Uncommonly Decent

All credit to Lord Carey, the former Archbishop of Canterbury, about whom I have had unfriendly things to say on several previous occasions. Formerly an opponent of assisted dying in line with Church doctrine, Carey has now changed his mind, having been moved by the case of Tony Nicklinson who died two years ago after losing a high-court case over the issue. "The old philosophical certainties have collapsed in the face of the reality of needless suffering," Carey wrote. It is not clear exactly how he squares the concept of needless suffering with the idea of a loving god without whose consent a sparrow cannot fall; nevertheless, a cleric who favours compassion over orthodoxy is a rare and praiseworthy creature.