text: I don't understand when you write, "we must never put ourselves, as human beings, in the position of taking the life of another." First of all, we do it all the time, and do it in a very self-righteous way too; and it's precisely the anthropocentric tradition of the Christian church that justifies the engagement and complicity of Christians in such deadly practices. Secondly, in the matter of assisted suicide, the will of those who are assisting is not that of the killer, but rather of the servant of the person approaching death. Honoring the deliberate, reasonable, free wish and request of that person is not in itself destructive at all. Nor is it a usurpation of God's prerogative; the one assisting may very well understand him/herself to be God's minister of mercy.