Life & The Sanctity Principle

Some think human life only matters if it is of high ‘quality’: the handicapped, senile, unconscious, unborn etc have a low ‘quality of life’, so do not really have equal value; thus we can sometimes kill them. Against this view Christians urge a radical alternative: life is a good thing even when one’s life-quality is impoverished. The sick, suffering and vulnerable were especially important to Christ and must be so to his followers. People can feel like dying and ask ‘it’s my life, why can’t I take it?’ At this point the Christian is called to solidarity with the suffering person - & human solidarity looks for more positive solutions than killing our sick friends. We believe suffering is not the greatest evil—though it can feel like it.

Philosophers summarise our reverence for God’s gift of life in the Sanctity Principle: every person is morally equal; human dignity cannot be lost however messy and ‘undignified’ our condition becomes; no one may intentionally take life or attack health. This principle is found in all religious and legal systems and is a foundation of all human communities. To violate it is a sin against the Fifth Commandment.