Terri Schiavo and God

[Eric J in MN]

Her husband:

"Terri died 15 years ago," (Michael) Schiavo said, referring to the collapse and cardiac arrest that doctors say virtually destroyed her brain. "It's time for her to be with the Lord like she wanted to be."

I hope that faith in the God helps ease Michael Schiavo's pain in this sad situation.

……...

Congressman Tom DeLay (R-TX):

One thing that God has brought to us is Terri Schiavo, to help elevate the visibility of what is going on in America...This is exactly the issue that is going on in America, of attacks against the conservative movement, against me and against many others.

I don't think God decided to give Terri Schiavo a heart attack so that 15 years later Tom DeLay could use her to boost the conservative movement.

……...

James Dobson, Ph.D, psychologist, founder of Focus on the Famiily , during a discussion of Terri Schiavo in which he says that no one should be able to decline extraodinary measures even if he or she writes a living will (Terri Schiavo didn't write one):

I don't believe in a right to die. I think that God is in control of our destiny.

James Dobson's comment raises many theological questions.

Why did God let Terri Schiavo have a heart attack in the first place?

When people express how they would want to be treated in the future if they were in a hospital bed and couldn't communicate, why isn't that expression part of the destiny God intends?

MORE AT:
http://www.moveleft.com/moveleft_essay_2005_03_23_terri_schiavo_and_god.asp

[Wat_Tyler]

1. Aren't we playing God by keeping her alive in the first place?

What is it those machines are doing if not fighting off death?

[napi21]

2. I heard a Dr say that he feared many people will opt for NO TREATMENT

at all because of the publicity of this case. If you never go to the hospital, and never have the option of life support, you will never have to encounter the problem of removing it if it doesn't work for you. The problem is, not availing the use of these potentially life saving measures is certain death!

[Eric J in MN]

7. Where was that? nt

nt

[roguevalley]

3. because they fear god in the worst way and really don't believe

he's there because if they do, they will have to fall to his ultimate will: death and the great step into the unknown. God is a tool, not a friend. He's a secret foe, not a hope.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

4. I think that is part of the fundamentalist mindset

If you talk to ex-fundamentalists, they tell of perceiving God as some sadistic taskmaster who was out to get them if they weren't perfect.

[trotsky]

5. If "God is in control of our destiny"...

then why bother with medical treatment at all? It was the right thing, then, to remove the feeding tube because now it truly is "in God's hands."

[Eric J in MN]

6. Interesting point.

What makes some medical actions the will of God and not others?

[trotsky]

8. What about corrective devices?

Eyeglasses. Wheelchairs. Crutches. It's a whole big mess if you go down that road. WJWG? (Would Jesus Wear Glasses?)

[merh]

9. Remember when Abraham was tested? The fundies would fail the test

Genesis 22:1-19

Abraham Tested
1 Some time later God tested Abraham. He said to him, "Abraham!"

"Here I am," he replied.

2 Then God said, "Take your son, your only son, Isaac, whom you love, and go to the region of Moriah. Sacrifice him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains I will tell you about."

3 Early the next morning Abraham got up and saddled his donkey. He took with him two of his servants and his son Isaac. When he had cut enough wood for the burnt offering, he set out for the place God had told him about. 4 On the third day Abraham looked up and saw the place in the distance. 5 He said to his servants, "Stay here with the donkey while I and the boy go over there. We will worship and then we will come back to you."

6 Abraham took the wood for the burnt offering and placed it on his son Isaac, and he himself carried the fire and the knife. As the two of them went on together, 7 Isaac spoke up and said to his father Abraham, "Father?"

"Yes, my son?" Abraham replied.

"The fire and wood are here," Isaac said, "but where is the lamb for the burnt offering?"

8 Abraham answered, "God himself will provide the lamb for the burnt offering, my son." And the two of them went on together.

9 When they reached the place God had told him about, Abraham built an altar there and arranged the wood on it. He bound his son Isaac and laid him on the altar, on top of the wood. 10 Then he reached out his hand and took the knife to slay his son. 11 But the angel of the LORD called out to him from heaven, "Abraham! Abraham!"

"Here I am," he replied.

12 "Do not lay a hand on the boy," he said. "Do not do anything to him. Now I know that you fear God, because you have not withheld from me your son, your only son."

13 Abraham looked up and there in a thicket he saw a ram caught by its horns. He went over and took the ram and sacrificed it as a burnt offering instead of his son. 14 So Abraham called that place The LORD Will Provide. And to this day it is said, "On the mountain of the LORD it will be provided."

15 The angel of the LORD called to Abraham from heaven a second time 16 and said, "I swear by myself, declares the LORD, that because you have done this and have not withheld your son, your only son, 17 I will surely bless you and make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as the sand on the seashore. Your descendants will take possession of the cities of their enemies, 18 and through your offspring all nations on earth will be blessed, because you have obeyed me."

[Frumious B]

10. The Schaivo Paradox

If Terry Schaivo has an immortal soul then surely we do that soul an incredible disservice by keeping it chained to that husk of a body. Why should any person of faith see the removal of the feeding tube as anything other than an act of mercy and liberation?

On the other hand, if she has no soul, has no awareness and is, indeed, so far gone that she is incapable of suffering then why should any secularist object to keeping the tube in place if it pleases her parents and so many others?

How can anyone who will accept the killing of 100,000 plus in Iraq as necessary claim to be promoting a "culture of life" simply because they want Terry Schaivo's feeding tube restored?