Is “Mass Suicide for Old People” the Answer to Japan’s Aging Problem?

Yusuke Narita is an assistant professor of economics at Yale and apparently a popular personality among the young people of Japan. In addressing one of the perceived problems in Japan—the frustration among young people who believe they are being held back by the number of older people dominating the business sector—he stated,

I feel like the only solution is pretty clear . . . In the end, isn’t it mass suicide and mass “seppuku” [a form of suicide involving ritual disembowelment traditionally practiced by samurai in certain situations] of the elderly?

Apparently, in sharing these views with a young person, he added,

Whether that’s a good thing or not, that’s a more difficult question to answer . . . So if you think that’s good, then maybe you can work hard toward creating a society like that.

In an interview regarding euthanasia, he declared,

The possibility of making [euthanasia] mandatory in the future . . . [will] come up in discussion.

Now Dr. Narita claims people are taking his statements out of context and that his use of “mass suicide” or “mass seppuku” is “an abstract metaphor,” and yet, whatever his intentions, many of his followers reportedly don’t see his “solutions” in an abstract way.

But the idea of calls for mandatory euthanasia (assisted suicide) in Japan or elsewhere certainly isn’t far-fetched. Consider how easily that could happen even here in America! Our Western culture has such a low view of the value of life. And no wonder, since they have been indoctrinated in naturalistic (atheistic) evolution that teaches all humans are animals and there’s no ultimate purpose and meaning in life.

As our culture continues to drift further from the absolutes of God’s Word, anything goes.

In many places euthanasia is already legal, not just for the terminally ill, but also for children, the elderly, the disabled, and those with mental illness. And, of course, almost without exception, Western nations allow for some form of on-demand abortion for unwanted babies or babies with disabilities. As our culture continues to drift further from the absolutes of God’s Word, anything goes—including the murder of the elderly for the convenience of the younger generations (and for the sake of the government’s pockets).

Yes, an aging population is a problem—a problem that has largely been caused by young people rejecting God’s design of the family and deciding not to have children—usually for very selfish reasons. But the solution to this problem is not “mass suicide” of the elderly. Any attempt to address the issue must first start from this fundamental principle: all persons—no matter their age, level of development, level of ability, or health—are made in the image of God (Genesis 1:27) with dignity and worth. Taking the life of a person made in God’s image is murder, so, yes, euthanasia is murder.

As Christians, we must stand against the evil we’re seeing growing in our world by pointing people toward the biblical teaching on the value of life and the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Get More Answers on Answers News

This item was discussed yesterday on Answers News with cohosts Rob Webb, Patricia Engler, and Jessica Jaworski. Answers News is our weekly news program filmed live before a studio audience here at the Creation Museum and broadcast on my Facebook page and the Answers in Genesis Facebook page. We also covered the following topics:

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Thanks for stopping by and thanks for praying,
Ken

This item was written with the assistance of AiG’s research team.