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To everything, says the writer of the Book of Ecclesiastes, there is season -- a time to be born, and a time to die.
The part about being born is fine for most of us; we can talk about that. But dying? That's something we're not as comfortable discussing, whether it's our own death of the deaths of loved ones. Which is why the recent debate about whether or not Samuel Golubchuk should have been disconnected from live-saving medical technology was so important.
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The most conservative authorities "would say that every possible measure must be taken to preserve a life, even in completely hopeless cases where there is no longer any brain activity," he says.
According to Green, Golubchuk's case was not hopeless when he saw him in December, last year. "What I saw was a man who was obviously in rough shape, but who wasn't comatose, and certainly nowhere near brain dead," he says.
Rabbi Avrohom Altein of the Ashkenzai Congregation saw Golubchuk a week before he died. Alteim says that media reports about his condition were "totally distorted," and that Golubchuk did not appear to be in serious pain. "I saw him communicate," he says.
Both men agree that although Golubchuk's children cited their Orthodox Jewish beliefs as a reason for not withdrawing medical care, the issue goes beyond Judaism.
"It's not a Jewish issue," says Altein, noting that clergy from every religion have gone through this with a family. "It affects every person who has a loved one in hospital."
Two years ago Christian author and theologian Stanley Hauerwas was in Winnipeg speaking on the topic of death and dying. Among other things, he noted that our view of death today is very different from the Middle Ages.
Today, most people say they want a quick death. Back then, however, people craved an extended period of dying, something they called a "good death."
"They wanted a lingering death, so they could be ministered to by the church and have time to be reconciled to others and to God," he stated. A disease like cancer "would not have been seen by them as an unmitigated tragedy," he added.
If that's the case, then maybe Samuel Golubchuk received a gift of a good death from his children. And maybe we received a gift of sorts, too -- a gift of being able to ponder a subject we usually avoid talking about altogether.
Thoughts on our final journey Golubchuk case offers chance to ponder subject of death John Longhurst
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Reverend Bryan Fischer, a Parks and Recreation Commissioner filed suit against the city, along with pro-life stalwart Brandi Swindell. The case was thrown out of court and the city asked for court costs from its citizens, and was granted more than $10,000, which they did not attempt to collect for four years.
Fischer, Swindell, and hundreds of grassroots activists stood against the capriciousness of Boise Mayor Dave Bieter for 70 days, until, at the end of the March, the city moved the Monument to a local church. Fischer and Swindell proposed a citizen's initiative to place a new monument in the park. This monument, like the old one, would not be paid for by the city and would also feature Thomas Jefferson's Bill for Establishing Religious Freedom. In the heat of July and August, volunteers worked desperately to collect enough signatures. Many wondered if ragtag volunteers could do it, but they did. The city responded by saying they wouldn't allow a public vote on the legally qualified initiative.
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Bryan Fischer and Brandi Swindell are some of those rare counterweights. They fight for conservative values every day.
Ms. Swindell has spent the prime of her life traveling the country trying to get the post-Roe generation involved in the pro-life issue. While many people her age are living out HBO and MTV shows, she's chosen to be a voice for sexual purity and biblical values in a confused time.
She went to Florida to fight for the life of Terri Schiavo. She has stood for traditional values at the 2002 Salt Lake City Olympic Games. She fought for conservatives to get a fair shake in the selection of speakers at Boise State University rather than being presented a slate full of nothing but liberal speakers.
In recent months, Swindell has appeared in the newspaper far less, because her work has been so positive. Her long time dream has been to do more than activism: to help women in crisis pregnancy situations, and that's just what she's done through her new organization, Stanton Health Care Services. She's personally gotten involved in the lives of these young women.
Through her involvement in the lives of these women, she became a leader in the fight for Idaho's landmark law against coercing women into getting abortions that was opposed by the state's extreme liberals..............
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