Genesis 1:26–28

[26] Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.”

[27] So God created man in his own image,
in the image of God he created him;
male and female he created them.

[28] And God blessed them. And God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth.” (ESV)

In recent weeks, it has come to light that the nation of Canada has killed nearly 100,000 of its own citizens in the name of mercy. Now when it come to this sort of stuff, it is easy to blow this up as just internet hearsay or rumor mills playing a sad game of telephone with a little bit of facts to stir up controversy. I wish that I could say that this is the case. However, this is being reported in multiple reputable news sources.

In fact, here are links to two of them.

in 2016 the Canadian government initiated the The Medical Assistance in Dying (MAID) program. It was sold as a means of providing human deaths to those suffering terminal, chronic illness and disease. That year, 1018 people were euthanized. The following year it increased to over 2000 and the following year it increased to over 4000 and even since then it never decreased.

The state Euthanized its own citizens. We look down on the likes of Iran who during the recent uprising executed over 30,000 people. But Canada is lift up as the model of mercy and caring. In 2021, Canada euthanized 9000 people. In that same year, in the whole country of Canada, only 2000 dogs were euthanized. That is nearly 5 people for every one dog euthanized.

In 2025 the number of euthanized people rose to nearly 17,000 people, reaching a new benchmark. were euthanized. Making state sponsored death the 4^th leading cause of death for the whole country. To put that into perspective, the 4^th leading cause of death in the U.S. is stroke.

In ten years of operation MAID has euthanized nearly 100,000 people. The county in which I live has a population of 170,000 people. This would be like removing over half the population of the county. That is a lot of people.

The sad thing is this is that euthanasia is sold to us as a mercy. It is sold to us in the same way that we do not want our pets to suffer. It is sold as a mercy to them to put them to sleep when they have an illness or condition for which there is no recovery. I understand this as having watched over many a beloved pet being put down over the years. It was the right thing to do. But people are not pets.

People are more than animals. We are special creations within creation. We are created in the likeness of God and are unlike anything else that has or is walking the planet. While we can have the usual ad hominem discussion on evolution and the rise of man from apes, the simple fact is that there has never been anything like mankind on Earth, because God put us here and we are the image bearers of God.

Anytime you give the state power over life and death, it will lean towards death and use it as a means of addressing the societal ills. The state will always cheapen human life for its purposes and wants. That being power and absolute power. Over the years, the MAID program has expanded to include the potential for mental illness and not those with schizophrenia and serious mental, but depression and other treatable conditions. There was talk of euthanizing babies with birth defects like down syndrome and while that was walked back after the uproar, Ice Land proudly proclaims its success in eradicating down syndrome from its shores. They do this through the abortion of the babies.

Life held cheaply is life taken easily. The command is simple, Exodus 20:13

[13] “You shall not murder. (ESV)

State sponsored euthanize is not mercy and it is not punishment for a crime. Often cited and held against people of faith is the fact that we often time uphold the death penalty, but abhor euthanasia. But the two are not the same. Punishment by the state for wrong doing verses killing by the state simply as a convenience is not remotely the same thing. Punishing a murder is not the same as putting to death a depressed young man or someone who cannot speak for themselves but sentence to death for the illness they have.

It is murder clothed in the mantle of mercy, much like a spoon full of sugar helps the medicine go down, it makes it easier to accept that it is anything other than what it is. Murder. Each person on Earth is an image bearer of God and worthy of being treated as such. No matter who they are or what stage of life they are in. Be they in the womb or the end of their life, each one of us was made by God in his image. Human life is to be upheld and treated with respect and valued, just as God values each one of us.

Luke 12:6–7

[6] Are not five sparrows sold for two pennies? And not one of them is forgotten before God. [7] Why, even the hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not; you are of more value than many sparrows. (ESV)

Euthanasia is nothing more than murder masquerading as mercy.