We will continue resisting euthanasia.

By Charles Lewis

There may be a tendency to give up now that the fight against legalized euthanasia has ended. We now have euthanasia in this country. With or without a law it's here. We tried to stop it and so we lost that battle. Notice I wrote we lost the battle and not the war.

Bill C14 as is or whatever warped form it takes on is an evil. It's not a bit evil, or somewhat evil or even mainly evil. It's fully evil. There is nothing good about it. It offends human decency. We know this. That's why we've been fighting. So on that score nothing has changed.

At the end of the day it can be resisted. The worst thing anyone can do now, anyone who has been involved in the anti-euthanasia cause, would be to give up. This law does not have to be respected. And just because it offers and supports medical murder that doesn't mean we have to avail ourselves of it. Nor should we sit by while those we know decide to end their lives in such a barbaric manner.

Here is the problem as I see it: There is a strong core of us who will never accept euthanasia. We refused to cooperate with the government in the law's development. Our hands our clean. But we have inherited a huge responsibility.

Let me put this in terms of a parish. I know not every reader is religious but think of it as a model for small-scale resistance. The Catholic Church has always taught that the most effective way to change minds happens at the local level. This makes sense, as it's easier to get things done in a small group then say nationally or globally. A few can do that but most of us have limited time and other duties.

In any parish, there are those who think euthanasia is a good idea. The polls bear this out. So our aim should be to find these people and try to change their minds. In a religious context it's easier than a secular context because there is more common ground. Even the worst Catholic who attends mass knows that certain things are wrong, though they try to run from that truth.

Also the people we know at the local level are familiar faces and often friends. There is a level of trust there that a stranger won't assume.

These are the people who need formation and need our help and wisdom.

We must also recognize the importance of caring for and others. People who we know will experience difficult circumstances and we need to be caring friends and recognize that we are capable of saving a life by caring and supporting others in their difficult circumstance. 

Let's say you change one person's mind. You may say, So what?

You never save one person: you save a whole group of people each time you save one. You save this person's spouse, children, relatives and other close friends. Every time someone chooses legalized suicide it sends a message that it's okay.

On the other hand every time someone says no it will send a powerful message. We should choose life.

It will also mean local groups can come to the aid of physicians who find themselves at odds with the requirement to refer patients who want to die to doctors who have no qualms of ending someone's life with a syringe. It's going to mean moral support and financial support. It will mean raising a stink to high heaven because the stripping of conscience rights is a moral outrage.

We are going to be true rebels. We will fight endless skirmishes. We will be odd to others. The ones who won't accept defeat. That's fine. We're not in high school. Being popular is not the goal. Fighting for Truth and Justice is.