It is very clear that all this was a big fig leave: many terminally ill people live far longer than the doctor says, and the doctor would be either under great pressure or ideologically inclined to confirm the short life expectancy; the requirement of the patient to be compos mentis would soon fall if suicide is seen as an acceptable alternative; old and vulnerable people can be put under pressure to put an end to their lives anyway; the doctor would soon have been seen as “suicidephobic”, & Co.

This time, it hasn`t worked. The Country is still not satanical enough. It would seem good news.

However, I must notice that nowhere have I noticed the debate put in a Christian frame. The main problem was the protection of the suicide. This once greatest taboo of them all has now become simply non-existent. The debate was largely secular, even when it came from people who are religious (Catholic prelate) or say they are (Anglican clowns). The entire discussion was mainly centred about the easy abuse of any legal opening to suicide. The evil of suicide wasn`t part of the wider debate. God was just forgotten or, rather, ignored.

This is a very bad sign. The debate is already framed in a way that must, in time, cause the satanic measure to prevail in some way. The “right to die” meme is now firmly anchored in the collective consciousness of the Britons. The perception that one has, in principle, a “right to die” is clearly mainstream. It is now largely a question of protection: that is, a question of a good compromise between conflicting rights, in which the right to die is now seen by vast parts of the population as a legitimate part of the equation.

This country has become so secular that even people who call themselves church people fail to direct the attention – actually, have no intention of even trying – on what God says. The usual words “weak”, “vulnerable”, “protection”, “guarantees”, “right”, are tossed about with no reference at all to a religious frame.

The law did not pass, but this debate is lost already. Unless the cultural climate changes, the attention will be directed at giving better protection to the vulnerable, not at avoiding the suicide. As the years go by many who still have vestiges of religious feeling will die, and many for whom a man is his own god will reach voting age. Unavoidably, a suicide law will be passed some day.

In the meantime, we will continue with today`s practice, with the Crown Prosecution Service showing no intention whatever to crack down on those who abet and assist terminally ill suicides. It will continue to be a dark zone of tolerated suicide, seen by many and prosecuted by none, provided the involved parties keep their mouth shut.

Britain is still on its way to hell. The pace is merely somewhat slower than already feared.

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