As we all heard the other day, Jesse Jackson has jumped into the main ring of the circus that used to be Terri Schiavo's life. Jackson was apparently so very concerned about such a gross "injustice" that he went to Florida to be with her family. . . yesterday. He showed up to voice his opposition to the removal of her feeding tube at the specific request and invitation of her family.
This battle has been going on in public for how long, and the good Reverend is just now speaking out on what he calls "one of the profound moral, ethical issues of our time"? One would that someone who viewed this as such an urgent civil rights issue, would have gotten involved quite some time ago. One would think that a man of clergy would be involved speaking from his pulpit and offering pastoral counseling & moral support to her family instead of having a primary focus in front of the cameras to show his moral outrage and confusion as to why he was not granted an appointment with Terri Schiavo. One would be wrong. I guess Al Sharpton was right, the only thing Jesse runs is his mouth.
None of the premises in the arguments regarding keeping her alive (yet not alive) are based on any credible evidence of that being in the best interest of Terri Schiavo herself - of course that's because Terri as her husband, parents, siblings and friends knew no longer inhabits that body. Despite cries Terri has been denied freedom of religion, the testimony of Father Gerard Murphy proves that her religion was indeed considered. As my favorite Presbyterian Pastor, Tim Simpson, pointed out on Public Theologian today the lives of those who believe in G-d are not completely their own. The lives of those who believe in G-d are on loan to us by Him; he sends a soul to a body and when life is over, the soul is reclaimed.
Christians believe in an afterlife that includes Heaven for those who are good and Hell as a place for retribution. Good Christians should embrace their place in Heaven with G-d and Jesus. They are not to go out of their way to die (ie., commit suicide) just to get there sooner as this is a mortal sin, they must earn their place after fulfilling their earthly obligations. Only then should the body die to release the soul to its rightful place. As Terri is incapable of fulfilling any more earthly obligations of her own volition, her soul is in limbo - held hostage to the body kept functioning at the most basic of levels.
The 11th District Court of Appeals has refused another rehearing in the Schiavo matter; only 2 judges dissented. The courts have made it clear that the case is not about anyone except Terri Schiavo. As the days tick on, it is time for the Schindlers to finally acknowledge their tragic loss and begin a healthy grieving process.
Tags:terri schiavo; medical futility;religionSphere: Related Content
Wednesday, March 30, 2005
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Thank you for your kind mention of me, Cranky.
I was not happy to see Jesse involved in this issue. He came in at a very bad time. I am hoping that he did this out of a sense of conviction than as an opportunity to get back in Bill O'Reilly's good graces. Not everyone who thinks that Schaivo should have been hooked up again is a wingnut, so he may be genuine in his concern. But the timing was about as bad as it could get.
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