Euthanasia and Religion Essay -- Papers

Euthanasia and Religion Some people believe human life is to respect above all other forms of life whilst others believe that all life (both human and non-human species) is to be given equal respect and treated as 'sacred' (special). Most religions believe humans are special. For instance, they teach that we have a soul (a part of us that lives on after death), and that we have been given an opportunity to have a relationship with God. Some religions, such as Judaism and Christianity, also teach that humans have been created in 'God's image'. This means that humans have certain qualities and characteristics that God has (E.g. They can make things, they have the ability to reason things, they were created good). It is also believed that humans have been given a responsibility to look after the world God created. The following passages from the Bible illustrate the special nature of humans 'Then God said, "Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move on the ground. So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them' (Genesis 1:26-27) '... What is man that you are mindful of him, the son of man that you care for him? You made him a little lower than the heavenly beings and crowned him with glory and honour. You made him ruler over the works of your hands; you put everything under his feet.' (Psalm 8:4-6) Christians also believe God values human life greatly as they believe Jesus came to die to heal the broken relatio... ...e had a pet that developed an incurable illness we would believe it cruel to keep it alive. To stop it suffering and not having a good life we would take it to the vet to have it 'put down'. Yet surely if humans are nothing more than 'cleaver apes' why not 'put humans down' when they develop incurable illnesses or when their quality of life deteriorates? Why do we hold human life special in that we want humans to be treated differently to the way we treat animals? Has evolutionary theory left us with a problem? On the one hand some people want to reject the idea that God exists, and is the creator of humanity, yet on the other hand they want to say that human are different to other 'animals'. Yet is it possible to reject God whilst retaining the view that human life is more valuable than the lives of other 'animals'?