Euthanasia and Religion

Although certain religions have different views of assisted suicide, most religions are generally against the practice.  Some Buddhists support it because compassion is an important value in Buddhism whereas the major stand of Buddhists is that it is immoral to take part in actions that destroy human life.  The Catholic Religion forbids the practice of Euthanasia because they consider life as a gift from God and committing suicide is considered a sin and a crime against God.  The Majority of Protestant religions are against Euthanasia, but there are a few liberal denominations that do support it.  The Islam religion forbids all forms all suicide although they can refuse cures for terminal diseases.  Hinduism has similar views as that of Buddhism, they believe that it is a good deed to end someone’s suffering, but they also believe that it is a sin to help someone end their life.



Becker, Carl B. "Buddhist Views of Suicide and Euthanasia." Philosophy East and West
          40.4 (1990). JSTOR. Web. 02 May 2012.
          http://www.jstor.org/stable/10.2307/1399357.