Memory, Community and the Reasons for Living: Theological and Ethical Reflections on Suicide and Euthanasia

In trying to see what significance suicide and euthanasia have in the Christian community, and how the memory and the narrative framework of that community provide resources for determining an appropriate position on suicide and euthanasia, this essay advances an experimental model of how moral notions operate within the story and convictions that sustain human communities. It is suggested that given the Christian understanding of life as a gift and the necessity of trust for our lives as social creatures, suicide and euthanasia are incompatible with essential elements of the Christian story and must therefore be rejected. While this position, together with the ambiguity of suicide and the necessity of distinguishing between euthanasia and "letting die," may sometimes result in tragic circumstances, such tragedy is the inescapable result of truthfulness to a complex story. This essay is intended to contribute to discussion of suicide and euthanasia, to the bearing of moral notions and narrative, and to an understanding of the nature and function of ethics.