Former Archbishop of Canterbury backs euthanasia
by Michael Cook, MercatorNet:
The former Anglican Archbishop of Canterbury, George Carey, has sent a message to the Parliament of the Australian state of New South Wales, urging it to pass a euthanasia bill.
In a letter obtained by The Australian addressed to every member of the NSW Upper House, Lord Carey, who is also a member of the House of Lords in the UK, said: “It is not my intention to interfere in a matter that properly belongs to Australian citizens, but I write as a former archbishop of Canterbury who has had a radical change of heart on assisted dying.”
Lord Carey had his Damascene moment back in 2014. To the astonishment of the British public, he published an op-ed in which he strongly backed an assisted dying bill sponsored by Labor Peer Lord Falconer. Although Anglicans are not united on assisted dying, as on other social issues, he was not speaking for the Church of England. The incumbent Archbishop of Canterbury, the de facto head of the Church of England, Justin Welby, has declared that it would be a disaster for the elderly.
In his 2014 essay Carey wrote that the scales had fallen from his eyes after speaking with several dying people:
[…] Time has done little to temper Lord Carey’s zeal to spread the Gospel of euthanasia. If anything, he feels more committed.
In yesterday’s letter to the NSW MPs, he says: “I urge you not to consider the religious view to be settled on this matter and that all Christian and religious leaders speak with one mind. It is often thought that this is simply a sanctity of life matter on which most Christians agree. Yet there is a considerable gulf between the leadership of churches and the views of many in the congregations.”
But is proclaiming that the problem of pain is solved by ending the patient rather than the pain authentically Christian?
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