Dale P. has been a great contributor to this site. I posted her comments earlier this week on Terri Shiavo here. Today she is expanding on her “Nurse’s View”:
I have previously posted my concerns with regards to Terri Schiavo. In this week of the Christ’s Passion, it is especially difficult for me to understand why all avenues of assisting her to ‘live’ to the best she is capable of, have not been tried; more specific brain scans, eg. MRIs, actual rehabilitation efforts since those few already attempted DID show a positive response, allowing her own family to be her spokespersons since her ‘husband’ has long since abrogated his responsibilities as a husband in that small part ‘in sickness and in health, ’til death do us part’. Yes, I know, he IS trying to do what is in her best interest – he said so, so that should be enough.
I am sure those of us who believe that the issue with Terri is a whole lot more than just about her will, continue to fight the cause long after her soul has begun its new journey of light. You see, there really IS a huge issue here that is about what she represents (and that is always in the ‘present’ term).
In trying to put this together in my own mind, and yesterday, while the 11th deliberated her fate, I actually went through the day like a robot, I wandered through the online news, the blogs, anything that would help ease the unbearable that was growing in my heart. Nothing, of course, helped. I only found the ongoing arguments from both sides, and others, like me, in pain.
However, there was still something I could not wrap my arms around that guided my quest. Something sinister. No, not the ‘husband’, though that begs consideration, but he is not worth my effort. No, what IS relevant here is where we, as a nation, could be headed with this kind of thinking. We have seen it growing in recent years. It is a battle, to be sure – actually, I believe it is a war.
What responsibility do we have to others in life? In death? In the dying? In their ‘handicaps’?
Should Thomas Edison or Beethoven been put down because they were deaf? Or my dad? Should Steven Hawkins been put down because his body was overcome by a disease making him totally dependent on others, yet his brain still functioned – but he was a burden? Should our soldiers, horribly hurt in defense of their nation, be put down because their limbs were blown off and needed help? You know what I mean. The list could be endless and of different ‘hues’. However, I fear we are headed for something, if, as a nation, we do not stop long enough to think hard enough, about what is going on. Where IS our moral center?
We hear endless platitudes of one kind or the other on nearly every subject. Alot of what I see and read is just words, but no action – the old adage, ‘you have to walk the talk’ to make something happen, one way or the other, just is not in the frontal lobes of our society in many issues.
It comes down to this – and it may seem extraordinarily far-fetched to some, but I hope it is considered for what bodes now on our scenes: I found it on Savage, and he is right (or could be)…
“Euthanasia” Killings in Nazi Germany
Forced sterilization in Germany was the forerunner of the systematic killing of the mentally ill and the handicapped. In October,1939, Hitler himself initiated a decree which empowered physicians to grant a “mercy death” to “patients considered incurable according to the best available human judgment of their state of health.”
I know, I know. We have had an awful lot of ‘Hitler’ lately – name calling various folks who do NOT deserve it, but it seems to fit the sensibilities, or lack of, those who do the name calling in their attempts to bypass common sense on the part of the individual to ‘see’ someone as that hateful. Exploit the power of hate, I guess. But, there is NO question, that the direction we are faced with at this cross-roads can be fatal if we do not stop and think. Really think. History shows what has happened and it CAN happen again.
I know some do not care about this, do not believe it will happen, will see it as yet another ploy by some ‘right wind’ religious zealot, but I just hope that SOMEONE(s) pays close attention to the possibilities. Those of us who are in the midst of our journey with Christ to His resurrection at Easter, a few days hence, KNOW and believe in what that means. If you don’t, and I wish I could otherwise convince you, that is for your own soul to deliberate.
For me, I find Terri’s plight ironic in the face of history, soul-wrenching in the face of my beliefs, and fearful in the face of man’s race to superimpose himself over God’s plan.
We are currently in a fight with people in the desert plains who believe in a culture of death. Yet, we could become that ourselves if we absolve our responsibility to caring, giving full measure to someone’s life. We are in danger of this now.
This is not just about Terri anymore. It is about ALL of the ‘Terri’s’ now and in the future. Sorry, I go with Life on this one and I may die in the doing.
Dale P
