life decisions: does faith make a diference?
Yet the depth of this apparently broad-ranging conversation is easily exaggerated. Over the years I’ve spoken with various groups about ethical and pastoral issues at the end of life. I find those occasions sobering, and not just because of the topic. While the discussions are invariably challenging, they provide little evidence that the deeper dimensions of dying and death are really being confronted. Ironically, faith communities–the very settings where dying should be dealt with honestly and with a sense of calm assurance–often remain places of silence, even of denial. In thinking about the “hard cases” in clinical ethics, I’ve been struck by two ironies. First, while we may be prepared to engage in armchair conversations about the “phenomena” of death and dying, it seems very hard for each of us to personalize the truth of mortality. As the title character in the nonfiction best-seller Tuesdays with Morrie puts it, “Everyone knows they’re going to die, but nobody believes it.” De
