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Everyone PLEASE Read:

GOOD FRIDAY
MARCH 25 - 2005

Terri's crucifixion

"Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do."

It wouldn't surprise me if Terri Schiavo died today.

It will be a tragedy.

I will be very mournful.

I suspect it will feel like losing a member of the family for many of us.

But it will not surprise me if she died on Good Friday, the day Jesus died.

I want to be optimistic. I want to believe there is still some virility, some manhood, some courage, some godliness, some morality and some intestinal fortitude in public officials who could save her life with the stroke of a pen, with a phone call.

But as Terri, now in her eighth day of court-ordered starvation, weakens, I am forced to contemplate the strong possibility that this young lady may be purposely and torturously killed with the whole world watching.

Good Friday. Imagine that.

Like Jesus, Terri was an innocent – at least for the last 15 years. By definition, she was virtually incapable of committing sin during her disability. Yet, she was treated more harshly than our society would ever treat even the most abominable serial killer.

Like Jesus, Terri was betrayed. She has her Judas. His name is Michael Schiavo. He claims he is starving her to death because that would be what Terri would want. And this specious, unsupported claim is the sole basis for starving to death a young handicapped woman denied rehabilitative efforts by her so-called "guardian."

Like Jesus, Terri's mother has been forced to watch this public execution helplessly. Imagine what this must be like for mother Mary Schindler. Can anyone reading my words today imagine watching your child starve to death by court order? Can you imagine what it must be like to be kept from your loving child in these hours by armed guards?

Like Jesus, Terri has her accusers. The high priests today wear black robes. Judge George Greer, an obscure county bureaucrat just a few weeks ago, is having his 15 minutes of fame at Terri's expense. Driven either by some blind ideological desire to pull the plug on handicapped people or in the death grip of fear of admitting a mistake, Greer was not so much a judge as he was the prosecutor and executioner. His supporting cast included the entire U.S. Supreme Court, the Florida Supreme Court and the entire 11th Circuit.

Like Jesus, Terri has her Herod. In this case, his name is U.S. District Judge James Whittemore, a Bill Clinton appointee who could have saved her or decided to hear the case himself. He could have listened to the will of Congress and the president of the United States. Instead, like Herod, he kicked the case back to Greer.

Like Jesus, Terri may, too, have her Pontius Pilate. It's not too late for Gov. Jeb Bush of Florida to avoid playing this role. He doesn't have to wash his hands of the matter. He has found no fault in the woman. He has spoken favorably of her and championed her plight. But he is uniquely positioned at this moment to save her. He, himself has already acknowledged he has the power and the legal authority to do it. He has even threatened to do it. But, like Pilate, he seems to be weighing the political implications of saving her life rather than using the scale of moral imperative.

I pray today Jeb Bush is reflecting on all this. I pray he has considered he has a big decision to make. I pray he listens to that still small voice in his heart that, I suspect, is speaking to him right now about this. I pray he is not distracted by the routine business of the governorship of his state to see this matter clearly. I pray he recognizes that if he washes his hands, pretending he did everything he could possibly do under the law, that he will become complicit in this horrible crime.

http://www.wnd.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=43489

That is exactly what it feels like. We are watching her
crucifixion and my heart is wrenching. I have a nephew
who suffered a severe head injury 6 years ago. He was in
a coma for 2 months on a vent. Dr.s said his brain was
almost complete damaged and would be in a vegetative state
for the rest of his life. Luckily we didn't listen to the
doctors and decided he was in Gods hands and we played it
out. Today he lives at home with his parents, of course
with major disabilities. He has a feeding tube and we couldn't
t dream of removing it. He has received major OT, PT, and
speech therapy and will for the rest of his life. He follows people with his eyes just like Terri. He is happy
to see his family and friends Just like Terri. He groans
a few words just like Terri. He is able to use communicative
devises and is trying to drink some on his own. He looks just like her on the video of her following the balloon.
He was able to toss a football too us very early on, in his
so called vegetative state.

I think doctors don't always know as much as they think
they do. I also think some push the families too pull the
life support because they themselves as an individual wouldn't want to live that way. It is almost as society
looks on people with disabilities as something to be ashamed
of because they don't look like us.

I have worked for six years back home with Children with
Disabilities. I promise that 98% of them are as happy
as any other child if not happier. I think God makes
them that way. But they also learn to function as normal
as they can.

Oops, Got on my soap Box

Terri's crucifixion

A quotation from a Jewish rabbi on the main thread a couple of days ago said it best: "Thou shalt not kill!"

Saw a cartoon this AM that showed Scott Peterson in a cell next to a cell containing Terri Schievo. In it he's saying: "I killed my wife, what are you in here for?"

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