I don't know what it is about this issue that makes me sit up straight in my chair! I, too, wrestle with the issue of euthanasia and this discussion is both beneficial to me and necessary for us to have as a community/socie ty. Mike, thanks so much for posting this, and for being there. And thank you, Lord, for your Spirit on Mike.

I so appreciate Mike's passion for giving ear to all sides. I'm not sure I could do the same.

The biggest argument I hear for PAS is the elimination of discomfort. From my perspective of faith, however, I am called not to seek out comfort (although I believe God wants to provide me comfort), but to see out righteousness. So the question in a faith perspective becomes not, "What is least painful," but rather, "What is right?" This is a far more difficult question to answer, but also far more important. And often, the answer is the opposite of painlessness. How many times do we see examples in scripture of God requiring someone to endure pain for a greater good? But how can you reconcile this with a secular argument, when the two sides cannot agree on a definition of "right?" And to answer that question, don't we need to first answer the real central question, "Why am I here in the first place?" (Kind of an extension of, "Who owns my body?") A possible answer is that we are here FOr God, and not to BE God - therefore, what right do we have to decide our own fate when we are not even wise enough to know what will happen tomorrow morning?

Perhaps another difference is that our faith is also a hope - God's grace is sufficient. This alone gives us the ability to march forward into certain discomfort knowing that we will make it out the other side, and that there is order in the chaos as well.

(Mike touched on this at the end with, "I prefer to live in a society that emphasizes the value of life.")

Finally, I see a fundamental challenge in taking such a grace position in a society focused on rights (as in, Charter of Rights). My faith perspective is that life is a privilege and my actions are a responsibility, whereas I believe most see both as rights. The concept of "right" is a self-oriented one, but "responsibility " is an others-oriented one. Does anyone exist anymore who adheres to the latter? It's a struggle for me, and this is one of my central tenets.

Very well done Mike, enjoyed this a lot...You speak so well, and it was great to hear about your journey to today...I saw a show like a life time ago about the eskimos when they feel they are ready to die, they go out on the ice to never return.. I dont believe the family took them. The old person who isnt working, hunting,cooking etc, should not take food from the younger ones who need it.This is what I remember..That would be really hard to see your gramma head out on the ice and know what she was doing, but for them it would be custom. I should research that again. Thanks again enjoyed the debate