News Organ Donation - For or Against?

For.

Jesus shed His blood and gave His body for our benefit. We should be willing to do the same if our health permits it.

Note: You don't always have to be dead to donate an organ or body tissues.

[ August 14, 2002, 01:58 PM: Message edited by: Baptist Believer ]

 

[ August 14, 2002, 01:57 PM: Message edited by: Baptist Believer ]

 

I live in Ohio, too! Hello fellow Buckeye!

I am an organ donor. I figure once I'm gone, what do I need my squishy ol' guts for?

My uncle received a heart 15 years ago from a gentlemen who died in a car accident that was listed as an organ donor. If it weren't for this man, my uncle would not have lived another month or two.

 

Completely for. I've been an organ donor since I was 16 and got my driver's license. That's when I made out a living will, too. My parents support my decision, even though they are not organ donors themselves. Since they're my only kin, they'd be the ones to give the okay.

 

FOR IT!!! Why do I need it when I am dead?

Plus I have woked with children with heart, kidney and liver, lung transplants. It is a real blessing to see hope in these kids when they relize they are going to live.

Took care of this one boy who had a heart transplant. I had taken care of him several times through several different surgeries, finally he was so severe he had to have a transplant. I got to care for him the last night in the hospital, he made me cry (it takes alot to make me cry). He stated how scared he was because he could no longer feel his heart beating out of his chest, It was quiet. He said he had never seen the veins in his feet or that they were pink, not blue. He cried because he was scared his silent heart would fail him because he could no longer feel it. I asked him how it felt to have a working heart and he hugged me and cried. This was an 18 year old 6'3"" 250lb kid and he cried in my arms because he was happy and relieved that he was going to live and have a future. He could now make plans for college and marriage.
This living boy needed a heart, the dead man did not! Thank God for someone willing to donate their loved ones organs!

 

Well, I guess I'm the odd-ball here. I am not an organ donor. When I die, please leave me in peace...one piece ...don't embalm my body and don't burn my body...just bury it.

If my heart, or any major organ, were to start failing me today, then PRAISE GOD...I'd soon be outta here and skipping on the streets of gold! Oh, sure, I would miss y'all. But, if you're saved then we would 'visit' again one day!

 

I was always faithful to donate blood, and when
I was asked by the Red Cross to donate plate-
lets, I did not have to think twice. When my city
asked for people to register for bone marrow, I
was one of the first to enroll. I even worked as
a volunteer in the blood bank.

Now, I can no longer donate, and outside the
Lord's touch, the day will come when I will be
on a list for liver transplant. I am listed on my
license as a donor, but I am looking into do-
nating my body, minus the corneas, to a
school which will use it to study a rare dis-
ease (inherited) I recently learned that I have.

Yes, I believe in being a donor.

[ August 14, 2002, 05:34 PM: Message edited by: Abiyah ]

 

Farmer's wife>
Well, I guess I'm the odd-ball here. I am not an organ donor. When I die, please leave me in peace...one piece ...don't embalm my body and don't burn my body...just bury it.

Crazycat> how selfish of you. Pray to God you or someone you love will never need an organ donation. You do not deserve it.

 

Crazycat, please read the rest of my post. I intimated that I don't/won't ask anyone for an organ for myself.

Nowhere in the Bible are we required to donate our organs. So, it is not unBiblical for me, or anyone, not to donate or to refuse an organ donation.

None of us are going to be on this earth one second longer than the Lord wants us.

 

I never said it was Biblical, It is selfish though. You may not want a transplant,but maybe a precious grandchild of yours may need one. Would you rather have a grandchild die because of someone elses selfishness, or would you want them to live.

By giving an organ to someone i need you also may prolong their life, and give them another chance to hear the gospel. Ever thought of that?

Tellme what are you going to do with you organs when your dead/ I doubt if you will need them in heaven.

Justify your selfish actions as you want. your still wrong.

 

If I may interject, the decision to be an organ
donor was not just that easy. I do not pretend to
speak for Farmer's Wife, nor would she want me
to, I am sure, but there have been media stories
which made me think about it a while before
deciding to be a donor. And believe me, I Do Not
Read the Tabloids!

There is also the problem of euthenasia and the
very real possibility of forced euthenasia in the
future for those of us who are growing older.
Don't say it can't happen: we thought in the
'60s that abortion would never pass. Already
in some other countries, euthenasia without the
victim's permission is thought to be a viable
solution for the expense of the elderly, and in
Oregon and Washington, Kvorkian works his
magic.

There are those in South American countries
who literally sold their corneas for food and
families there who sold the vital organs of
family members, without their permission, for
housing.

Then we have those who want to grow human-
like beings purely for the sake of organ harv-
esting. Children have been born for the purpose
of harvesting something of their anatomy for
another. Scientists are fighting for the right to
grow testube babies in order to harvest parts.

Can taking organs from those who cannot
speak for themselves be far behind?

This was all in the back of my mind as I signed
the donor card, and I waited to sign, while I
continued to give blood, platelets, and remained
on the marrow registry. But I prayed, as I
signed, "Adonai, you know all things. Keep
Your hand over me and help those who make
the final decisions to be righteous in their
decision."

Furthermore, for some, itgoes against their
religious beliefs to deliberately allow their
bodies to be cut up. I did not ask what my
pastor thinks of my decision to donate my
body, because I fear his answer. Jews
normally will not allow this.

[ August 14, 2002, 06:23 PM: Message edited by: Abiyah ]

 

Crazycat, you've never asked me *why* I'm not an organ donor...yet, you labeled me selfish.

"He that answereth a matter before he heareth it, it is folly and shame unto him." ~ Proverbs 18:13 (KJBible)

The reason I am not an organ donor is because the Lord has not given me peace about it. I am not one to do something just because everyone else is doing it.

Could you please give me scriptures or Biblical examples that advocate or condemn donating organs? I can not think of any. This is something I have decided to study out in light of this discussion though. I believe we are to be instant in season and out of season...always ready to give an answer from the Bible. Right now, the only answer I can give you is...I just don't have a peace about it.

One thing that does concern me though...and you mentioned it in one of your post is ... *who* determines *who* deserves the organ? First come, first serve? The rich before the poor? The sickest first? It reminds me of when I was in school and the teacher said..."Let's pretend we're all on a boat and it's sinking...there's only ONE life preserver...*who* gets it?" Even then, as a child, I didn't think this was Biblical thinking. Kinda like survival of the fitest...which is not Biblical.

 

Farmers wife organ donation is something I never had to have peace about. I always believed in it, alwyas will. Tell me do you have to pray for peace about saving a life? I know I don't. That is the just of that.

Maybe tonight at work if a person comes in the ER that needs cpr maybe I will take a day or two to pray about it before I decide to perform CPR. After all God needs to give me peace about saving a life.

 

I think many of the things Abiyah mentioned could be reasons a person doesn't have peace with organ donation. None of those were questioning the goodness of saving of a human life.

As I said, I am an organ donor. But I fully respect the right of another person not to be, and at the very least I attempt to understand their reasons. Even if I ultimately reject their conclusion.

crazycat, it would do you well to wait and ponder a bit before you speak so harshly. Perhaps you need to listen for clarity. Further, your example about taking a few days to pray about CPR isn't a good analogy. You may not agree with Farmer's Wife's reasons or conclusion, but even I admit it makes sense. If there is no law specifically concerning something, should we not listen and decide what to do using our God-granted reason? You have to give reasons why organ donation is right, and reasons why not being a donor is wrong (and also recognize that they are two separate things). Just saying "it's wrong not to do XYZ" or giving emotional reasons isn't good enough.

If you believe strongly enough in donation that you feel the need to convince people to do it, why not list the reasons (other than "because")? Seems more productive than what you're doing now . . . but it's just a suggestion.

 

I know technically I'm not allowed to post in this forum, but I just need to point out a very important point here. The organ donation process in this nation is one of the few services available in which wealth pays no role. There is a waiting list for organs. There are criteria in order to get on the list (you can't be above a certain age for example). In a way, it's first come first serve, but only after getting on the waiting list.

That's all. *Wanders back to the non-Baptist forums*.

 

I am sorry, Candide, but that simply is Not True.
When/If I ever need that liver tranplant, if, for
some reason, I no longer have insurace and can
not pay for it, I am out of luck. I wasearly told,
by the doctor who is watching my disease, that
my abilty to get the organ depends upon these
criteria:
* My life style
* My attitude
* My ability to pay for it (or for my insurance to
pay for it)
* Whether or not I remain a non-drinker
* Whether or not I remain a non-smoker

Sorry!

[ August 14, 2002, 07:51 PM: Message edited by: Abiyah ]

 

* My ability to pay for it (or for my insurance to
pay for it)

****

Yes, that is true. I should have clarified. What I meant is an organ recipient will not be denied simply because they are poor nor will a rich person be put in the front of the waiting list. They wait like everyone else.

And it should be pointed out that there are groups out there that help wtih organ costs. Sorry for the confusion. I worded it poorly.