THE TRAGEDY OF TERRI SCHIAVO

The tragedy of Terri Schiavo continues to dominate the headlines and horrify the Christian World.

At Easter, as we honour the death and celebrate the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ, it is worth considering the horrible suffering that was intended for him through the horror of the cross. He was to be humiliated, tortured, and slowly suffocated by the excruciatingly gradual collapse of his lungs via the awful machinations of crucifixion. To this day people the world over remain sickened at the inhuman suffering that was inflicted upon him, yet today, some of those same people feel justified in inflicting similar suffering upon Terri Schiavo, a defenceless, damaged, yet nonetheless alive human being.

To be slowly starved and dehydrated to death is not a fate that would be considered for our worst war criminal or serial killer, and yet it is being enthusiastically administered to Terri by those in authority who are legally responsible for her well-being and protection.

To justify such treatment with claims of her being “brain dead” and “vegetative” is an unsustainable presumption of her cognitive awareness, her will for her own life, and God’s will for her life.

Let us pray that either sanity prevails in this insane circumstance or that God receives her home quickly, as he did with Jesus, to alleviate her inhuman suffering.