|
Terri Schiavo: The Critical
Issue
by Rev. Dr. James I. Lamb, Lutherans For Life Executive Director
(Posted March 23, 2005)
“Who should decide?” seems to be the critical
issue in the Terri Schiavo case. Should it be her estranged husband?
Her parents? State courts? State legislature? Federal courts?
Congress? Should it be her own decision based on comments she may
have made in the past?
“Who should decide?” however, is not
the critical issue. It is the decision itself that is the critical
issue. It is the decision itself that should horrify us. Stripping
away all the rhetoric and editorials, the decision is this: Should
Terri Schiavo be killed because she has a disability?
Some will bristle at this. They do so because
the line between killing and allowing someone to die has been
blurred. “Pull the plug” some have said. But there is no plug to
pull. “Her life support should be stopped.” But she is not on life
support. “Let her go.” But Terri isn’t “going” anywhere. In order to
make an informed and God-pleasing decision in this situation, it is
critical to understand that TERRI SCHIAVO IS NOT
DYING.
Certainly, we can and should allow the dying
to die. When people are dying, their bodily functions begin to shut
down. At this point, some treatments can do more harm than good.
Even food and water can be a problem if the body is no longer able
to process them. But to remove food and water from someone like
Terri, who is very much alive, will not allow her to die, it will
cause her to die. It will kill her.
Should Terri Schiavo be killed because she has
a disability? Some will bristle at this because they do not see
Terri as disabled. But is there a fundamental difference between not
being able to use portions of your brain and not being able to use
your arms? What an insult this is to people with head injuries or
mental retardation. People justify such thinking by saying, “I
wouldn’t want to live like that.” Well, of course not. No one would
want to live like that. But living like that—unable to use your arms
or unable to use all of your brain—does not diminish your value as a
human being. “Living like that” should not condemn anyone to a death
sentence. Would those who support the decision not to feed Terri
Schiavo support a decision by a couple to stop feeding their
disabled daughter who couldn’t use her arms because they just didn’t
want her to live like that?
We have received several calls from pastors
who are a bit shocked that so many of their people seem to be in
favor of removing Terri’s feeding tube. I’m sure some of this comes
from misinformation and confusion over the facts. Some of this flows
from a genuine desire to be compassionate and to bring an end to
what they perceive as Terri’s suffering.
But compassion means to “suffer with” not to
kill those who we think are suffering. To kill those who are
suffering, even for the most compassionate of reasons, is an insult
to our God and Savior Jesus Christ. To say things like, “Well, I
wouldn’t want to live like that.” or “What kind of life is that?”
denies that our value comes from what God has done and not from what
we are able to do. Such thinking denies that God is powerful enough
and wise enough to give meaning and purpose to every life regardless
of mental or physical condition. Who do we think we are to say that
Terri Schiavo would be “better off dead”? “Do you question me
about my children, or give me orders about the work of my hands?”
(Isaiah 45:11) God does not need our advice as to what gives value
and purpose to a particular life. He gives value to every life
because every life is the work of His hands (Psalm 139:13-14). He
gives value to every life because every life is someone for whom
Jesus died (1 Corinthians 6:20). God is the author of life. God
gives life meaning and purpose. God determines when His meaning and
purpose for a particular life is complete.
Christians, who stand under the cross on Good
Friday and rejoice at the empty tomb on Easter Sunday, should know
better than to question whether or not God can work in and through
suffering. The darkest suffering of all time—Jesus, suffering for
humanity’s sins on the cross—brought about the brightest good of all
time—humanity, redeemed from sin and eternal life to all who
believe. To deny the power of God to bring meaning and purpose to
any life is to deny the power of the cross and the empty tomb.
Just as God was hiding in the darkness of Good
Friday waiting to reveal His glory, just as He was hiding in the
life of the man born blind so that the “work of God might be
displayed” (John 9:3), so He hides in the darkness of people’s
lives today waiting to reveal how He might be glorified in it all.
God is “hiding” in the life of Terri Schiavo and in the lives of
those like her who have severe disabilities waiting to be glorified.
We do not glorify the Lord of Life by killing such as these. We
glorify Him by caring for and serving such as these. For whatever we
do to these we are doing to Jesus Himself (Matthew 25:40).
Advance Directives
The Terri Schiavo case has produced a renewed
interest in advance directives. People want to avoid this kind of
situation in their lives and are flocking to sign living wills and
other end-of-life directives. Lutherans For Life does not oppose
advance directives. We do, however, offer caution on some of the
living wills out there. Many of them contain ambiguous language that
may be interpreted in a way you did not intend.
To learn more about advance directives and
what is proper for the Christian, we recommend our booklet The
Basics of Advance Directives. To order click
here.
We also recommend the Medical Directive
Statements produced by Christian Life Resources. To find out more
and to order go to:
http://www.christianliferesources.com/cgi-bin/home.pl?mdstatement |
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg)
