I had carpet installed this past Thursday and had to have everything off the carpeted areas ahead of time. So from Wednesday afternoon until Friday night, I had no TV, and I still don't have the internet re-hooked up at home (I was out of town over the weekend). The news about Terri's death and then Pope John-Paul II went unblogged by me (although I have to thank the rest of the blogosphere for filling in for me).
Here is the link to the Schindler family's statement following Terri's death. I can't begin to imagine their loss, and I'm impressed by their gracious thanks to so many people.
At the same time, I can't begin to imagine what compelled the people who argued that Terri's feeding tube should be pulled. It's a testament to how much our society has changed that these people got such sympathetic treatment by the news media.
If we go back far enough, say before WWII, society (including the universities, the government, and the news media) promoted the value of all life. These institutions and their leaders may not have been religious themselves, but they supported the Judeo-Christian worldview. Society frowned on unwed mothers, divorce, and juvenile delinquents. They locked up abortion providers and mercy killers.
After WWII, things began to change. People who held an anti-Judeo-Christian worldview began to gain leadership positions in the nation's universities, government, judiciary, and especially the news media. And the pillars of a life-affirming society began to crumble.
The difference between the people who wanted Terri's feeding tube kept in and those who wanted it pulled is their worldview. Those who see the world as created by God, with mankind created in His image and having a spirit, value any life as worth living and worth protecting. Those who see the world as being material in its totality--whatever is tangible or measurable is real, the spiritual realm is a delusion--see life as having value when it's useful or productive. For these latter people, Terri stopped being productive and became a drain on resources, and her life stopped being worthwhile to society.
These material-believing people are the ones who predominate in the educational system, teaching our children and young adults a godless view of life. They dominate the mainstream media, allowing a voice only to those who agree with them, and this helps to promote their values over the traditional Judeo-Christian values. And for the people who hold traditional values, it starts to seems as though all of society has gone to the other side.
Terri was important for her own sake. She was a woman who loved and was loved by her family, and whose story touched so many other lives. But she was also important because she became the catalyst to show our nation what we are becoming--a country divided over how it values life.
I have medical instructions (it's not really a Living Will, because Living Wills are normally designed to say NOT to recussitate or take extreme measures) that say to absolutely take whatever extraordinary measures are available to keep me alive, and especially to never, never pull a feeding/hydration tube. I don't believe that withholding food and water is moral/right/ethical/whatever word you want to use. I set up these instructions seven years ago, because I was already concerned that my life could be at risk if I didn't.
What I don't have is an organ donor card. I've also been concerned for years that if I had one and was seriously injured, that the medical community might see my organs as more important to somebody else than to me. With a lot of the discussion going on around Terri Schiavo, this looks to me like it's becoming more of a risk.
Even Laura Bush has spoken about the importance of having a Living Will, but as this article says, the Campaign for Children and Families, advises against a Living Will and argues in favor of using the "Will to Live" form. "'California's living will law assumes you want to be starved or dehydrated to death,' said CCF President Randy Thomasson. 'This is frightening. Most people don't know that signing the standard advance directive form could sentence you to a horrible death, by your own hand or someone else's.'"
If you want to be kept alive, look into the Will to Live form.
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