An editorial letter in our local newspaper outlined the issue of assisted suicide in terms of its being "consistent with rational human behavior." The letter illustrated a widespread lack of understanding of the origin and meaning of life. Unfortunately, the writer is a physician, an individual in the business of treating patients rather than killing them.

Opinions in matters of life and death--abortion, murder outside the womb, and suicide--are formed by world view. Ultimately, each person chooses one of two world views: Either there is a sovereign (in control of everything) God, or not.

If there were no sovereign God, then everything somehow had to come into existence purely by accident, from nothing. In that case, all rules would be arbitrary, and society could legislate anything independent of moral implications, and individuals could behave any way they chose. Such is the philosophy of humanists, whose vague, wobbling standards are based on what seems appropriate for the moment, regardless of whether it is right and wrong. Humanist thinking, while it has brought the world to its current disastrous condition, nonetheless maintains that things will get better if we can do away with Christianity.

If, on the other hand, there is a sovereign God, then He holds the keys of life and death and eternity, and no one has the right to end a life, including his own. In this case, we need to know why He made us and what He expects of us, and live consistently with that. We may not like what we learn, but if God is sovereign, our opinions of Him and His justice are immaterial.

For those who think that societal decisions ought to be based on "rational human behavior," I invite them to a study of the history of humanity to discover the product of rational thinking: Wars, hatred, and destruction are the norm rather than the exception.

A careful reading of Scriptures, however, reveals who God really is and what He really thinks of human behavior. He recognizes that our nature is to be selfish and corrupt. There is no lasting good that can come from us in the absence of a relationship with Jesus Christ.