By Caleb Moline | New Voices
Posted May 7, 2005
The cliché is true: America is a melting pot of sorts, where people from all cultures and ways of life are accepted as equals. We all enjoy the same rights and the same treatment by our government. Most important, we all have the freedom of speech, endowed to us by the First Amendment.
This is one of the most important rights granted to us by the Constitution. It allows us to discuss ideas and broaden our horizons. In this environment, intellectualism thrives and allows humans to accomplish great things. When we are allowed to speak freely, it helps people understand where we are coming from and aids us in building a better future.
In a "New Voices" essay in this space two weeks ago titled "Religion vs. Politics," 22-year-old William Niemann, a medic in Kuwait with the Army's 514th Medical Company, used the Terri Schiavo case as an example of religion creeping into the lives of citizens. Niemann explained that the issue was debated only on the grounds of whether or not God approved of removing her feeding tube. But this is hardly the case. In fact, the Schiavo case was solved by the government in a manner that was devoid of any religious matter at all -- Pinellas Circuit Judge George W. Greer found that legally, not religiously, Michael Schiavo had the legal authority to have the plug pulled on his wife.
However, it does perplex me that Niemann found debate, the relation of ideas, the very cornerstone of our culture, "disturbing." Moreover, all people should be entitled to their opinions and allowed to exercise their freedom of speech. When a life-or-death issue arises, all matters of opinion should be taken into account -- and, yes, this includes religion!
Niemann pointed out that we live in a democracy, and that is exactly my point. Had we lived in a theocracy, there would have been no debate regarding the Schiavo case. That there was open discussion about the Schiavo case only proves that religion and politics can mingle without crossing the abominable line of separation of church and state.
Caleb Moline, 17, of Clermont is homeschooled, and dual-enrolled as a college student at Valencia Community College.
FV SAYS: Terri's barbaric, wrongful death is still disturbing and unacceptable to many Americans. What happened to Terri and her blood relatives will not be forgotten. Having never met her, I miss her and always will. Terri changed my life.
The brother of Terri Schiavo will be at the State Capitol this week to testify on proposed changes to Louisiana's "living will" law, a state senator said.
Sen. James David Cain, R-Dry Creek, is proposing a law to require that patients can't be denied food and water unless they previously requested "to be starved to death," Cain said.
The late Terri Schiavo was at the center of a recent nationally watched legal fight over whether to turn off the Florida woman's feeding tube after she spent years in a coma.
Her brother, Bobby Schindler, will testify on Cain's bill Tuesday in the Senate Judiciary "A" Committee meeting set for 9 a.m. in the Senate's big briefing room, Cain said.
The Schindler family opposed turning off the feeding tube, but Terri Schiavo's husband won a legal battle to do so.
"We have to determine that people actually want to be starved to death before we pull the plug," Cain said in a statement explaining the reason for his bill.
The Louisiana Senate last week bestowed another honor on the late Sen. John Hainkel Jr., a veteran legislator who died just before the legislative session's start.
Senators voted to rename the Senate Briefing Room, its newest and one of its larger committee rooms, in Hainkel's honor.
A move is also afoot to rename the New Orleans Home and Rehabilitation Center after Hainkel, a former president of the Senate and speaker of the House of Representatives.
The state-operated nursing home is scheduled for closure as a part of Gov. Kathleen Blanco's budget cuts, but area residents are promising a fight to keep it open.
FV SAYS: This article emailed to me from who knows what publication has an error. Terri was not in a coma.
Further, if good people knew the truth about what was involved in starving and dehydration, they would NEVER choose to do this to their own body or to their loved ones.