Many Christians do not believe in resurrection. They believe that the soul/mind is immortal and lives on after death. When you die your soul goes straight to heaven. They believe this because of things like near-death experiences when people say their soul has left their body and gone down a tunnel of light. Most Christians who believe in this type of life after death do not believe in hell.
MUSLIM BELIEFS
Most Muslims believe in resurrection of the body. They believe that when you die, you stay in the grave until the Last Day, when God will bring the world to an end. The dead will be raised with resurrected bodies and meet with the living for a final judgement.
God will then judge people on whether they have been good or bad Muslims; the good will go to heaven for ever, the bad will go to hell for ever. All these teachings are found in the Qur'an.
This belief makes Muslims aware that everything they do is known to God and will be used by God to decide whether to send them to heaven or hell. Therefore their behaviour is affected by their beliefs about life after death.
A few Muslims believe that because the Qur'an says that you will go straight to heaven if you die on pilgrimage to Mecca, people have an immortal soul. They believe that this soul will be judged by God when you die and you will go to heaven or hell then.
Muslims' beliefs about life after death and their response to evil as a test from God, give their lives meaning and purpose.
JEWISH BELIEFS
Most Jews think of this life as a preparation for a future life with God.
Some Jews believe in the resurrection of the body, others believe in an immortal soul. Jews are not sure what life after death will be like, but the fact that they call cemeteries 'the
House of Life' shows they believe that God will look after them after death.
Many Jews believe that if they confess their sins before they die, they will be forgiven and God will let them live with him in everlasting happiness.
These beliefs help Jews to understand that life has purpose and meaning. Their aim is to serve God by following the mitzvot and so have eternal bliss.
HINDU BELIEFS
Based on the Bhagavad Cita, Upanishads and Vedas, Hindus believe that all humans have an immortal soul which is continually reborn until they achieve release (moksha) and become one with the Divine (Brahman).
Hindus have many different views on how moksha is to be achieved. Some believe it is
achieved by following your dharma in the four ashramas; others through dedication to Krishna or a guru; others through meditation practices like yoga. Most Hindus would follow a mixture of these (and perhaps others) as their way of achieving moksha.
All of these show the Hindu belief of samsara, which gives meaning to life as you live your life on earth, guided by what you believe is going to happen to you when you die.
Social facts on abortion
Abortion is only allowed in Great Britain if two doctors agree:
- the mother's life is at risk;
- the mother's physical or mental health is at risk;
- the child is very likely to be born severely handicapped;
- there would be a serious effect on other children in the family.
Abortions cannot be carried out after 24 weeks of pregnancy.
Most abortions are now carried out on women less than 12 weeks pregnant and the number of abortions has gone down since 1991.
People who argue about abortion often disagree over when life begins:
- some say it begins as soon as an egg is fertilised;
- others say it begins when it receives a 'soul' (about 15 weeks);
- others say life only begins when the foetus can survive outside the womb.
CHRISTIAN TEACHINGS
Roman Catholics and many fundamentalist Protestants believe abortion is always wrong because of Christian teachings on the sanctity of life. God has created life in the mother; to prevent that life being born is murder and against God's will. Other Protestants (e.g. the Church of England) disagree with abortion, but think that in certain circumstances you have to choose the lesser of two evils and allow abortion (e.g. when someone becomes pregnant through rape).
Some Protestants (e.g. the Methodist Church) agree with the UK abortion laws. They prefer
there to be no abortion, but they realise that there would be too much suffering if abortion was banned and they feel that Christians should try to eliminate suffering.
Social facts on euthanasia
Changes in medical skills and technology mean that euthanasia is now more discussed.
Life-support machines, new medical technology to keep handicapped babies alive and better drugs to fight cancer all mean that people are being kept alive by medicine - often in agony.
The law says nothing can be done by doctors which could be thought of as euthanasia. However, recent decisions by the courts have allowed doctors to switch off life-support machines, as in the case of Laura Davies.
CHRISTIAN TEACHINGS
Christian teachings on the sanctity of life mean that all Christians oppose the practice of euthanasia. They also believe that doctors are required to save lives not end them. Allowing doctors to kill people creates a double standard for them to follow.
Most Christians (including Roman Catholics) agree that doctors should be allowed to give 16ts of painkilling drugs even if they know it is shortening the patient's life. They also believe that expensive treatments need not be carried out to lengthen the lives of dying patients.
Most Roman Catholics and some other Christians do not agree with switching off life-support machines, but many Christians believe this must be allowed when there are no signs of life.
Other teachings on Abortion
Islam
Muslims believe in the sanctity of life; it can only be given and taken by God. For this reason, and the fact that God says in the Qur'an that you should never kill your children, many Muslims believe that abortion should never be allowed.
Other Muslims believe from the Hadith and decisions of Muslim lawyers that abortion is allowed up to 120 days of pregnancy because after that the foetus becomes a child . Of these, some only allow abortion if the mother's life is threatened, others would accept the British law on abortion.
JUDAISM
Many passages from the Tenakh say that death and life are in the hands of God and so life is sacred. It is something only God can give and take.
Some Jews believe that because of these teachings and the sixth commandment which forbids murder, abortion is wrong. Such Jews believe that life begins at conception and se abortion is murder.
Other Jews believe, on the basis of other statements in the Torah, that a woman is
allowed an abortion if the pregnancy threatens her life.
Some rabbis have extended this teaching and say that as life does not begin until the foetus is capable of surviving outside the mother's body, abortions are allowable under the same types of conditions prescribed by British law.
HINDUISM
There are at least three different attitudes to abortion among Hindus:
- some think there should be no abortion, because of the belief in ahimsa (non-violence) and the teachings of many swamis and gurus;
- others think that the belief in ahimsa means that abortion should only be allowed if the mother's life is in danger;
- others believe that, because the Bhagavad Cita says that it is impossible to kill the soul, abortion is permissible because the soul of the foetus will just be put into another body.
Abortion is available on demand in India.
Ohter teachings on euthanasia
Islam
The Qur'an bans suicide and declares that no soul can die without God's permission. These beliefs in the sanctity of life lead Muslims to forbid any form of euthanasia.
Muhammad said that a Muslim soldier who committed suicide because he was dying a painful death on the battlefield would not be allowed into heaven.
Muslims believe life is a test from God and so, if you use euthanasia, you are cheating by trying to speed up the test.
For all these reasons, Islam does not allow euthanasia. However, very recently Muslim lawyers have agreed that life-support machines may be switched off when there are no signs of life.
JUDAISM
Many passages from the Tenakh say that life and death are in the hands of God. This is also confirmed in the Authorised Daily Prayer Book services. Therefore, many Jews would not allow euthanasia. Some rabbis would allow euthanasia in the sense of switching off life-support machines and not'striving officiously'to keep alive so that the soul is free to go to God.
HINDUISM
In some ways Hindus believe that all life is sacred because every soul is actually or potentially a part of God.
However, because it is the immortal soul, and not the body, which is part of God, some Hindus will allow euthanasia because the soul cannot be harmed - all that is being done is aiding the soul to gain release to moksha or its next life.
Others believe that the teaching of ahimsa means that euthanasia is unacceptable because it must involve inflicting violence on the patient.
Most Hindus would find no problems with switching off life-support machines after brain death, because this means that soul has already gone.
