Terri's Passion

Readers write.

First, from John:

I am sad to my bones about this mess. I know that there must be people starving to death some place in this world every day, usually as the result of evil and corruption at work in their governments. But it seems to me that for some reason of His own, Terri has been chosen by God to represent in a very stark way much that is evil and corrupt in our own land. That this is happening during Holy Week when we are to meditate on our Lord's Passion and death is no coincidence. Just as He was railroaded by the courts of his day and denied justice and condemned, though known to be innocent, to a painful and shameful death, so this poor woman, whose only crime was to marry a selfish jerk, is condemned to a slow and agonizing death by the very legal system instituted to protect her rights. I don't know how this will work out, but I know that all the prayers and fasting done in Terri's behalf are not in vain, and that Almighty God will work some great good out of this unfolding tragedy.

O Jesus Christ, Son of the Living God, have mercy on us!

Now, from Margaret:

Why haven't we had thundering from our pulpits about the new and fun policy just created of "Pulling the Tube?" Again, the silence is deafening from our local churches. This should be a teaching moment about human life and the forces marshalled against it. If the Church were really committed to human life, it could have marshalled millions of Catholics to pressure our leaders to act on Terri's behalf.

Instead we weep over Jesus' death from unjust laws and the cries of the ignorant crowd while a slower and crueler death is being carried out on "one of the least of my brothers" and not a peep from our pastors. Her bishop wanted the warring family members to mediate their dispute. Where is the middle ground between life and death?

At minimum, you would think Jeb Bush could order an autopsy on her body to try to determine the cause of her collapse. Isn't there a small, fragile bone in the neck that breaks when someone is strangled? Wouldn't it be good to know that this was not the cause of her collapse? Wouldn't you think that Michael Schiavo would want to know and/or demonstrate that?

I think our pastors have been largely silent because, I'm sorry to say, they are getting their information, and thereby informing their judgement, from mainstream media. You know, from the folks who say Terri is a comatose, brain-dead zucchini.

Lane Core Jr. CIW P — Mon. 03/28/05 09:12:16 PM
Categorized as Terri Schindler Schiavo.