i am on the fence with this... a part of me says that if its Gods will.. machines arent necessary.. another part of me is selfish and would want my loved one attached for as long as possible just for a chance at a miracle.

*shrugs*

I think it's a great idea to have a living will in place. I wouldn't want to be hooked up to machines that were keeping me alive. Sure there is always that chance that I may wake up. To what? Being in a vegatative state or a parapalegic? I wouldn't want that and I wouldn't want to burden my family with it. I signed my living will when I turned 18 and I have also told everyone I am close to my wishes. Unplug me and save the electricity for someone to wants it.

I wouldn't want to chain somebody to this Earth for myself. I would love them too much to keep them here just because of me. Organ donation is beautiful, and a piece of your loved one can live on... and help someone else live on as well.

I think the true mark of love is putting your loved ones ahead of yourself at all times. They'll be at peace when they pass on.

People keeping them alive.

Basically its a question of getting the fine ballance between keeping someone alive by helping them get better naturally using machines and keeping someone artifically alive without chance of being able to be alive naturally.

I wish to have no artificial means to prolong my life. No machines, no feeding tubes, no antibiotics, nothing. All I want is pain relief - - something that is poorly done in this country - - so I can transition peacefully. I hope someone will want to sit with me and share this time as I prepare to cross over, if not, I'll be alone, but not afraid.

I volunteer in a hospital and sit right outside the ICU waiting room. It isn't unusual to see families tear themselves apart over a loved one's death. Who is life support for? It isn't for the one who's basically already dead. It's for the living, who probably have some sort of unfinished business with their loved one and can't let them go. Too bad, the loved one deserves to be pain-free and in peace.

Good point, April..if I was in that position I would hope and pray that someone would pull the plug so I could move on to my next life...its about quality of life not quantity of life for me. I love life but wouldn't want to just vegetate in a coma, thats not living.

God allowed man to create the machines. However, life and death are in the power of His hands. People sometimes fear lose so much that they preserve a similitude of a memory through the usage of the breathing machines.I don't want to remember any of my family members lying lifeless on a breathing mechanism. I would rather have the memories of the good times, rather than remembering them helpless, and gone.

Its so wise to be prepared for this sort of situation because unfortunately we never know what may happen. My husband and I have both made it clear to one another, and put it in writing as well, that we would not want any form of artificial support.

No difference.

Interest comment, Paul. Care to elucidate?

Well, it really depends on your view. "Playing God" is a very broad term and used to mean different things for different people. It's the same with: freewill, or even, the definition of God. Two people maybe arguing about two supposedly different views, but when inspected, they're talking about the same thing, only with different words.