Posted on 06/16/2005 6:53:51 AM PDT by rhema
. . .People of goodwill may disagree about Terri Schiavo's case. Yet as our society strays from its traditional belief in the essential dignity of every human life, we all must grapple with the implications of the notion that some lives are "not worth living."
Today, assisted suicide is lawful in Oregon. In the Netherlands, according to the New York Times, prosecutors no longer pursue cases against doctors who kill severely impaired babies after birth. The temptation to deal with the defective and incompetent by eliminating them is likely to grow as our society ages. Today, approximately 4.5 million Americans have Alzheimer's disease. In coming decades, projections suggest that about 40 percent of us will spend roughly 10 years in an infirm, demented condition. The way we deal with this situation will say much about us as a society.
Currently, the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum is staging an exhibit . . . called "Deadly Medicine: Creating the Master Race." It examines the idea of "lebensunwertes Leben" -- lives not worthy of life --which the Nazis used to justify their elimination of thousands deemed unfit to live: the retarded, the defective and the seriously ill.
Some German intellectuals championed this idea well before the Nazi era began. A 1920 book, for example, decried "the meticulous care shown to existences which are not just absolutely worthless" -- the disabled and deformed -- "but even of negative value." It called for applying the "healing remedy" of premature death, in order to "eliminat[e] those who were born unfit for life or who later became so."
Today, we must ensure that we ourselves are not tempted to start down this slippery slope --moved by free choice rather than totalitarian edict, and seduced by a shallow notion of "death with dignity."
(Excerpt) Read more at startribune.com ...
So if I'm in a PVS, and according to my wishes my wife pulls the tube, she has murdered me?
Cognitively disabled people have as much right and desire to live as anyone else. If you make a suicide murder pact with your wife in the event you ever become a member of a group you currently despise, and she carries it out, it's still murder.
And I shake my head...
What kind of faith is that? Faith that Jesus Christ wants you to kill your wife? Catholics aren't the only ones who disagree with that.
The autopsy already debunked the abuse theory. Let it go.
No, it didn't.
She was not on life support. If she was, I wouldn't have had a problem. Life support is oxygen or a machine that keeps the heart beating. Giving someone food and water is NOT considered life support in my view.
or create living wills.
I never said that...in fact I encouraged you to put your wishes in writing, so quit putting words in my mouth.
My point is that the marriage contract should assume the medical proxy contract.
My point is that MS broke the marriage contract by committing adultery, so in the eyes of the Lord, there was no marriage covenant between him and Terri, only a certificate issued by the State that was more worthless than the paper it was written on, hence the skepticism of his motives.
Even if you are completely 100% brain dead.
I am beginning to think you have already reached that point as you are totally incapable of basic comprehension. No dinner for you tonight buddy...
Scenario A: She pulls the tube, five years later she meets someone new and starts a new family.
Scenario B: The courts don't let her pull the tube. My body stays alive for decades. Now when she meets someone new five years later it is called adultery. But I don't want my wife to put her life on hold for decades while she fights a legal battle.
So it's all a conspiricy? They faked the autopsy report?
Marriage vow doesn't have anything to do with medical care .
You are just cruising for trouble and you know it.
Back to the Bible verse, my wedding vows were to love, honor and obey. The Bible says that the husband is to love his wife as Christ loves the Church. There is no evidence of Michael's love for Terri.
The above poster is correct. Much spousal abuse does not leave lasting evidence except in the heart.
WRONG...he was living with another woman and had children with that woman, he broke his marriage vows to Terri in full public view.
There you go again, pretending my statement referred to something that was never said. Did you already forget what you said, or are you deliberately being dishonest?
You response was one post below mine! If you were referring to something else, then quote it to avoid confusion.
Suppose I were in a PVS. I've told my wife I want the tube pulled.
Scenario A: She pulls the tube, five years later she meets someone new and starts a new family.
Scenario B: The courts don't let her pull the tube. My body stays alive for decades. Now when she meets someone new five years later it is called adultery. But I don't want my wife to put her life on hold for decades while she fights a legal battle
Oh.
That's a lot of stuff to put on the back of one jersey, innit?
How are things in the Russian League with the NHL strike and all? Do you find that most Russians are a little xenophobic, and don't take kindly to folks of Scotch/Lithuanian mix?
Do you remember playing for the Islanders in '94 in Tampa and me nailing you with a coke after you lost 4-3 in overtime?
Me: No, it didn't.
In English that means "No, it didn't."
Try to keep up.
The fight for Terri was predicated on the spousal abuse being easily verified. Now that it has been debunked her supporters are claiming that abuse still took place and left no marks. If we are presume husbands are guilty of abuse even when the evidence shows otherwise then our society is in deep trouble.
Since when did a marriage contract allow for a spouse to sleep with and have children with another person? To think that every married couple is as "in love" as you and yours is silly. There are many spouses with less then honorable intentions towards their spouses. You are living in a dream world if you think a marriage contract is made out of gold. I am sure Laci Peterson and Nicole Simpson would not agree with you if they were able to talk from their graves.
Ok, what abuse did the autopsy find?
If Terri was abused then I'm on your side. Let's prosecute Michael.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.