Threats to the Disabled
The dictionary defines disabled as “deprived of capabilities.” Does being deprived of certain capabilities take away meaning and purpose in our lives or take away our right to life? Do people deprived of capabilities ever reach a point where we should allow them to die or where we should cause them to die? Is there a difference? The answer to this is critical.
Blurring the Distinction: Allowing to Die or Causing to Die?
“Once we have transgressed and blurred the line between killing and allowing to die, it will be exceedingly difficult-in logic, law, and practice-to limit the license to kill. Once the judgment is not about the worth of specific treatments but about the worth of specific lives, our nursing homes and other institutions will present us with countless candidates for elimination who would ‘be better off dead.’“ (Always to Care, Never to Kill: A Declaration on Euthanasia from the Ramsey Colloquium as published in First Things February 1992 pp. 45-47.)
There is a distinction between allowing to die and causing to die. We can and should allow dying people to die. This decision should be made based on the worth of a particular treatment not on the judged worth of the person. If a treatment has become a burden to the person and is causing more harm than good or is only prolonging death rather than sustaining life, it may be withdrawn.
It is quite a different matter to remove treatment or care in order to cause the living to die. Take for example the Terri Schiavo case in Florida. Terri, a brain damaged woman, was not being kept alive by extraordinary means. She was being kept alive by very ordinary means-food and water-being administered by a small tube directly into her stomach. Terri was not dying. The removal of her feeding tube would not allow her to die. It would cause her to die. Her case received national attention, but it is by no means an isolated case. Disability groups are rightly concerned about the increased use of withdrawing treatment and care to cause people who are disabled to die. When decisions about who lives and who dies start being based on arbitrary standards, how can we possibly draw lines?
An Able God
That is why Christians need to stick to the basics of what the Bible says about who God is and his view of life. Paul reminds us in Ephesians 3:20 that God is all-powerful. “Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us …” The power of God, what God is able to do, is way, way beyond anything we could even come close to imagining! It gets even more amazing. That power is at work within us as his people! How do we know? The power of God over sin assures us.
Able to Forgive
Sin disables us all. Sin deprives us of the capability to love God and to love our neighbor, and it renders us incapable of doing anything about it. Sin makes us more than comatose. “You were dead in your transgressions and sins” (Ephesians 2:1). “But God …” Paul goes on, “made us alive with Christ” (vs. 4-5). This is the assurance that God’s power is at work within the hearts of believers. He cleansed us and made us worthy to be a dwelling place of his power. This has powerful implications.
Able to Provide
God purchased and cleansed us through the blood of his only Son. That means God is committed to provide for us. “He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all-how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things?” (Romans 8:32) When we imagine the worst when things go wrong, God’s power is more than we can imagine! He is able to provide the strength, perseverance, and patience we need if someone we love or we ourselves become disabled.
Able to Give Value
God gives life value because God is the Giver of life. “Do you question me about my children, or give me orders about the work of my hands?” (Isaiah 45:11) When we imagine the worst about life’s value, God’s power is more than we can imagine! God gave us life and shaped us and formed us with his hands. He stretched out his hands on a cross to purchase new life for us. Therein lies our value. The effects of sin in the world and on our own bodies may diminish our physical or mental capabilities but not our value. We can all become disabled. We can never become devalued. The misshapen and strangely colored paperweight presented by your first-grader has value because of who gives it.
Value for the disabled is not in their ability to think or speak or feed themselves. It is not even in whether or not they can respond to family members. None of these things matter. The value of the disabled is in the fact that they are living human beings created by God and for whom Jesus died.
Able to Give Purpose
As long as God gives life, God gives life purpose. “‘For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,’ declares the LORD” (Isaiah 55:8). When we imagine the worst about life’s purpose, God’s power is more than we can imagine! We limit the power of God and try to control the thoughts of God when we think there can be no purpose to a life like Terri Schiavo’s. Terri’s purpose for her life, her dreams and hopes, came to an end when her brain was damaged. God’s purpose for her life did not. God is able to work through people who are severely disabled. He gives life meaning and purpose.
Able to Give Hope
Hope is not just something we feel. It is something we are promised. “‘For I know the plans I have for you,’ declares the LORD, ‘plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.’” When we imagine the worst about our future, the power of God is more than we can imagine! The word “future” here literally means “end.” The resurrection of Jesus has paved the way for an end to all that sin has brought. For the believer it will be a glorious end. The certainty of this future end is our present hope. We live in that hope trusting in God’s timing for our end and knowing that his power is at work within us.
Can being deprived of certain capabilities deprive us of meaning and purpose? No. Does it deprive us of the right to life? No. Can we allow people to die? Yes. Should we ever cause someone to die? No. How can we be certain of such answers? Our Able God!