As a devout secularist, religious rationales for political positions don’t much appeal to me. It should be clear, though, that one can be both conservative and Christian and come to different conclusions on issues that leaders of the so-called Religious Right paint as no brainers. Compare, for example, the posts by Steven Taylor and LaShawn Barber on how their religious faith applies to the Terri Schiavo tragedy.
Steven:
I made a passing reference the other day to the metaphysical, and I want to return to it now. It is generally the position of Catholics and Evangelicals that she should be preserved at all costs. However, as a Christian, I keep thinking of the verse in 2 Corinthians 5:8, wherein Paul notes the “to be absent from he body†is “to be home with the Lord†and in Philippians 1:21-24 where he makes similar statements, (not to mention when Christ notes to the thief on the cross that in “today you will be with Me in Paradiseâ€-Luke 23:43). Hence, from a Christian perspective, it seems to me cruel to sustain Terri in this life under these conditions. For while the Bible hardly teaches suicide as a means of attaining Heaven more quickly, it is clear that there is a life after this, and that this life is fleeting. Keeping Terri alive in the state in which she is in (i.e., with a liquefied cerebral cortex) strikes me as clinging too strongly to the flesh.
LaShawn:
I̢۪ve been trying to suppress this feeling, but I can̢۪t stand the thought of Terri Schiavo lying in that bed slowly dying, while people who love her can only watch. THIS IS NOT RIGHT!!! Her mother is watching her child die. I just saw a video clip of Terri̢۪s mother standing over her touching the face of her starving daughter. But I take comfort in knowing there will be an accounting for this.
Commenting is closed because I don̢۪t want or need opinions right now. Trackbacking is enabled, though. I encourage Christian bloggers to trackback to this post. (Non-Christian bloggers may trackback, too.) Give us some words of comfort, something I̢۪m unable to provide at the moment.
As readers of this thread will gather, my views on this are more closely aligned with Steven’s. Clearly, this case is not one that divides us neatly along Left-Right, Republican-Conservative, religious-nonreligious, or similar lines. And, however passionate this case makes us, it’s possible for honorable, decent people to differ.
