Journal 8

Journal 8 Name: Institution: Course: Date: Journal 8 Living an examined life enables people to reflect on their lives. They are able to look into their lives and come to terms with their spiritual, emotional and physical lives. Thinking about our lives enables us to know and understand what makes us who we are. We are able to know why we believe in the things that we believe, and why we behave in the manner that we do. It enables us to understand the decisions and the choices we make. People who do not examine their lives often end up living according to what other people dictate to them.

They end up doing things because other people are doing them. They do not take the time to try to understand why they are being told to do things in a certain way. Leading an examined life will enable people to determine the direction of their lives. It leads to self-actualization. This enables people to know the areas of their life, which needs improvement. We are then able to discard the things that are not relevant to our lives; things, which do not add any value, but continually robs us of our joy and peace of mind. Examining our lives will help use to live moral and ethical lives.

Religion has played a vital part of people’s lives because it forms the basis of their moral decisions. The church can help people to live an examined life. It offers the teachings that people need to live this kind of life.

It offers moral teachings, which help people to live an examined life. People learn why they are required to live by those morals. Some of the commandments taught by the church define the ethical values that people follow. Some of these commandments include not cheating, lying, stealing, and killing among others. People have applied these commandments as ethical values in their lives and in their places of work. The church instructs the people on why they should live by these commandments. People apply these rules and principles practically in their lives.

Someone who takes things from the office because that is the norm will stop doing so after examining their lives. The church will have instilled upon the person that stealing is not allowed. This acts as a guide to people when they decide to examine their lives. They will ask themselves why they continue stealing when they are convinced that it is wrong to do so. Considering these views, I do not agree that euthanizing the mother and child is morally acceptable. This is equal to giving people the right to take away life. One cannot present the argument based on mercy. There are many instances where people require mercy, but killing them by euthanizing or any other means is not the right solution.

It denies the mother and child the right to live and survive. It denies people to find the solution for their problem. What would happen then, if people killed victims of disease and catastrophes just because they thought there was no cure. When the aids virus was detected, doctors did not understand the disease.

Those who were affected with the disease suffered. People did not suggest euthanasia because they had mercy on them. They instead chose to fight the disease by trying to find cures, which would help them, and some people have continued to live with the disease for a long time. Just because the society has passed laws does not make them right. The society cannot be trusted to make the right decisions all the time.

This is clearly seen by examining some of the practices, which were common and accepted in the past by the society, yet they were considered acceptable by the society. For instance, entertainment in early Rome involved a lot of death and destructions. People came to be entertained in the Colosseum, as Christians were fed to the lions. Gladiators also fought and killed each other in the Colosseum. Many of the gladiators who entertained the people were prisoners or slaves of war. There was minimal chance of survival in these cases. The gladiators did not have a choice but to kill their opponent since this was their only chance of guaranteeing survival. In some cases, the rich purchased slaves and trained them as gladiators.

They then made them entertain the public for a fee (Kleiner, 2010). This was okay in societal standards, and the people did not see anything wrong with that. In the United States, many people kept and mistreated slaves.

Some of the black slaves died because they associated in an ‘ unacceptable’ manner with whites. The society continued to allow this to happen, and they did not see anything wrong with it. Even after the practice was banned in the country, some states persisted, and they even fought to have their way. The black slaves were not seen as equal to the whites, and they were considered a fraction of human beings. The three fifth clause of the constitution meant that the slaves were counted as three fifths of a free person. These laws were set in place and they were generally accepted by the society. They were however not right, and the people had to fight so that they could be abolished (Schneider & Schneider, 2006). Euthanizing the mother and the child is wrong, but this does not mean that the suffering they will endure will honor God in any way.

People suffer in different situations, and for people who know God, their level of faith in Him will determine how they deal with their pain and suffering. Those who are strong in their faith will see the suffering as a test of their faith and endurance. However, in some cases, people who suffer often end up losing their faith and trust in God. In most cases, they think that God has forgotten about them, or is punishing them because of something they did. I therefore do not think that refusing to euthanize the mother and the child so that they can bring honor to God is a credible argument. God knows people’s hearts, and people do not have to suffer so that God can see their belief and love for Him. There are different ways which people express their love for God. Using this argument will then mean that people who do not suffer from diseases or due to other causes do not love God and this is not the case.

References: Kleiner, S. F. (2010). A history of Roman art, enhanced edition.

New York, NY: Cengage Learning Schneider, D., & Schneider, J. C. (2006).

Slavery in America. New York, NY: Infobase Publishing