Christian physician Dr Erik Strandness weighs in having listened to Rabbi Jonathan Romain and Dr. Mark Pickering debate this tough subject, and finds that how we perceive purpose and suffering plays a vital part.

We have become innovative in our ability to engineer the beginning of life but seem quite helpless when it comes to stopping death. Unable to avoid our ultimate fate, we defiantly finesse the inevitable and die on our own terms. We believe that since we have constructed some creative life on-ramps, we should also be able to exit life’s highway before we come to the end of the road. We take things into our own hands, grab the Grim Reaper’s sickle, and announce that we are now in control. Mr. Reaper, a bit startled, shuffles back to Gehenna for a smoke and mumbles, “that was easy.” 

Our rocky relationship with the Grim reaper has once again made its way into couple’s… (Register to read the rest of the article)