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 ...
Having been in an abusive relationship, I KNOW God would not want that for me AND guess what? There is not a single sign on my body that it happened but it did.
I would PRAY that my loving family would tend to me over such a monster that I unfortunaley married.
Not all marriages are beautiful things, jib!!!
The thing to do and what God always wants is the loving thing.
Terri's friends, after the fact, claimed that she was seeking a divorce. Even though Michael was on good terms with Terri's family for years after the accident. This is much like the evidence of the "abuse".
What we do know is that Michael is her husband, but the "conservatives" apparantly don't care about that.
At least my way is enjoyable!!
Thanks for the ping!
Your particular problem can be solved by your wife telling her family her wishes as well.
Better yet, she can write them down and give you AND her family a copy.
That way, everyone's on the same page, so to speak.
BTW, if she is found unconscious just after she decides to divorce you, all bets are off and her parents get her.
" I know you would of swear that Bulimia caused the collapse but we now know that there is no evidence for it,"
We also know that she did not have a heart attack either.
The coroner stated that her heart was 'strong' and in 'good condition' and probably was the reason she lasted so long AFTER the tube was removed the last time.
My entire family thought my parents were happily married until the day my mother kicked my father out.
An independant government review of decisions that used to be between husband and wife? If it were the liberals doing this we would correctly be pointing out this is yet another attack on the sanctity of marriage.
You used a bible quote to justify the right of the husband to kill, is there other quotes that justify mercy killing. I thought that God should be the one to determine death other than his ten commandments to Man.
His wife said she didn't want to be kept alive. That is also what my wife told me during the Shaivo sage.
There are other slippery slopes besides mercy killings. There is the increasing intrusiveness of medical technology. We may not be able to heal damaged brains but we can keep the body alive. We could have millions of elderly who would have died from strokes all with living bodies kept alive in PVS. We are going to have to confront that slippery slope also.
What is the dignified way to live or die?
My wife has told me that she doesn't want to be kept alive in a PVS and trusts me to make the decision. I've said the same to her. That is what marriage should be. But if "conservatives" have their way, that doesn't matter until we get our family's approval, and possibly have an independent review.
So because some marriages are unhappy or even abusive we should just throw out the concept of marriage vows? Are we Christian conservatives or are we liberal feminists?
Some husbands, and Michael was an estranged husband with a mistress, have serious conflicts of interest and should not be appointed guardians. Take the van Klaus case, he was removed as her guardian and replaced with her children.
In this day and age, a wife is not the property of her husband and where there is even a suspicion of attempted murder (van Klaus's conviction was overturned or was it that another jury disagreed?)
In Terri's case, Michael was caught in numerous lies, did not act in her best interest, and showed his sadistic nature by, among many others misdeeds, not wanting her parents to know where she is buried.
We only have MS's statement that Terri said she did not want to be kept alive. MS lied about Terri's food disorder and having a heart problem. We now know from the autopsy that she had neither. So why should we believe now that he told the truth about her wishes to die? NO ONE WANTS TO BE STARVED TO DEATH. As long as the parents were willing to care for their daughter, she should have been placed with them. The state had no right to take her life. Only God has the right to take a life. And if you don't believe that, you are no better than a pig wallowing in mud.
"conservatives" want to limit the power of the marriage contract. And yet they also accuse the liberals of attacking marriage!
Some husbands, and Michael was an estranged husband with a mistress, have serious conflicts of interest and should not be appointed guardians.
My wife goes into a PVS and for a few years we see what we can do. We give up but now I can't legally pull the tube (even though she told me she wanted me to) because her family and a bunch of "conservatives" decide otherwise. This goes on for a long time. Five years after the accident and maybe two years after when I would have originally pulled the plug I start a new family. 10 years after accident people say that I'm not even her husband anymore and should give up my spousal rights to her family.
Um, did God plug her into the feeding tube? If it were up to God she would have died years ago and been at his side instead of listening to all this blather.
If you have your way, I would not be allowed to make the same decision for my wife, God forbid that she end up in a PVS.
God also said Thou Shall Not Kill.... but of course.. you can if it's convenient eh? Even God says that one may divorce if there is adultery, but He never says it is ok to kill your spouse if you think they want you to. Or if their mental state is not up to par. BTW, when one is married, God also says you can't have sex with someone else if your spouse is ill.. you sound like a typical pick and choose moralist..
"We were on the side of having the state come between husband and wife".
No were on the side of stopping a murder by any means possible. By your rationalization, it was wrong to prosecute Scott Peterson because after all we were coming between a husband and wife.
So there is no degree of intrusiveness of life support that can't be removed then? As technology improves more and more people with damaged brains will be able to be kept alive.
The bible says that adultury is a reason to divorce but the bible also recommends reconciliation if possible. The only evidence of this divorce comes from Terri's friends after everything fell out. MS was on good terms with Terri's family for years.
Let's go back to the hypothetical of my wife: she is in a PVS and her family wants her alive. Years after I would have pulled the plug but was not allowed to I meet someone else.
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