A while back I was at the hospital with a young pregnant
couple [just the woman was pregnant, not the husband]. She was pregnant with twins, not identical.
Her pregnancy was very high-risk for several medical reasons, including a tear
in her uterus causing her amniotic fluid to leak. She was on bed-rest most of
the pregnancy.
At 26 weeks, the doctors performed an emergency C-section in
an attempt to save the babies. They each weighed about one pound and both were
on every life-support machine imaginable. Both had under-developed brains and
lungs. One had brain bleeding. Both had jaundice, in addition to many other
medical issues.
Several doctors were on rotation at the hospital as well as
the primary doctor - and each had an opinion of the current situation and the
potential outcomes. None of the opinions were the same. One doctor was adamant
that at least one of the twins would not survive and firmly believed both would
be faced with extreme developmental problem – mental and physical. On the
opposite end was a doctor who simply said he had seen children in similar
condition radically improve and others in better condition worsen. The majority
of the doctors were somewhere in between. All within just a few hours of the
births.
At one point a doctor came in to let the mother know one of
the twins was massively struggling even with the life support equipment. He wanted
her to know she might be faced with a decision whether to terminate the life-support
equipment because he believed the child’s brain function was deteriorating.
I doubt many can even imagine the turmoil the family was
experiencing unless they experienced it themselves. I was there and still
cannot process it.
The family, who were religious, decided they needed to get a
religious perspective on what they should do. The family happened to be Muslim,
so they asked me to locate the scholars to find out.
I began calling immediately. Within an hour I had scholars
from all over the world, including the United States, responding. And I got the
answer.
There is no answer.
Every scholar responded, “it depends” and that religious
text (as well as scholarly opinions) supported many possible decisions because
every tiny fact made a difference in determining the best course of action. In
the end, each scholar gave the same advice: the parents would have to make the
best decision based on the facts as they saw them and be content in the
knowledge that a scholarly opinion that supports their decision exists.
I have to tell you, the parents were disappointed. What they
wanted was a scholar to tell them the “answer” so they would not have to take responsible for it themselves. So they feel they were following "God’s will."
I do realize that is comforting. Unfortunately, that is not
how life works.
God gave us standards, and even scholars have made further
interpretations, but in the end most things come down to our choices and how we
justify them.
What if we had only asked one scholar who, based on his
interpretation of the facts we provided, said they could not remove the life
support? They could have chosen not to remove the life support and felt
comforted in the belief that this was “God’s will.” But the same could be said
had we only contacted one scholar who said they should remove the life support.
Obviously, most people do not have access to multiple
scholars and are, therefore, completely unaware that so many life decisions
have the answer of “it depends” – or that so many scholars have different
interpretations of the same facts, even within the same “school of thought.”
[There are several different branches of legal jurisprudence, or legal
doctrine, and individual Muslims usually choose one branch, or school of thought, to follow when determining what the “rules” of
Islam are.]
Which is too bad. It causes us to be a little lazy in the
study of religion because we are given a “rule” and just run with it, without
understanding the “why” behind the rule or the exceptions possible. Without understanding the “why” it is even
more difficult to relate the “rule” to new facts and situations we encounter
throughout life, unless those facts fit neatly in the box we have created
around the “rule.”
It also causes us to be very judgmental. We assume the
“rule” we know is the only rule, that anyone not following the “rule” we know
are going against Islam. When in fact,
different schools of thought often have a different interpretation of the rule
– if not a different rule entirely – and individual facts can and do change the
rule in every school of thought.
Oh, the clash of the rules.
The same can be said of all religions. Getting all scholars,
in any religion (even within sects), to agree on everything is simply
impossible.
Yes, this makes religion complicated. Yes, it makes it
messy. Yes, it means we do actually have to make our own choices. Yes, it means
we will be accountable for our choices – especially if we are blindly following
“rules” without any understanding of their application.
But mainly it means we are responsible for whether or not we
search for knowledge in addition to the choices we make as a result. That’s what
“freedom of choice” means.
This struggle of "what should I do" occurs across cultural and religious lines, even within non-religious spiritual or personal "codes of conduct." Have you experienced a "clash of the rules" yourself?"
This struggle of "what should I do" occurs across cultural and religious lines, even within non-religious spiritual or personal "codes of conduct." Have you experienced a "clash of the rules" yourself?"
* The parents did not have to make the life-support decision
in the end, and both babies are thriving.
No comments:
Post a Comment