The discussion is heating up. Again. And it's all one-sided in the media.
Someone with a tragic terminal condition calls for the right to choose to end his or her life when they wish – with dignity, and with assistance.
For decades we've heard the repeated mantra, 'it's the woman's right to choose' when it comes to abortion.
Then it was the right of same sex couples to be able to marry, in the name of marriage equality. Now it's the turn of same sex parents. It's their right to have children. One couple advertised on Facebook recently for a surrogate mother, to enable them to have children.
All the posts were overwhelming positive. (This couple did ask, in their winsomely worded post, for no critics or negative posts.)
It's now also the right of transgender students at schools to want to be able to choose which bathroom they go to. As a result, some schools are beginning to provide uni-sex toilets so that these young people can have that choice.
The language of human rights has spread even further. A recent court judgment decided that a chimpanzee was 'human', and should have human rights, therefore it should not be kept in captivity.
It's ironic that the elevation of individual human rights in Western countries to become one of society's main guiding principles has come at a time when increasingly our society leaves behind its Christian roots.
Infinite value
Ironic, because human rights came from the fundamental Christian recognition that an individual human being is of infinite value. And these human rights are being expressed in highly individualistic ways, often without sufficient reference to the rights of others – and particularly those of children.
Individualism has increased to the extent that now people flat together and don't share meals. (Our eldest daughter after returning from overseas and looking for a flat, was adamant she wanted a 'community flat' where meals were shared and they cooked for each other.)
A married couple I knew used to have separate 'his and her' food compartments in the fridge and they would often eat separately. Regular sharing of meals together in families or communities is becoming rarer.
It is very different in non-Western countries. A young Asian man was completing a form to apply to go to a college. When asked to describe himself (and that is a Western question) he listed all the people he was in relationship with; ie all his family members. 'I am the son of...' 'the brother of...' and so on. In conclusion he wrote, "And now you know all about me." His identity was found in his relationships.
In contrast, to rephrase the philosopher Descartes, the secular Western view is, "I am, therefore I choose". Making a choice (regardless of what the choice might be) is the overriding principle.
The image of God
The Biblical view is that that each person is made in the image of God and yes, has the capacity to choose, but that person is also designed to be in relation with God, and with others. So any choice a person makes is always within the context of relationships. For Christians, any notion of human rights has to be balanced with the rights of others, and put in the context of the good of others.
A year ago we visited a former missionary and his wife, who had devoted their lives to the wellbeing of others, in Kenya and Uganda. Tragically the husband had developed motor neurone disease and in 15 months went from being a physically capable and active man, to a wheelchair-bound cripple, unable to speak or swallow.
He could communicate only by moving the beam of a headlamp on to each letter on an alphabet board to spell out words. Not long after our visit he died. His wife said later that he had been taken sooner than had been predicted by the medics –this was because he was in the hands of the God they had served faithfully all their lives. There was not a hint of the need to assert their so-called right to choose when he died.
The Apostle Paul's comment in one of his letters to fellow Christians "that you are not your own, you are bought with a price" is anathema to secularists.
To them human beings are the 'masters of their own fate, and the captains of their own souls' as the poet put it. There's a bigger picture for Christians when it comes to the issue of human rights – to be limited to our own human choices when we have such a small understanding of life and death is both burden and bondage.
'Free to choose?' Maybe not...
Liz Hay relishes life in a small mountain village an hour away from Christchurch, NZ. She and her husband, Ron, have three adult children, five grandchildren, and share a love of literature and the outdoors. Her working life has included a wonderful mix of teaching, editing and writing, various office jobs, along with all sorts of ministry opportunities. Although Liz Hay chooses to live in a quiet mountain village to read and write she's found that often others visit for recreation and restoration. The next visitors are due soon!
Liz Hay's previous articles may be viewed at http://www.pressserviceinternational.org/liz-hay.html