Terri Schiavo Blogburst
In keeping with Agent Tim's blogburst about Terri Schiavo, I have decided to polish and re-post something I wrote back when she was being starved. I continue to be appalled that the same justice system that is so hesitant to sentence a criminal to death would so gleefully sentence a handicapped woman to starvation, especially in the absence of any concrete proof that she would wish it.
Whose testimony condemned Terri to death? Why, it was the testimony of her husband Michael, the very same man who testified in an earlier malpractice trial that Terri would NOT want to die, and the very same man who stood to gain even more money as Terri's guardian, should she die. Don't you find it funny (or sickening) then, that Michael stopped Terri's therapy after he won that malpractice trial? Is it not just a little suspicious that Michael tried to deny his wife treatment for an infection after he had been awarded the money?
But enough of that... what does our culture's willingness to starve a brain-damaged woman say about us?
Just asking...
If I saw a homeless guy on the street, and remarked in passing "I just couldn't live like that," does that mean I would starve myself if I were to lose all my money?
If I saw an amputee, and said "I'd rather just die if I were to lose a limb," does that mean that you would order doctors to starve me, should I lose my right arm?
Beware the culture that embraces death. Our love and respect for life has dwindled so much that many Americans want to kill a brain-damaged lady simply because they think they "wouldn't want to live like that." These people, some of them Christians, say they would rather die themselves than be brain damaged... Yet there is no love or respect for God's gift of life there; just the search for an easy way out.
We as a culture have become so dependent upon prime living conditions that we don't know how to weather any storms. We're a country of sissies, pansies and wimps; we don't see life as something worth fighting for, because we fear the battle more than the loss. If something not handed to us on a silver platter, we are too arrogant to get it ourselves, and if we don't get it, we'd rather die.
What does it say about the state of the country when everyone has the mindset of a three-year-old?
And these people are so proud of their convictions.
posted by jacob.thrasher @ 3/20/2006 10:30:00 PM
9 comments
9 Comments:COMMENT POLICY
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I totally agree with you Neo. If there is any consolation in this awful event it is that millions of Americans were as against it as you and I were and vociferously objected. I don't think that we are completely lost - but I do think we are in danger of being so.
I know what you mean. This country keeps falling further away from God. It undouptedly would be better if our foundning fathers were in charge, but that's not how it is. We must remember we live in a fallen world as a fallen race known as man. Even when it's not exeptable, people mess up and mess up BIG. We can fight, but we can also pray. Pray for a revival of God in this country for God will hear our prayers.
Interesting that our embracing of death seems to come after our lives have become nice and easy - no one would have thought like that during the depression.
We seem to have forgotten that to whom much is given much is required - simply to maintain what has been given (let alone add to and improve it and ourselves).
i so agree with you. we are exactly that, a country full of wimps. it's sickening.
I know what you mean, Neo! I still can't believe that her husband would do that to her! Also, there was evidence that she was even abused by Micheal! I felt so bad for Terry. She didn't want to die. Dying the way that she did is the worst way possible, I believe. I don't see how human beings can support Micheal in his actions. I don't believe that he should have had total authority over Terry, either. Her family should have had a say in her future. If Micheal didn't want to be married to her anymore, just give custody of her to her family! but no, he's just an idiot and wanted the insurance money! What is the world coming to? katherine
I agree completely, Neo. Our nation has become a nation of sissies who absolutely can't have anything any way besides THEIR WAY. They call it being independent. Let's call it for what it is: immaturity and selfishness.
-PC, formerly open_mouth_insert_foot-
Amen Neo!!!
but then, isn't that what people are being indoctrinated with in the governmental institution called the public school system?
(btw, we're podcasting at some point tomorrow...I don't know if you made contact w. josiah yet.......but just thought you would want to know)
-KP
That Schiavo's life was taken is not a problem for me, but that it was done in such an horrifying protracted fashion is. Personally, I would not want to exist in a state like she did. However, if I could still communicate with God ... I don't know ... If the creation can no longer sustain itself as God intended, should it be be kept alive by artificial means?
You mention many times that death is the "easy" path, one people turn to when they don't want to deal with the sufferings of the world. Maybe that's true in some cases. But I also wonder: would member of a family with a dying grandparent consider it "easy" to let go? Would it be more painful to see them die, or chain them to the world because of your own selfish hopes?
What I'm saying is that there are many families out there, who would take the lives of loved ones because they believe it's the RIGHT thing, not the easy thing. That's their personal decision. We as a society should have no part in it.
The worst thing about the Shiavo case is not the tragedy of a brain-damaged woman. It is the tragedy of a nation who politicized her story. Both sides of the aisle are guilty-- left and right. Matters of life and death should not be so partisan! Instead of rehashing her death over and over, America needs to take a more constructive path, and create laws that afford both choice to the family and safety to the patient. I know it's possible. We just have to humble ourselves down, remember that we're dealing with an issue that's not so black-and-white, and try.
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