ermed ôthe right to die.ö The lapse in logic associated with trying to make death a ôrightö should be obvious. We are all going to die. We donÆt need to make any laws or set up any procedures to make it happen. We donÆt need anyoneÆs intervention to die; we will die eventually, and there is no way to escape that. Death is not a right; it is a destiny. What euthanasists are terming ôthe right to dieö is actually ôthe right to kill.ö They want to interfere with the destiny to die and short-circuit the process to make it happen on their own terms.
The twisted logic that underlies euthanasia is extremely dangerous. When people depart from known right and wrong and begin to manufacture gray areas in their thinking, anything can happen. People can become convinced of the most outlandish ideas through their own imaginations and rationalizations. Situation ethics, where people can justify virtually any action based on the situation, has produced some strange and terrifying outcomes. Jim Jones is a good example of situation ethics gone bad. His ôPeopleÆs Templeö was originally designed to be an interracial mission for the sick, homeless, and jobless. Every apparently benevolent fatade is not necessarily a standard for what is right and wrong, however. Thanks to his misguided ideas, 914 people died: 638 adults and 276 children. Most committed suicide by drinking a grape drink laced with poisons, but others appear to have been murdered by poison injection. Still other victims were shot (Robinson).
The problem with viewing death as a solution is that it turns you into a mercy killer. The problem with becoming a mercy killer is th
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