If religion allows you to ignore suffering, thank god I don't have it

Cal Thomas writes in the Washington Times today, " there are always euphemisms to help us through the troubling practices we might not, under other circumstances, wish to pursue." He is not referring to the trite little things people say when someone dies. "It was his time." "She's in a better place." "Their with god now." My favorite, "at least they're not suffering." What bullshit. Of course, dead people don't suffer. The living can suffer and most don't want to. No, Thomas is not referring to these arrogant mostly religious niceties; he is referring to the phrases "right to die" and "compassionate assisted suicide." He does not believe that individuals have a choice in how they die.

If people could choose to alleviate their own suffering there would be "a significant loss for the human race." Thomas does not explain what the human race would lose. I imagine the loss that Thomas thinks will be significant to the human race is purely sacramental. The bible is the ultimate argument for Thomas' position. As he writes, "in a sense, we all have a 'right,' or more precisely, an obligation, to die." Presumably because we are owned by god. As the Catechism says, "we are stewards, not owners, of the life God has entrusted to us. It is not ours to dispose of." Bullshit. Even Thomas does not believe this entirely as he writes, is death even "ultimately our decision? We did not create life... The state is supposed to protect life, not take it except in cases of capital murder." Hypocrite.

As I expect of any religious hypocrite the right to life only extends to the point of when you begin to choose how you want to live. At that point Thomas wants to impose his religious will on your life choices. Thomas wrote during the end of Terri Schiavo's suffering, "there is little legal or (shudder) theological precedent for any such 'right.'" I am not a theologian nor do I care for Jesus but in John 10:18 of the bible it says, "No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord." Did Jesus choose?

Of course Thomas connects this argument to abortion. But he also decided to perpetuate the myth that President Obama want to euthanize senior citizens. He writes:

"The One who gave us life has, or ought to have, sole discretion as to when it ends. However, if increasing numbers of us think 'the One' refers to a character in 'The Matrix' and that we are just evolutionary accidents, the conclusion of it all is euthanasia for the elderly, the 'defective,' the inconvenient and the unwanted. It's coming sooner than you think to a senior center near you, especially if Obamacare becomes law."

I can't imagine how someone as self-righteous as Cal Thomas can continue to live with lies he tells everyday. Oh wait, he goes to confession and a man in a wood box tells him it OK, say a Hail Mary or two and all is forgiven. While the people not burdened with religion have to think about the actions they take, the words they use and the suffering people feel. If religion allows you to ignore the suffering of people I am glad I don't have it.

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