Re: (athan) what does bible say about organ donation: Ethical question

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athan,

I really enjoyed this message. This is a good way to look at things. You explained things well. Thanks for sharing your experiences and thoughts.

in Mo.

son,Nick(9)liver disease

Subject: Re: Re: what does bible say about organ donation: Ethical questionTo: Date: Thursday, April 9, 2009, 7:32 AM

I've had a transplant (from a brain-dead donor) so I've thought through this issue quite a bit. I think there are two things that helped me come to terms with it. First, people tend to think about it as "someone had to die so I could get this transplant". In a way that's true, but it implies a cause-effect relationship, as in "I was sick, so that person had to die". There is a cause-effect relationship, but that's not it. The actual cause is the person's (and their family's) decision to be an organ donor. The effect is that someone else gets a transplant instead of dying. So it's not really right to feel as though your transplant caused a person's death.Second, I think about what would have happened if that person hadn't donated their organs. One of two things could have happened: They could have been left on life support indefinitely, until their family ran out of money to pay for it

or until their body shut down of it's own accord, or they would have been taken off life support and their body would have died (their brain was already dead) then. So even if you have a hard time looking at someone with a beating heart as dead, its not like donating their organs has changed anything for them, and in the absence of our modern medicine, they would have died already (in most cases).I guess the only other thing I have to add to this is that almost all Christian denominations support organ donation. There are a few Christians who disagree, but that's a very, very small minority. The Bible doesn't say anything that directly applies to the situation, but it does have an awful lot to say about helping those in need, and I think people who agree to be organ donors are fulfilling those commands.athan