Re: When is death death?
Posted by: joerevesz <joerevesz@...>
> Thank you, Steve.
> You have asked very important and valid questions
> concerning life and death, Steve. What if it hadn't
> been for the machines 15 years ago? Terri would have
> died then and that would have been the end of it.
> There was a time in human history when that was the
> case; there was no technology for helping to keep
> people alive artificially. Is it possible the Bible
> doesn't speak to some of the extremes that modern
> medicine has taken us?
The Bible does not speak directly to the use of microwave ovens or
speeding on the expressway, but the Bible does address the ethics that we
are to apply to any situation that we find ourselves in. Does the Bible
address organ transplants or blood transfusions? No. Are they human
practices? I think so. All in the name of helping others as we are
commanded to do - "care for the sick", "visit the afflicted", etc. I
think that all ethics taught in the Bible can be applied in any given
situation (else, why would God have given them to us?), but at times it
takes a lot of wisdom to do so correctly.
> Is this tragic? Yes. Is it sad? Absolutely. But to
> demonize her husband (as I have heard my local
> Christian radio stations do) and to condemn the
> actions of the courts is narrow minded and short
> sighted. I respect James Dobson and the people on this
> list, but I challenge everyone to think a little bit
> more deeply about the matter than just a simple case
> of life and death. Life is very sacred, and I believe
> that we should work hard to preserve life within our
> world, but when does life quit being life?
Yes, think more deeply and investigate the situation more thoroughly.
This was not a "right to die" situation since it is hearsay that Terri
wanted to die. I have deep suspicion for the players here, those on the
husband's side mostly. Too many odd things went on and there are too
many witnesses to strange behavior on the part of the husband. Add to
that the lawyer's "spin" and the talk about a peaceful death by
starvation. What a crock! I doubt that the people talking like this
have tried to starve themselves for two weeks. Why the morphine drip if
she couldn't feel anything? Why the stuffed cat in her arm or the
background music playing if she could not notice or react to her
environment? Was all this just to sooth the consciences of the living or
to use for propaganda?
It is sad that the flowers in her room received more water than Terri did
even though hospice nurses routinely wash the mouths of the dying so that
the skin does not dry and crack and cause even more pain.
Joe