James Stabile Informational Newsletter
April 2005
Religion and Spiritualism...
Who determines death. I always thought that God had that duty. However, it seems that with technological advances of the day, the life/death decision is being taken out of the hands of God and put in the hands of humans. God gives life, God should be the one to end life. That's the easy answer. Life in the twenty first century is anything but easy.
God has been good to mankind, boy is that an understatement. Yes, it's an understatement, but it is true. Man has developed in such a way as to gain near ultimate control over life and death. Is this wrong? God has provided the means for man to achieve such feats, shouldn't man take advantage of such knowledge to improve human life and death?
I don't know the moral answer to this "right to life" or "right to die" question. I do know that medical, legal and religious procedures have been enacted to answer this dilemma. When a person is "legally" dead, when there is no hope of improvement, the state says that the person should be able to die with dignity. Even Catholic doctrine, the most fervent defender of the right to life, has in place a procedure to deal with the right to die for a person who is declared "legally" dead. The individual's right to die in these extreme cases is recognized and permitted under Catholic doctrine.
I think that this has to be a private and personal decision. The wishes of the person who is legally dead must be clearly outlined and explained before the procedures to carry out that person's right to die are put in place. In short, a living will must be completed and signed by the person before he or she is in that catastrophic condition.
I think in the Terri Schiavo situation, this clear, precise and exact directive is not available. I do not know the complete history of her situation. I know that she suffered a catastrophic and debilitating situation 15 years ago. I know that since that time she has been in a state of helplessness. I do not know the extent of the legal issues that took place over the last seven years, I believe from 1998 to the present. I am aware of the fact that Mrs. Schiavo's case has been through the American court system. I do know that the courts have declared that she is in the traditional situation to apply the right to die procedures. In my estimation, this procedure is being carried out. We have no choice but to abide by the decisions of our court system and accept the fact that Mrs. Schiavo has the right to die with dignity.
What about the circus that is going on in Florida as well as parts of the United States? I think we Americans must take a breathe, stop and get perspective. We must realize that this is a private, personal situation. It is none of our business. Let it be.
I think God must have a sense of humor. If not, I don't know how He could do His "job". Realistically, God probably is laughing about the ways in which we Americans are reacting in the Terri Schiavo situation. He is God. He has the answer. We do not. We are not supposed to have the answer. We can only live one day at a time in our unique, individual, and God fearing manner. In the end, it will be God who each of us must face. We must provide the answers for the reasons we act the way we do. How would Jesus act in such situations?
Jesus did not seek revenge on other's wrongdoing. He existed along side all people. He did not judge them. Yes, he preached and taught, but he did not ridicule or cast aside people who He thought were not doing what He wanted them to do. He was tolerant. Yes, he gave commandments and advise, but he did not force their acceptance. He was tolerant. He did have all the answers, but He did not proclaim Himself supreme, He was supreme. He did not go around saying, "I am good." Or in today's vernacular, "I'm bad." He was good and He knew it. He showed people by actions, by doing, by example. He gave people free will to accept Him or reject Him. In any case, He respected each person for his or her own point of view. He taught us love.
We do not have all of the
answers to life's mysteries. We will never have all of the answers. But we
must keep striving for them. We must aleays remember Jesus'
instructions to His disciples, "Go and love one another as I have
loved you."
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