Adam's Apple
Senior Member
- Apr 25, 2004
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Crimes of Compassion
By Kathleen Parker, The Orlando Sentinel
March 27, 2005
You can call Congress' intervention in the Schiavo case political maneuvering if you please. Strong arguments can be made without much strain. But we might also see these events as trying to negotiate a deeply divisive and explicitly life-altering issue. Whatever one's verdict, we've all learned something true from the case. We're out of our league when we try to play God.
We might also conclude that what we've witnessed wasn't mere politics, but a clash of worldviews. That clash posed as a question that will haunt our debate for some time: Whose life is it anyway?
Is life strictly one's own to be embraced or disposed of as circumstances, convenience or pride dictate? And in the absence of autonomous life -- whether that of a fetus or a disabled person -- something to be disposed of by others?
Or is life a gift from the divine, as many faiths maintain? And how do we create laws to protect life if we cannot even agree on a definition of what life is?
I do not pretend to have the answers, but the debate seems worthy of our attention, even if politicians sometimes benefit.
For full article
http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/opinion/orl-edparker27032705mar27,1,6759543.c
By Kathleen Parker, The Orlando Sentinel
March 27, 2005
You can call Congress' intervention in the Schiavo case political maneuvering if you please. Strong arguments can be made without much strain. But we might also see these events as trying to negotiate a deeply divisive and explicitly life-altering issue. Whatever one's verdict, we've all learned something true from the case. We're out of our league when we try to play God.
We might also conclude that what we've witnessed wasn't mere politics, but a clash of worldviews. That clash posed as a question that will haunt our debate for some time: Whose life is it anyway?
Is life strictly one's own to be embraced or disposed of as circumstances, convenience or pride dictate? And in the absence of autonomous life -- whether that of a fetus or a disabled person -- something to be disposed of by others?
Or is life a gift from the divine, as many faiths maintain? And how do we create laws to protect life if we cannot even agree on a definition of what life is?
I do not pretend to have the answers, but the debate seems worthy of our attention, even if politicians sometimes benefit.
For full article
http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/opinion/orl-edparker27032705mar27,1,6759543.c