Reject God and Kill the Elderly!

In a recent opinion piece for The Telegraph, author Tim Stanley asked a probing question: “But what happens to a society, many of whose laws are based upon the Ten Commandments, when the vast majority of citizens no longer believe in the teachings of Moses or St Paul?” (March 31, 2024). Stanley went on to make clear that laws treating human life as sacred and a culture that supports the heroic efforts of the medical profession to preserve life emanate from a foundation influenced by the Ten Commandments and other biblical principles. Yet, today, as we see the Ten Commandments and Scripture increasingly excised from society, life is becoming a mere commodity.

Stanley’s comments were in response to an article by former legislator and political commentator Matthew Parris, who outlined a rationale for terminating the lives of the elderly once they become an economic burden on society—likening them to commodities that outlive their usefulness (The Times, March 29, 2024). Parris states that, eventually, suicide will “be seen as a normal road for many to take, and considered socially responsible—and even, finally, urged upon people,” and he calls that “a good thing.”

However, the Bible defines murder as sin (Exodus 20:13), and human life is sacred, made in God’s own image (Genesis 1:26–27). In fact, Christians are told plainly that their bodies are not their own, contrary to popular belief (1 Corinthians 6:19). With this perspective, taking our own life is also clearly murder, and a sin. Yet this moral position means nothing when the Bible is no longer a foundation for morality. As Tim Stanley noted in the conclusion of his essay, “In an atheistic culture, beyond the here and now, there is little to live for—and when the here and now become unbearable, nowhere to turn but death.” The title of his article is chillingly true: “An age that rejects God ends up killing its old.” When it comes to life and death, our post-modern societies are becoming brutal—just as they were prophesied to do (2 Timothy 3:1–4). To learn more about this disturbing trend, read or listen to “What Is the Value of Human Life?”