People Make Life Fragile

If you have kept up with the Schiavo case very well you may have read the recent article printed in National Review and written by Rich Lowry. The article stresses the value of human life in general. More importantly, Lowry implies that in this case human life has been devalued. He brings forward a debate between those who want Terri Schiavo to live and those who want her to die.

To say the words "those who want her to die" may appear blunt in the extreme to many people out there. Yet this is the exact truth. Lowry points this out explicitly when he discusses the term "allow to die." He suggests that no such thing exists in this case, Terri is actively being killed. Many of you think to yourselves: "Aren't they just taking her off life support? She doesn't want to be kept alive artificially and who would?" I will answer you, first off, no, a feeding tube is NOT life support and that is what was removed from her. This tube simply aided the nurses in doing their jobs. Many people were arrested trying to bring water to Terri, why would they be arrested if she was in a complete vegetative state and therefore unable to swallow? Secondly, if you consider eating food and drinking water to be an artificial means of staying alive then you should try not eating for a while. And third, there is no shame in being cared for when you cannot care for yourself. Did Christopher Reeves commit suicide? No, and the world is a better place because he did not do that. But he did have to be taken care of by other people. He was paralyzed after all. Who knows what might have happened if Terri had been allowed the diagnosis and treatment that could have helped her regain some normality in life . . .

Perhaps no legal recourse exists now to save Terri Shiavo, perhaps Governor Bush has done all he can, perhaps the judge who took over the state of Florida acted in accordance with his understanding of the law, perhaps Michael Schiavo really did hear Terri once say she would not want to be kept alive artificially. Or perhaps not. The fact is, this case is a mix of details that cannot be fully explained. Yet a human life has had the right to live taken without due process of law and without committing any crime against the state wherein that human life resides. That is the most important thing to remember. The rammifications of this case are simple. Remember Hitler, remember his actions against Jews? How about this, remember that he also attempted to cleanse Germany of those who he thought were not good enough to live, those with genetic diseases and those who were handicapped? And his policies caused many deaths. He did this because he believed for some reason that disabled were not contributing members of society, or that they would taint his perfect race. A perfect race then, is one that kills off the old, the disabled, and those who have to be cared for in order to have quality of life? One that takes the work of God into its own hands and acts against those whom it sees fit to act against? Yeah, that makes sense.

Life is fragile because people make it fragile. It is fragile because some people are crooked and twisted, and desire to kill and hurt others. It is fragile because some people cannot see beyond the noses on their face to the cross where one person died so that they would not have to die or to do evil things to others any longer. It is fragile because many would like to act like God, and fail to realize that God is merciful and will forgive them even for pretending to take His place.

I think it is notable that protesters tossed Easter lilies and red roses on Michael Schiavo's lawn on Easter Sunday. And he responded strangely, he turned on his sprinklers and had one of his friends return the flowers to the protesters. He said that he was "very upset." When did a flower hurt anyone? Perhaps the sight of the Easter lilies reminded him of something. But his response expressed a hardening of his heart. Life is fragile, even for those who harden their hearts and refuse to look upon the beauty of flowers. Even for those who construct a precedent in the law that makes life even more fragile than it was before. Even for those who cannot take the law into their own hands to stop the death of one person. But those who accept the mercy of God will find that death is actually fragile. People make life fragile, but God makes death a moot point.