Vernaltide 2: The Obligation to Live

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A close friend (well, okay, my mother) wrote me this morning and asked what I thought of the Terri Schiavo case, whether my conversion to Catholicism had impacted my opinion, and suggested I might blog on the subject.

In keeping with the spirit with the beginning of Spring, I'm not going to do any background research, but write from the gut with accumulated fragments of context.

What I understand of the situation is this: Terri Schiavo was involved in an accident which resulted in a coma fiteen years ago (she would've been my current age, 26). She had left no written instructions as to what should be done, though her husband claims she would not want to be kept alive as a vegetable. Her parents dissent, saying that she is responsive, and this disagreement has resulted in a protracted legal battle that has gone back and forth in the Florida courts this whole time. Finally, in recent days, a judge ruled that her feeding tube should be removed, allowing her to die, and the G.O.P.-dominated congress convened in an emergency session, passing (by overwhelming odds) legislation that required the reinsertion of the tube.

That's the long and short of it; I write everything I write based on my limited knoweldge, and if I've included certain details, it's because I believe they are relevant.

* * * * *

Two observations from opposite sides of the discussion:

ON THE ONE HAND:

I absolutely condemn the congressional session, and presidential action.

It seems transparently political. The G.O.P. won big in the last election, largely because the religious right came out in droves due to abortion and gay marriage. Well guess what: Roe v. Wade is solidly in place, and a Federal Marriage Amendment is on the outs, largely due to moderate Republicans. The Republican Party knew this well before the election and now, baring their true, Corporate souls, knows it would be madness to forego a dramatic opportunity to offer the religious right what amounts to second place.

The Democrats, equally culpable in this affair, voted (many probably against their conscience) in support of the resolution that they thought would be open-and-shut for most centrist voters. In other words, Democrats assumed "mainstream" America would support the legislation, and perceive any dissent as coming from the Left. So operating as a centrist party, they downplayed that dissent. [Note: I respect any Republican with the spine and acumen to admit that the Democratic party is truly the centrist party these days, if only because its base is so fragile and fractious. The Republicans have had the luxury of establishing a non-mainstream agenda.] This fact suggests to me, more than John Kerry ever did, that a party with a historic backbone of Jews and minorities has lost both its chutspa and cojones.

Politically, this case belongs in the judiciary, not congress. The emergency session of congress was a classic example of what the Founding Fathers were trying to avoid with checks-and-balances, and by all this, the poor girl should be resting right now.

ON THE OTHER HAND:

An argument I have not heard, but that I think is very central to this whole thing is that Terri was twenty-six when the accident occurred.

As a sixteen year old with a drivers licence, I made the decision to be an organ donor. If my death can somehow be mitigated as a gift of life to a human being, I would be selfish and short-sighted to deny that opportunity. But I also knew that, legally-speaking, I must make my views clear. If I died before the age of majority, my family might circumvent my request. While my parents always shared my views on this subject, it was my legal and moral responsibility to affix a witnessed organ donor card to the back of my license as a record of my wishes, and I have always done so.

This is my responsibility. It is also my responsiblity to pay my student loans on time, to not throw sticky-buns at pedestrians from a moving vehicle, or get fired for excessive interneting. And as an adult, I acknowledge this. If I fail in my responsibility and are denied my wishes, it's on my head. It is others' responsibility to define my rights and not violate or circumvene them.

I am that sure most of my friends who support the removal of the feeding tube (and I am not strictly opposed, myself) were abhorred by euthenasia as performed by the Nazis. Nor do I doubt that Terri's husband cares deeply for her. Nevertheless, it is useful to recall that most of us consider euthenasia to be termination of a life due to disability without consent.

I feel absolutely confident saying that any government that tacitly agrees to terminate a life based on consent as only verified by one person's highly biased testimony is skating on thin ice. As liberals who truly care about civil rights, we must remember to look past the right-to-die surface of this situation to consider the fact that Terri's own desires have never been made unambiguously clear.

* * * * *

Having made these two observations, I want to draw them into my central point, which, yes, somewhat reflects my conversion to Catholicism, but in a way that crystalizes what I've believed all my life.

Most religions teach the sacredness of life and its inviobility... in fact, we might even find this to be a requirement for the longevity of any organized religion, though I don't have the examples or background to lay this out right now. I think such sentiments are accurately and sincerely grasped by the practitioners of most faiths.

At the same time, a subtler, but just as important element, of enduring religion, is practicality. The two largest religions in the world are Christianity and Islam.
I don't think it's coincidental, or even purely otherworldly, that Christ is so concerned with forgiving. Because people sin, and life must move beyond sin. Forgiveness and understanding is certainly a component of a peaceful soul, but it is also the foundation of a stable society.
Similarly, Muhammed placed a greater emphasis on the day-to-day interactions of his followers (and in a way that transcends the numbers so often cited from the Qur'an) than he did jihad or ritual protocol. Because any society cannot bow in submission to God if it's preoccupied tearing itself apart.

These are not isolated examples. When we look at the treatment of taxes, of nonviolent dissent, of mutual respect and understanding without the denial of faith, virtually every successful prophet from Confucius to Joseph Smith has put the ethical debate in the public sphere of building and maintaining a society. Righteousness is not something we are meant to experience alone, distant and inaccessible to all. Rather, we are called to a public dialogue that builds a world where souls can flourish, uncluttered, in search of a higher truth.

So on a pure, non-legally driven level, my feelings on Terri Sciavo's life and death are practically informed, and here they are:

Certainly, money and energy are better spent keeping a human being alive than they would be on developing video games and Barbie dolls. Coca Cola can wait. But the fact remains that in my own hometown and in many parts of this very wealthy country, children are dying of mundane illnesses and industrial pollution, violence is endemic, our elderly cannot afford their own medication, and we are subjecting our immigrant population to racial profiling on the basis of their nationality and our own people to discrimination based on gender, race, and sexuality. Beyond our borders, tens of millions die each year due to starvation, malnutrition, thirst, and exposure.

Certainly, I think, a culture of life, a true democracy, would not neglect the lives of so many for the benefit of so few.

Certainly, I think, the Religious Right pursues a mirage; they believe they are doing the right thing, but only because they have not held themselves to a high standard of scrutiny and self-examination.

We want for the practicality, compassion, and true sadness of our more inspired prophets. And remember, kids, as Easter approaches, Gethsemane was fucking heartbreaking.

REMOVE THAT FEEDING TUBE, AND USE THE MONEY YOU SAVE TO IMMUNIZE MAURITANIA.