I know there are a lot of brave people out there and I thought I was one them because when I was young I thought a sprained ankle or a bloody nose was painful …After two prolonged labors and then a smashed ankle which needed two pins and a titanium plate held in with five studs ,at which time I thanked God and still do every day for his mercy i can guarantee i would face the dentist anytime…I hope the person who is questioning other peoples morality for accepting pain relief never has to put their money where their mouth is…Would you deny insulin to a diabetic child or morphine to a child burned by a chemical bomb.You have no idea of the human body’s capacity to survive through horrendous pain but why would you if God in his mercy sent us scientists with the intelligence to find relief .Have mercy my friend ,have mercy
Of course I wouldn’t.
Firstly, I never suggested anywhere that I would ever refuse another person any sort of treatment. I simply posed two seperate questions. The first one, and the only one mentioning death, was if I, me, FaithBuild18 can morally choose to reject painkillers should I experience a painful death. The second one was simply “What does the Church consider ‘painkillers?’”
Secondly, I consider Insulin treatment as a treatment of a condition, not the removal of pain associated with a dying individual. I also don’t consider morphine to be on the same level as alcohol. Though it is many times more addictive, morphine is properly regulated and typically used strictly for serious medicinal purposes.
Alcohol is by the far the most widely abused drug on the globe. It’s abuse reduces the human qualities of the mind, rendering one no more rational than a wild gorilla. People go home and drink to ease their petty suffering of a long day at work. To me that is unacceptable. That’s why I asked what exactly the Church considers to be a “painkiller.” That was the very first question of my second paragraph, and I justified my inquiry by saying some people might rationalize alcohol use (or any drug abuse for that matter) in order to ease whatever pain they feel. I consider morphine (as is typically used) to be a valid painkiller. I do not consider alcohol (as is typically used) to be a valid painkiller.
I wanted to know if the Church has any statement on what is and is not a painkiller, and under what conditions besides inevitable death are their uses validated. Because as is I find it ambiguous.
My inquiry was inspired by the fact that CCC 2279 specifically says that it is in moral conformity for painkillers to be used for the “
dying” if death is “
only foreseen and tolerated as inevitable”. So even if I get my leg ran over by an army tank and every bone below my femur shatters, and all of my veins, arteries, and capillaries burst, but I get to a clinic right away and they can save my life no problem, it makes it sound as if the use of painkillers is illegitimate. It makes no mention of those who are only troubled by transient, albeit intense, non-life threatening pains. CCC says this:
CCC 2291 The use of drugs inflicts very grave damage on human health and life. Their use, except on strictly therapeutic grounds, is a grave offense. Clandestine production of and trafficking in drugs are scandalous practices. They constitute direct co-operation in evil, since they encourage people to practices gravely contrary to the moral law.
But what are the qualifications for “strictly therapeutic grounds”? Does temporary, non-life threatening pain qualify? Does emotional pain qualify? If so then alcohol use is justified to help one escape from their painful family life or a simple bump on the head. If temporary non-life threatening pain does not qualify for therapeutic drug use, then it sounds like I shouldn’t take Ibuprofen if I strain my hamstring.
As another user pointed out, I’m still young. As a college student I can testify that the current youthful culture is notorious for rationalizing any hedonistic desire they may have. I fear a time in which any sort of pain, physical or emotional, is absolutely abhorred (as it pretty much already is, as is apparent in some posts on this forum), and as such, drunkeness becomes a morally legitimate escape. The effects of this, I think, are pretty serious. Few people see the beauty in suffering, or the spiritual gains that can be made by pushing yourself through the pain and enduring the suffering that comes with sheerly being alive. Where will it go next? Suicide is the ultimate pain killer, and it seems to always be on the rise (particularly among young males).
