History and ‘Lives Not Worth Living’

[Sanctity of Human Life Sunday]

Following World War II, the Allies put Nazi Germany’s surviving leaders on trial for genocide and other war crimes. The chief medical consultant for the prosecution was an American doctor named Leo Alexander.

 

In 1949, Alexander summed up what he had learned from his experience at the Nuremberg War Trials. He wrote in the New England Journal of Medicine that the horrors of the Third Reich were made possible by a single idea: the belief that some lives are not worth living.

 

You would think that Alexander’s words and the wreckage caused by Nazi barbarism would have driven that lesson home. Unfortunately, that’s not the case.  The Nazis’ phrase for the kind of lives Alexander wrote about was Lebensunwertes Leben, which means "lives not worth living." They initially employed the phrase to justify killing the sick and the handicapped. They weren’t concerned about individual suffering; their concern was the cost and inconvenience to society of keeping these people alive.

 

Once they convinced people to subject human life to a cost/benefit analysis with regards to the sick and the handicapped, it became easier to apply these standards to other groups.

 

Given this evil history, you’d expect that both the idea and the phrase would have been banished from German culture forever. They haven’t been.  Nearly three-quarters of all Germans surveyed favor physician-assisted suicide and euthanasia. Even worse, a survey of German doctors found that 6.4 percent of hospital physicians and 10.5 percent of general practitioners had been present when a physician euthanized a patient.

 

To add moral insult to mortal injury, the Nazi phrase is regularly used by German advocates of physician-assisted suicide and euthanasia.  Whatever lessons Germans have learned from their history apparently did not include a high regard for the sanctity of human life. And Germans are not alone in this regard. Dutch doctors heroically opposed the Nazis two generations ago. Now, Dutch doctors murder upwards of 3,500 patients a year.

 

It would be foolish to think that what’s happening in Europe can’t happen here. Given its current trajectory, American culture is well on its way to embracing what Pope John Paul II has called "the culture of death."

 

Oregon has already legalized physician-assisted suicide. At least a dozen states have considered or are considering similar measures. While none of them have joined Oregon, it may only be a matter of time. Nearly half of all doctors surveyed favor legalizing physician-assisted suicide.

 

So-called "death with dignity" is depicted sympathetically in the media. Generations of Americans, like a generation of Germans seventy years ago, are being taught that there is such a thing as "a life not worth living." What they are not told is that, once a culture believes that, there’s no reason for a doctor to wait for his patients to request assistance.

 

Making comparisons to the Nazi era can be inflammatory, but it is only fair to ask: What have we learned? Whatever else we may have learned, we have failed to understand the most important lesson: There is no such thing as "a life not worth living." As Leo Alexander would tell you, it’s the lesson that separates civilization from barbarism.

BreakPoint with Charles Colson - 1/23/2003

 

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RAYMOND SMILEY (Clyde’s best man) gave a generous donation to our church in honor of Clyde and Grace’s marriage; our sincere appreciation.

 

 

$93.00 WAS RECEIVED from Frank Roper’s Christmas craft sale that will go into our youth treasury.  I’ve not heard the amount raised by Beth Marsh’s crafts for the Agape’s but I’m sure they appreciated it!  Thanks to both of you for being so generous with your time and talents!

 

FOR THE FIRST TIME in our nation’s history, over half of American “marriages” are not marriages but men and women who are living together.   I guess if men and women like their freedom to come and go when the mood hits them and have no intention to make a serious commitment to one person or to make children feel secure in a stable home, then this must be the future of America.  This is not God’s will for men and women, but obviously, not many fear God’s laws or anger any longer!                                                   - Pastor Cain

 

THERE’S A SUNDAY SCHOOL staff meeting today after service.

 

ABC: “We are glad to welcome all of you to this new semester at Atlanta Bible College and Atlanta Bible College Korean Extension.  We are delighted to welcome about 30 new students this semester which brings our total enrollment to over 150.  Among the new students are international students from South Korea, Zambia, Kenya, and Tanzania.  We are thankful that some of our international applicants were able to secure visas.” 

– David Krogh, ABC Registrar and Financial Consultant

 

 

“CLEANING HOUSE FOR 2007”

– from Gail Williams (Missouri)

 

            Last Week I threw out Worrying, it was getting old and in the way. It kept me from being me; I couldn't do things God's way.

            I threw out a book on MY PAST (Didn't have time to read it anyway). Replaced it with NEW GOALS, started reading it today.

 

            I threw out hate and bad memories,(Remember how I treasured them so)? Got me a NEW PHILOSOPHY too, threw out the one from long ago.

 

            Brought in some new books too, called I CAN, I WILL, AND I MUST. Threw out I might, I think and I ought. WOW, you should've seen the dust.

 

            I ran across an OLD FRIEND, I hadn't talked to in a while. His name is GOD the Father, and I really like His style. He helped me to do some cleaning and added some things Himself. Like PRAYER, HOPE, FAITH and LOVE. Yes I placed them right on the shelf.

 

            I picked up this special thing and placed it at the front door. I FOUND IT- its called PEACE. Nothing gets me down anymore.

            Yes, I've got my house looking nice. Looks good around the place. For things like Worry and Trouble there just isn't any space.

 

            It's good to do a little house cleaning, Get rid of the things on the shelf. It sure makes things brighter; maybe you should TRY IT YOURSELF.

www.thriveministry.net / 1-18-07

 

PRAY FOR: Amy Gunselman (cancer / by R Phillis), Cathy Panyard (untimely death of husband / by K Cain), Evelyn Pennington, Katie Cramer (chemo), Pastor Ray Hall (chemo), Ralph & Iona Childs, Ruby Korode, Penny Frederick, Lucinda (by Szekely), Gene & Gloria Faehnrich, Edith Speer, Grady Hudspeth*, Jacob Hinton*, Kathy & Destiny Reed*, (*by Skip), W.C. & Craig Blankenship, College students: Jackie Schuld, Dan Cain, Rachel Cunningham, Shut-ins: David Onderdonk Sr., Helen Matthews, Military: Rodger Schuld, Those serving in other countries: Lupe Badillo-Mexico, Tracy Zhykhovich-Russia, Beder Ucañay-Peru, Pastors in Malawi &  Mozambique, Lesly Bertrand and the Pastors in Haiti. Colleges / Churches: RRCC, ABC, Golden Rule, Grace Brethren and for the peace of Jerusalem, Ps. 122:6; Isa. 62:6,7

 

January 2007

21       S.S. Teachers and Staff Meeting

28       Andy Griffith movie in S.S. / Rachel Weaver leading

 

Welcome / Announcements

Worship Hymns / Mark Cain

28 Great Is Thy Faithfulness

27 Holy, Holy, Holy

Prayer / Offering

Message: “Before I Formed You, I Knew You”

Key Texts: Jer 1:1-8; Ps 139:16; Job 139:1-4

1 How Great Thou Art

 

Human Interest Story

“In the world they made for themselves, Siamese twins Margaret and Mary Gibb were not only accustomed to their affliction, they came to prefer it.  As adults, they refused even to discuss the possibility of separation.  To them, such a move would have seemed no less than amputation of a major limb.  But their condition haunted their physician, Dr. John Appel, because, though Mary seemed entirely healthy, Margaret was suffering from rapidly spreading cancer.  But the sisters did not change their views, and when Margaret’s cancer had spread to her lungs and heart, it had also spread to Mary.  They died at 54 on Aug. 29^th 1967, within two minutes of each other.”

- Selected from Pastor Gordon Landry’s 10-15-06 bulletin