Posted on 03/19/2005 4:38:25 PM PST by nickcarraway
It took two years for 9/11 to fully sink in for me. For me to lose that questioning feeling of “Could this be real?” The feeling was very pronounced right at first: I would awaken and remember, not fully accepting, and begin the internal dialogue that ended with telling myself that yes, it had happened.
After two years, the acceptance was complete — a psychologist would say that I had finally “processed” the trauma.
But it is a feeling that I find resurfacing today. Can they really have done this? Can this really be happening here in America? Can there really be people this cruel? A legalized mechanism of death this determined to crush the life out of one simple, injured and innocent woman?
A demonic fury has been let loose upon our land. Those who “frame mischief by statute,” as the psalm says, “band together against the life of the righteous and condemn the innocent to death” (Ps 94: 20, 21).
We were frightened by 9/11 — and with good reason. But we were not frightened by Roe v. Wade. Incensed, yes. Roused to action, yes. Moved with compassion, yes. But not frightened.
I hate abortion. I know it for the heinous crime it is, but I am not frightened by abortion because I cannot be aborted. But I can be starved. I can be dehydrated. And so can you.
Every American who is still thinking straight understands now that first they came for the unborn. And now they are coming for the rest of us. The cattle cars are being loaded.
It is natural to recoil from death. It is natural to desire life for ourselves and those we love. Embracing and clinging to life is human. But what is human is upside-down now. We are living alongside fellow citizens who do not fear death, but who instead recoil from life. And all the structures of our human world — law, medicine, communication, art — are being twisted to serve the cause of death.
This is further highlighted by the comments of Nancy Valko (a registered nurse and president of Missouri Nurses for Life) who sent out an email on why Terri needs some kind of protective custody immediately:
It is well-known and has even been admitted in news articles that drugs like sedatives, narcotic pain meds, etc. are routinely employed in starvation and dehydration deaths. This is said to be necessary to "prevent" any possible discomfort but, more importantly, it also ensures that the victim will be less responsive and thus perpetuate the myths that such deaths are painless and/or that the person is a "vegetable." These drugs can also make it virtually impossible for Terri to even try to eat by mouth without choking in the unlikely event that Greer will allow oral feeding to be tried.
And how do we know if Terri isn't already receiving such medication since her feedings are now stopped? In the 2000 Steven Becker case here in St. Louis, the lawyer appointed by the court said he didn't see the responsiveness in Steven that the family saw but, after Steven was killed, his family told me that they finally got to read hospital records and found that Steve had been receiving drugs like Thorazine, making any assessment of Steven's mental status suspect.
I'm not really surprised that Greer went ahead with the terminating the feedings. Michael Schiavo, Felos and the rest of the "right to die" crowd cannot really afford to let the public see Terri in a hearing and I suspect Greer is hoping that Congress will not act during the Easter break. Greer has long banned pictures of Terri and people like Fr. Pavone and one of Terri's new lawyers have written about how alert and well Terri looks. Unfortunately, there are several ways to accelerate the dehydration process (extra blankets, turning the heat up, etc.) and by the time someone in authority gets to see her, she may already be dead or in extremis.
Remember, the carefully constructed "right to die" myths can easily collapse if the public gets a chance to see Terri now and unsedated or, even better, if she lives and improves with therapy. The whole "right to die" movement is at risk.
Yes, this is real. And so are our moral obligations, for no law that violates the natural law can demand obedience. It must be resisted. No Catholic can cooperate with it. No governor, no official, no cop, no nurse, nobody. Today it must be resisted; tomorrow it must be remedied. Or what the enemies who attacked on 9/11 have in mind for us will seem benign next to the “mercies” our fellow citizens are contemplating.
And just think, Jack Kevorkian is in jail for doing the same exact thing this Judge allowed.
Excellent post!!
"Every American who is still thinking straight understands now that first they came for the unborn. And now they are coming for the rest of us. The cattle cars are being loaded."
Good way to put it. I'm going to link it to here....
THE 'VAST LIFE-WING CONSPIRACY' AGAINST MICHAEL SCHIAVO
[Link page]
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1366335/posts
FReegards....
This notice should include something like: "Florida law recognizes food and water to be a part of medical treatment that can be accepted by a patient or refused just as any other treatment, including respirators, oxygen masks, antibiotics, blood, etc. In the event that a patient is unable to state their wishes regarding medical, the nearest relative, as defined by Florida* (see list below), will be authorized to make all medical decisions for you, including but not limited to: food, water, vitamins, medicine, surgery, therapy, visitation, religious practice, etc.
"Therefore, it is imperative that if you have any concern about your closest relative making these decisions on your behalf, that you make your intentions known NOW, before you go to sleep (possibly not to wake up again), IN WRITING in a LIVING WILL, sample below. BE SPECIFIC, including EVERY thing that could possibly occur (remember Murphy's Law). Sign your living will in the presence of two witnesses and distribute copies to lots of people, so that, in the event it is needed, it doesn't become lost."
How does that sound?
I don't.
bump for later
He's in jail for doing it in a much more "humane" way (insofar as kiling can be "humane").
When you have a culture who's moral compass is malfunctioning, multitudes will travel in the wrong direction.
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