"For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away." James 4:14 KJV

It has often been said that, "You can always tell the Dutch, but you just can't tell them much." In the Netherlands of today, there is a bit of truth to that.

For almost 20 years, Christians from around the world have been trying to tell them to value life much more highly, but few have ever listened regarding assisted suicides. Since 2017, the country has been shifting from viewing suicide as an acceptable alternative to living with suffering and pain for all ages to the much more liberal view that it is a logical option for anyone who does not want to live with certain problems anymore.

When others have looked into what type of problems these were, it was determined that most of the situations were more mental than physical.

By comparison to America, where the annual suicide rate is one-percent* for all ages, the Netherlands annual suicide rate is 25-percent for all ages (one out of every four citizens die annually by either suicide, or by assisted suicide (lethal injection) or terminal sedation (put into artificial comas until death occurs by dehydration.)**

One would think that a country like the United States would be shocked at these numbers for the Netherlands, but not so. According to a 2017 Gallup Poll, 73% of Americans support euthanasia.

As Christians, we pray for many things. Let us pray for both America and the Netherlands, and for any people who think of ending life as being a suitable legal option to escape almost anything, including personal disappointments.

* Suicide Statics - Mental Health America

** "Unreal: 25% of all deaths in Netherlands by forms of euthanasia and suicide" by Ed Morrissey, Hotair.com - January 21, 2019

*** "Majority of Americans Remain Supportive of Euthanasia" Gallup June 12, 2017

Rik Charbonneaux is a retired NE Iowan who loves all of God's Word and all of His creatures.