"There may be occasions where, for a Christian, compassion will override the 'rule' that life should inevitably be preserved," maintains an official paper of the Church of England, written by Bishop Tom Butler of Southwark. The policy would give the church's imprimatur to doctors who allow disabled newborns to die. Before Christianity, the Greeks and Romans called this "exposure." It was one of the horrific practices in antiquity that Christianity outlawed. The ten commandments aren't that difficult to understand. The one that forbids murder is the easiest to grasp. For Christian lay people, it's a rule. For CofE scholars, it's merely a "rule."

Butler must be relying on the little-known exceptions clause to the Ten Commandments. I can't remember the chapter and verse, but I'm sure it's in there somewhere.

Sarcasm aside, his "compassion" is a thin veil for his supreme arrogance.

Another one of those pesky ‘rules’ that don’t apply to and can be subject to change by those among us who would consider themselves the thinking elite.

I think the compassion he is talking about is compassion for the parents and not the child, and it would better be called "convenience" than "compassion", since encouraging someone to commit a mortal (i.e., damning) sin is hardly true compassion in the long run.

He actually used scare quotes around the word rule when referring to one of the Ten Commandments? Unbelievable.

Quoting a bit further from the linked piece:

...

The bishop's submission continued: "There may be occasions where, for a Christian, compassion will override the 'rule' that life should inevitably be preserved.

"Disproportionate treatment for the sake of prolonging life is an example of this.["]

The church said it would support the potentially fatal withdrawal of treatment only if all alternatives had been considered, "so that the possibly lethal act would only be performed with manifest reluctance."

Yet the Revd Butler's submission makes clear that there are a wide range of acceptable reasons to withdraw care from a child - with the cost of the care among the considerations.

...

It would be helpful to be able to see the bishop's submission in its entirety. I would be particularly interested to learn about the "wide range of acceptable reasons to withdraw care from a child."

In fairness, the bishop is at least partially in line with orthodox Christian bioethicists, who maintain the propriety of withholding "disproportionate treatment" (a.k.a. "extraordinary" means). The issue is still tricky, but mostly just because of the difficulties involved in pinpointing which treatments are "ordinary" and which are "extraordinary." While the categories themselves remain fixed, advances in medical technologies make it necessary to be flexible and perhaps recategorize various treatments.

The bishop is in real trouble, though, when he opens the suggestion that parents may be absolved of their responsibilities if money is tight.

Obviously all the "Christians" who support the war in Iraq need to brush up on their Bible. Or maybe they're confused about what "war" is?

Are you suggesting that Christianity forbids war, Eric?

Might want to have another look at the Book of Joshua.

Dan,

Your title Thou Shalt Not Kill* is the best summary of this issue. Nice.

Ben,

I was referring to the 10 Commandments

Eric,

Why are you bringing up an issue that is unrelated to the topic of the post? There are others that comment here who do the same. They are rightly called "trolls."

But, since you brought it up....

"I was referring to the 10 Commandments."

All you need is a definition of "murder" such that the Iraq war involves murder (with the further qualification that the policy and subsequent orders are "murderous"; in other words, the actions of a few evil soldiers are excepted).

Ralph,

I brought up the 10 Commandments, which was mentioned in Dan's original posting.

Your next sentence is a muddle.

The ten commandments, as illustrated by other parts of the Bible, do not ban warfare.

So did you have a point?

Ben,

The 10 Commandments bans killing, so to the extent warfare involves killing it is banned as well.

The Ten Commandments do not ban "killing" as an action, under every circumstance, by the literal and broad definition of the word "killing".

It certainly makes "murder" outside the boundaries of acceptable action.