A critical review of mainstream Christianity’s stance on euthanasia

Abstract

This article aims to present an alternative anthropo-theological reading that makes it possible to
assign new meanings to euthanasia in relation to eternal life and to question elements employed
within Christianity. The religious field has put forward arguments both in favor of and against
euthanasia; in fact, it is hegemonic Christianity—where the alignment of different Christian institutions
around certain issues can be identified—that has generated a discourse against it, creating the
idea that this is the only legitimate way to approach the topic. Drawing on a methodology related
to the hermeneutics of suspicion and a social bioethical perspective, this article develops a critique
of the discourses and narratives that Christianity, particularly Roman Catholicism, has articulated against
euthanasia and its regulation.