In these summaries, religious leaders, scholars and ethicists from 16 major American religious groups explain how their faith traditions’ teachings address physician-assisted suicide, euthanasia and other end-of-life questions.
The Social, Legal and Political Dimensions of the End-of-Life Debate
Most Americans say there are circumstances in which doctors and nurses should allow a patient to die, but a growing minority says medical professionals always should do everything possible to save a patient’s life.
As many Republicans say there is solid evidence of global warming as say there is not (46% each). Among those who agree with the Tea Party, 70% say there is not solid evidence of warming, while 61% of non-Tea Party Republicans say global warming does exist.
Most Americans support building the Keystone XL pipeline and increasing energy production from traditional sources. Yet the public also favors stricter greenhouse gas emission limits for power plants and is more opposed to fracking and nuclear power.
The Chinese public is increasingly worried about the quality of the country’s air and water. There is also widespread concern about inflation, inequality and corruption, and the safety of consumer goods and food.
Most Americans think that having an abortion is a moral issue, but the public is much less likely to see other issues involving human embryos – such as stem cell research or in vitro fertilization – as a matter of morality.
The prospect of dying has always fascinated, haunted and, ultimately, defined human beings. From the beginnings of civilization, people have contemplated their own mortality – and considered the possibility of immortality.
No religious group in the United States has released an official statement on radical life extension. However, here are brief summaries of how some clergy, bioethicists and other scholars from 18 major American religious groups say their traditions might approach this evolving issue.
If new medical treatments could slow the aging process and allow people to live decades longer, would you want to? Most Americans say no, but roughly two-thirds think that most other people would say yes.
