Ethics and Living Longer

My mother died this July 21st at the age of 84, which is 3 years passed the average. Those three years, though, were not all that great. She suffered from sever dementia and at the end did not recognize her children are even communicate. It leaves me wondering what the gift is of long life when those years are not lived in good health?

The life expectancy of people in the United States of America in 1914 was 52 for men and 56 for women. In those 100 years we have done an incredible job of creating a healthier community. Today life expectancy is 75.9 for men and 81.2 for women. We have eradicated diseases that once wiped out 1000's of people (though there is an idiotic movement calling for parents not to vaccinate their children). We have identified ways to help people recover from heart disease and other ailments that once meant certain death. Our medical advances are just incredible.

The problem is that our ethics just have not kept up with the realities that come from living longer. Just ask any family that has struggled to come to terms with their 90 year old father refusing cancer treatments, as if living passed 90 would be a huge benefit if you are struggling from the horrors of the cancer treatments themselves. I have had the honor of being present with individuals who struggle to die well while their daughter or son screams at the doctor to "save" their parent.

It is time for us to have long extended conversations about the ethics of living longer. We need to help people have conversations around these questions: How do we die well? What medical procedures do we expect to be done when we have lived past a certain age? How do we make decisions around when to pursue cure  vs. palliative care? At what age might one be allowed to decide to die in one's own terms? These questions obviously are not inclusive of all the issues.

I love my mother. I am glad that she lived long enough to see her grandchildren grow into young adults. I am glad that she was able to celebrate life milestones while she was able. But, it was hard watching her slowly lose her mental and  physical abilities to the point where she did not interact with her surroundings at all. It is a bittersweet time for us. Bitter because we 5 boys no longer have a mother. Sweet because we no longer need to watch her suffer.

America the Beautiful?

I am an immigrant's son.

When an alien/foreigner/stranger/immigrant resides with you in your land, you shall not oppress the alien/foreigner/stranger/immigrant. The alien/foreigner/stranger/immigrant who resides with you shall be to you as the citizen among you; you shall love the alien/foreigner/stranger/immigrant as yourself, for you were aliens/foreigners/strangers/immigrants in the land of Egypt: I am the LORD your God. (Leviticus 19:33-34)

My father came to Seattle in 1948 with his cousin Kristian. They worked as carpenters. Dad eventually earned enough money to fly back to Norway to marry my mother. They arrived together back in Seattle in 1950. Dad continued as a carpenter until he retired. On his job sites you could hear Russians, Nigerians, Mexicans, and Swedes all working to create a home for some young family. Immigrants all.

What has changed? From what I could tell, Dad and his fellow immigrants lived "the American dream." They came to this country, worked hard and paid their taxes eventually becoming citizens and raised families. Today, it seams, we have forgotten our heritage. We have forgotten that we are a land of immigrants. Just ask a Cherokee, Piscacaway, Apache, Navajo, Crow, Pawnee, or Tlingit how many of us there are, they know. Now, if you are an immigrant, legal or otherwise, you are treated as if you are a threat to our country. That somehow your hard work and dedication to your community is not wanted.

For those of us who actually read our bibles, we are troubled by those who claim to be Christian, but spout hate and derision toward the immigrant. We hear it often. It is not something new for our country. The Italian, Irish or polish immigrant has had their share of hate thrown their way. You would think that we would learn as a nation how valuable the immigrant is to our culture, education and economy. But as Christians we should know that our God calls us to treat the immigrant as one of our own.

Our current culture of fear and scarcity has made the immigrant the scapegoat for our own mistakes and poor governance. We have allowed immature leadership to turn our country away from a mature and grownup way of being in the world toward a good old child sized temper tantrum. Old white guys who never grew up are now making our policies and laws. For example:

Did you know our current Immigration and Customs Enforcement can ask a local authority to "hold" a person in detention for no reason other than to verify if they are a citizen or not? It is true. Laws that we once held dear are now being thrown out the window. A citizen of this country, just because he has a Mexican sounding name, can be held in a detention center for an indeterminate amount of time, until ICE can verify his or her status. It does not matter if that person has all the paperwork on them that proves their citizenship. ICE must determine their validity. All this because we are afraid of "something."

I know that our country is better because of the immigrant. I know that our troubles have nothing to do with how many people come over our borders. Our troubles come from our inability to live into our own ideals: life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.

I wonder if my dad would immigrate in today's climate. The "American Dream" now seems like a nightmare.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of happiness. That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, ...