EuthanasiaEuthanasia is defined in the Chamber's English Dictionary as “the act or practice of putting someone to death painlessly, or as gently as possible”. There are various forms of euthanasia, which I must explain before referring to the teachings of different Christian denominations. The most common of these is voluntary euthanasia, in which the patient decides for himself that he would rather be dead. They may have decided then and there, or perhaps they may have written a "living will" ordering doctors to kill them if they ever found themselves in a situation where they would never be conscious again. There is also involuntary euthanasia, if someone else decides against the patient's will that it would be better to die and imposes it in the act of killing him. Therefore it is often outclassed to euthanasia, because it is not “delicate”. Involuntary euthanasia occurs in a situation where the patient cannot ask, or more correctly, cannot answer. This may happen because the victim is a newborn and cannot speak yet, or perhaps he is in a coma and is unable to respond to people around him, but in this case a relative or doctor will decide for the person. It is also important to distinguish the difference between killing someone (Active) and letting them die (Passive). Killing a person is expressed in an action. An example of this would be a doctor injecting a poison into his patient. Letting someone die, on the other hand, is expressed in not carrying out an action. An example of this would be a doctor who does not give his patient drugs that would save his life, and as a result the patient's life is shortened. I will set up, discuss and ultimately evaluate a debate on voluntary euthanasia using both Roman, Catholic Church and Church of England contexts. Some of the key influences I will reference are natural law, situation ethics, the doctrine of double effect, the golden rule, Church documents, and the Bible. Ignoring all religious opinions, one argument in favor of voluntary euthanasia performed by someone other than the patient, is that it is simply "mercy killing". This would be, according to the general Christian view, only because it was an act of love, and after all this is what Christianity revolves around. A question that needs to be answered is, “Is there a difference between killing someone and letting someone die, when it comes to an argument… middle of the paper… if the family were to suffer because of their death, then they shouldn’t die unnaturally. They will more likely suffer with him, and will feel relief if he doesn't, and will no longer have to look at him, live in his painful condition anymore. If this is the case, then they should support his feelings and give him the their support. It has been said that although the earth does not belong to people, God created human beings to make their own decisions about it. Therefore in the case of voluntary euthanasia there is no doubt that the final decision must be made by the patient and not by the doctor. If the patient is in a persistent vegetative state, then the appeal for his death falls into the non-voluntary category, and does not complicate my conclusion, as I have already said, the fifth commandment addresses the point of murder of innocent people. Murder is when one person intentionally kills another without legal justification or excuse. If euthanasia were legalized, it would not officially be murder. In that case, a Christian would not be violating the fifth commandment, and there would be no reason why he could not be a supporter.