“Our once great western Christian civilization is dying. If this matters to followers of Jesus Christ, then we must set aside our denominational differences and work together to strengthen the things that remain and reclaim what has been lost. Evangelicals and Catholics must stand together to re-establish that former Christian culture and moral consensus. We have the numbers and the organization but the question is this: Do we have the will to win this present spiritual battle for Jesus Christ against secularism? Will we prayerfully and cooperatively work toward a new Christian spiritual revival ― or will we choose to hunker down in our churches and denominationalisms and watch everything sink into the spiritual and moral abyss of a New Dark Age?” - Mark Davis Pickup

Thursday, July 17, 2014

MEDIA PROPAGANDA PROMOTING ASSISTED SUICIDE

http://www.firstthings.com/web-exclusives/2014/07/how-we-portray-suffering-and-suicide
Wesley J. Smith, "HOW WE PORTRAY SUFFERING AND SUICIDE", 11 July 2014, FIRST THINGS online.


John and Dianne Rehm
The link above is to a recent article written by Wesley J. Smith, one of America's top bioethical thinkers. He was responding to the promotion of assisted suicide by NPR's megastar Dianne Rehm. Rehm's husband John had Parkinson's disease and starved himself to death in what euthanasia advocates call "voluntary stop eating and drinking" (VSED). 

Wesley took NBC television to task for profiling Rehm in an interview, in which they focused exclusively on the pro assisted suicide perspective. He wrote: 
Wesley J. Smith

"It is a profound disservice to the gravity of this issue that the media give scandalously short shrift to the many stories of people who find meaning and hope even as they grapple with the anguish of profound disabilities." 

Wesley then went on to profile ALS sufferer Robert Salamanca, and me. I have noticed that the secular media has become a mouthpiece for the euthanasia/assisted suicide lobby, just as they were for abortion advocates. It should not come as any surprise. My experience with the media is that they are superficial liberals who do not generally take the time to really analyse issues before reporting. 

The fact remains that most people with disabilities do not support euthanasia or assisted suicide. We know we are the targets. Granted there are individuals like John Rehm who chose suicide, but most of us want the hope of life with dignity not the abandonment of assisted death. The death with dignity crowd disguise hostility toward people like me behind a facade of compassion and choice. Some compassion -- some choice!

Mark





3 comments:

William Kane Kuhnke said...

I am one of the "death with dignity" crowd, and I think I should have the right to an assisted suicide if want one. You are not a target.

Mark Davis Pickup said...

Somehow this does not surprise me, Mr. Kuhnke. You should be able to have assisted suicide if you want one? According to your sort of thinking, suicide prevention programs should be shut down and the suicidal helped to kill themselves, or is that reserved for the incurably ill and severely disabled? That does make me a target. In fact, people with MS have already been been killed by assisted suicide thanks to the death with dignity crowd.

Mark Davis Pickup said...

Regarding the comment above from William Kuhnke, HumanLifeMatters' blog readers (nearly 300,000 hits to date)deserve clarification: Mr. Kuhnke and I were friends at one time long ago. (Our families even vacationed together.) He was one of the people I had in mind -- in previous blogs and columns -- when I said old friends stayed away in droves beginning at about the time I was diagnosed with MS.