck on the Aegean Sea, fields, rivers, trees, pressure and excruciating headache that occurs if bodis beaches, cars and motorcycles. There's been a ménage à trois in various combinations and even a few outright waste isn't properly removed and backs up. I had a orgies. How wonderful to have been sexually active in of it in hospital once, and that was the pre-AIDS era. I record this not as an exercise in Despite this regimen, there was no guarantee testosterone-fuelled chest-beating, but to point out I wouldn't shit or piss my pants in public or wake u that sex was an important part my life, and so that wallowing in it. Can you imagine living with the you can better understand my sense of loss. uncertainty? Can you imagine the shame and how In short, I once lived life to the max, always grateful ation when it actually happened? Unbearable abomi- that I had the opportunity to do just that, and always nations that made me feel less than human. For me, it mindful to live for today because there may be no was no way to live. tomorrow. There's more. I wept every morning when I Just as well, it seems. After my hang-gliding myself in the mirror. I'd become a hunchback with a accident - how ironic that something I loved so much bloated pot belly above withered legs with muscles could destroy me so cruelly – tomorrows were noth- as soft and useless as marshmallow. It was an unbeara- ing but a grey void of bleak despair. I was paralysed ble sight for someone who was once so grateful for from the chest down, more than three-quarters dead. being blessed with such an athletic and healthy body, A talking head mounted on a bloody wheelchair. No Paraplegia meant that I also had to live with the more of the simple pleasures I once took for granted. constant possibility of pressure sores, ugly ulcers that No walking, running, swimming, riding motorcycles, the wonderful feel of grass, sand or mud underfoot, can require months of hospitalization to cure. They're nothing. The simplest of everyday tasks - getting up, common. So are urinary tract infections and haemór- rhoids. I suffer from both, and they also usually lead having a shower, getting dressed – became an enor- mous hassle and the source of endless frustration. That back to hospital sooner or later. I would rather die in itself was completely shattering physically and than return to hospital. emotionally, but I lost so much more than mobility. Then there was the pain in my shoulder. A damaged I lost my dignity and self-respect. I would forever be a nerve meant that two muscles in my left shoulder burden on those around me and I didn't want that no didn't work and they wasted away, leaving the others matter how willingly and unthinkingly family and to compensate and me with a pain that frequently friends assumed that burden. Every time I had to ask made simple actions difficult. Then there were swollen someone to do something for me, every time I was ankles, which once meant sleeping with pillows dragged up a damn step, was like thrusting a hot blade under my feet so they could drain overnight. My chest into the place where my pride used to be. became hypersensitive, which may sound like fun but All that was bad enough, but there was so much more. meant that I felt like I was wearing an unbearably No balance. My every action was as graceless as a toy scratchy woollen jumper over bare skin. And afer dog nodding in the back of some beat-up car. No ability sitting in the chair for a few hours my bum, which to regulate my body temperature properly – in a sense I shouldn't have had any sensation, felt like it was was cold blooded, more like a lizard than a human There were also tinea, crutch rot, headaches...The list being. And without abdominal muscles I couldn't of horrors was endless, and I haven't even mentioned cough, sneeze, shout, blow out a candle or even fart. some of the worst ones. Worse still, I couldn't shit or piss. Those body func- tions had to be performed manually, which meant While at Moorong (Spinal Unit) I began to wake sticking a 30-centimetre-long silicon tube up my wil- with pins and needles – loss of sensation - in my lie four times a day so I could drain myself into a plastic hands and arms. Sometimes it took hours to pass, a bag, and sticking a finger up my arse every second day I began to fear losing what little I had left. That w to dig out the shit. Sometimes both procedures drew unbearable. Tethering, nerves pinched by the scr blood. They always made me shudder with revulsion, tissue formed around the broken bones in my! I was told. The doctors talked about tests and surgery 355 on my neck, wrists. Forget it. There was no way I'd Someone so desirable with open, honest, natural, loyal, return to hospital, let alone for such delicate, radical a great sense of humour and a figure the desire of men and envy of women - has a better chance than All my many pleasures had been stripped from me most of finding the happiness she deserves, and I hope and replaced by a hellish living nightmare. The mere with all my heart she finds it. sight of someone standing up, a child skipping, a I had other reasons for living, of course - my family bicyclist's flexing leg muscles, were enough to reduce and friends. I remember, many years ago, lying on the me to tears. Everything I saw and did was a stinging verandah roof of a colonial mansion in the mountains reminder of my condition and I cried constantly, of northern Burma. A shooting star streaked through even behind the jokes and smiles. I was so tired of the clear night sky and I made a wish. I wished for crying. I never imagined that anyone could hurt so health, wealth and happiness for all those I loved bad and cry so much. I guarantee that anybody who and cared about. I repeated that wish several times in thinks it can't have been too bad would change their the following years and was enormously gratified to mind if they lived in my body for a day. gradually see it come to pass for most of my family People kill animals to put them out of their misery and friends. I'm not suggesting that my wishes had if they're suffering even a tiny part of what I had to anything to do with their various successes – that was put up with, but I was never given the choice of a largely the result of their own efforts and the occa- dignified death and I was very bitter about that. sional dash of good fortune. But after my accident, I could accept that accidents happen and rarely asked even the joy I derived from seeing the happiness of 'why me?', but I felt that the legislature's and the those I cared about went sour for me. Seeing others medical profession's attitude of life at any cost was an get on with their lives, doing what I no longer could, inhumane presumption that amounted to arrogance. was terribly distressing for me. I couldn't live my life And what of the dollar cost? My enforced recovery vicariously through other people's satisfactions and and rehabilitation cost taxpayers at least $150,000 by achievements. I was a self-centred person and I'd my rough 'count, money that wouldn't have been always done what I wanted, had my own reasons for wasted had anybody bothered to ask me how I felt living about the whole thing and what I'd like to do. Mum and Dad, you often said that you didn't care I had one good reason for living, of course, and her what I did as long as I was happy. I expect that many name is Lee-Ann, the best thing that ever happened friends felt the same way. Well, I was termi- to me. Wonderful Lee-Ann, without whom I would nally, unbearably unhappy with no way out - except have gone insane long before now. But I wept when- death. I know others have come to terms with para- ever I thought of us together. What future could we plegia, or even quadriplegia, and managed to lead have? No matter how hard I worked and how much successful, apparently normal and happy lives. I've I achieved, she would inevitably be a nursemaid in a met and been encouraged by some of them. I tips me million different ways, and I hated that, no matter that hat to them, for they have done what I cannot. Then she so willingly and lovingly assumed the burden. again, perhaps I have done what they could not. Four Nor would I condemn her to spend her nights attempts taught me that it takes an enormous amount sleeping with a sexless wooden lump twitching with of courage to commit suicide. Unfortunately, I didn't spasm. That's right, sexless – impotent. Stripped of my find the examples of others in my position motivat- sexuality, I felt that I'd lost part of my essence, the very ing or inspirational. For me, life as a para was so far core of my masculinity. I was even denied the sensual from the minimum I considered acceptable that it pleasure of embrace, because from the chest down. just didn't matter. It's quality of life, not quantity, I couldn't feel warmth, didn't even know if someone that's important was touching me. I love Lee-Ann, but she deserves better than the pointless life I could offer, and I believe that I'm giving her another chance at happiness no matter how much pain I cause in the short term. of my on fire - It's a challenge, many of you said. Bullshit. My life was just a miserable existence, an awful parody of nor- malcy. What's a challenge without some reward to make it worthwhile? neck
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Running head: EUTHANASIA

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Euthanasia and religion
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EUTHANASIA
Euthanasia and religion
It is evident that there will never be an agreement between the church and some medical

aspects, especially one concerned with taking or trying to perfect life. Science has many theories
and activities that oppose religion, which holds the notion that God is in charge of human life,
and he is the only being with the power to give or take life. Religion and morality are two
subjects that go hand in hand, perfection and loyalty to Gods command are expected to be
paramount for every human being which rules out the use o...

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