The Pope

Don't forget to drop a few prayers for the Pope in his time of darkness. He was unable to join a few of the ceremonies so far. He had to watch the "Way of the Cross" procession in solitude from his chapel. He is a strong man and brave. I just pray that God deems it necessary to lift these ailments from him so he can join and properly enjoy this Easter season, as we celebrate the resurrection of Christ.

Why Schiavo case worries the disabled

Why Schiavo case worries the disabled

WILLIAM G. STOTHERS

First thing:Terri Schiavo is not terminally ill. She is severely disabled with a brain injury. She is not hooked up to any life-support systems. For 15 years she has relied on a feeding tube for food and water. Her organs function normally.
So why does anyone want to kill her? "Kill" is the correct word here. Removing her feeding tube will cause her death. She will die by starvation and dehydration.
For those of us in the organized disability rights movement, it looks like Schiavo is being put to death for the crime of being disabled.
Disability makes many people uncomfortable. How many times have you said, or heard someone say, "I would never want to live like that." Or, "I would rather be dead than be like that."
People have said that to me. I am severely disabled and use a motorized wheelchair as a result of having polio 55 years ago.
Doctors told my parents to put me into a "home" and forget about me. He will have no life, they said, move on with your own lives.
They ignored the advice. When I went to school, I was teased and made an object of pity. "I would hate to live like you," kids told me. When I went to university, I was told that "at least you still have your mind." When I went to work in the newspaper business, I was expected to remain at an entry level position; when I left to go to graduate school, my work supervisor told a colleague "what else could he ever hope to do?"
People with disabilities are pushed to the ragged edge of our collective consciousness, stereotyped as dependent, unproductive and pitiful. It is not such a long step to considering such persons burdensome and too costly to maintain and finally, and of course regrettably, expendable.
Think of Schiavo for 15 years being held in so-called custodial care in a nursing home along with persons with Alzheimer's disease, other dementia or cognitive disorders or birth defects. She has had a feeding tube and her guardian (her husband) fought for years to have it removed so that she might die, as he claims she would have wanted.
"It's one thing to refuse a feeding tube for ourselves, but it's quite another when someone else makes that decision," says Diane Coleman, head of Not Dead Yet, a U.S. disability-rights group. "Disability groups don't think guardians should have carte blanche to starve and dehydrate people with conditions like brain injury, developmental disabilities — which the public calls birth defects — and Alzheimer's. People have the right not to be deprived of life by guardians who feel that their ward is as good as dead, better off dead or that the guardian should make such judgments in the first place."
The noisy free-for-all surrounding the Schiavo case as it works its way through the courts again has all the earmarks of political haymaking, rallying the troops in the "Right to Life" and "Right to Die" camps. But there is a serious thread that focuses on the real issue at stake: The right to due process and equal treatment under the law.
Coleman's group has called for a national moratorium on the dehydration and starvation of people alleged to be in a "persistent vegetative state" and not having an advance directive or durable power of attorney.
Senator Tom Harkin, a long-time advocate for people with disabilities, said it eloquently last week as Congress stepped into the case.
"There are a lot of people in the shadows, all over this country, who are incapacitated because of a disability. There ought to be a broader type of a proceeding that would apply to people in similar circumstances ... Where someone is incapacitated and their life support can be taken away, it seems to me that it is appropriate — where there is a dispute — that a federal court come in, like we do in habeas corpus situations, and review it and make another determination."
Schiavo has become a tragic figure, and is likely to become a martyr for one group or another. And that itself is a tragedy. We're likely to never really know her own desire in this case. But as individuals and as a society do have a duty here, and that is to face the fact of the brutal way in which we are permitting her to die.
As a person with a severe disability, I am deeply troubled by the Schiavo saga. I will commit my own wishes to a legal document. But will that be enough? Out here on the ragged edge, we're worried.
William G. Stothers is deputy director of The Center for an Accessible Society in San Diego, Calif. He is a former Toronto Star reporter.

http://www.thestar.com/

As I digress

Please allow me a moment to digress. The last time I had a cigarette was 02/25/05...and even that day it was only 1...So I am calling to all out there...encouragement is needed. I REALLY want one!!!!

Go Purdue!

Ok, comming from Indiana you would expect a title like this to indicate they are playing some kind of Basketball game, but not on this blog.

"In a startling discover, geneticists at Purdue university say that they have found some plants that possess a corrected version of a faulty gene inherited from both parents. The plants were able to archive copies of genes from generations ago, long assumed to be lost forever."

Ok, at this point you may want to ask yourselves where all this information came from. Today I was able to read the newspaper at work...Maybe it is good that most days I am not allowed to do so :)

Little Boy...Now Dead!

I read today that a teenager, Jeff Weise, shot and killed classmates and his grandfather! They blame it on the fact that this child was neo-Nazi! They posted a picture on him and I can say if he came home with one of my little brothers I would have invited him in and made him dinner. Where does a young 16-year-old go SO very wrong? I mean it is just SO sad! Life is scary; I just pray that these school shootings stop before my heart breaks.

Terri Schiavo

Ok, here is some information I posted at http://umbraecanarum.blogspot.com/2005/03/rage-and-death.html#comments

I want to know if anyone out there has the answers to the following questions.

1) Why can they not insert a "belly button" I am not sure the real name, but that is what my cousin has? They insert a plastic thing so the “food mix stuff” could be inserted directly into the stomach.

2) Who is financially responsible for the medical bills and does that have any link to the decision process?

3) Lastly, I am not sure why it is OK to let someone waist away slowly…

Here are a few other interesting facts reported in the Indianapolis Star today.First in the “poll” taken shows that 70% thought that it was inappropriate for Congress to get involved, and 67% claim that the only reason that the political leaders are keeping her a live is for political advantage.

World Water Day 2005

What is the world coming to these days. I went to search for something at work and found out that it was "World Water Day". I went on a quest to find out what this means. I found that it is a day set aside to remember that life can not go on w/o water. It is also to spread the realization that most of the world does not have clean water.

At first this was very disturbing to me. I mean really do we really NEED a day to remember that our bodies are made of mostly water? I started thinking that maybe we do. I mean do we really understand how important water is to God's creation or plans?

http://www.rferl.org/featuresarticle/2005/3/4447B08D-0E2B-4581-8A8A-199BFBCCE449.html

I tell you the Truth

I recently had the opportunity to watch The Gospel According to John. One striking thing is the amount of time Jesus stated "I tell you the truth". Here is an idea, what is "the truth". I do not feel that humans can fully undertake and know the truth. Our truth is simply the facts as we see them though our simple minds. It is no wonder that the followers then and now do not understand the truth. I have decided the only ones that can fully know the truth of any one situation is one that is in a perfect divine position.

Cost benefit analysis

Ok, a friend and I were talking and we decided that we are very glad that God, being an all knowing and extremely merciful deity. I decided that if I were god and before I created the earth I did a cost/benefit analysis...we would not be here today. I find that the earth is more trouble than it is worth. I cannot imagen an intity that can find more than a glimer of light on this perfect creation we have turned to rabble. To top it all off he so loved this place that he sent his son so we may learn to bring glory to him. Again, I am glad God is god and not me.

To let live or die?

Right now the idea of to let live or die is a very hot topic in the news. I have discussed before the hard topic on weather some people should be artifically kept alive or not. I have came to the idea that if a person can understand happyness and sadness then they should be allowed to experiance this. However, if the person can only experiance sadness and pain then I fell it would be more humane to end this circle of suffering. In addition if the person does not have the ability of feeling anything, then he or she must be allowed to exit. For example, a young girl I know, she will never beable to talk, walk, or read. However, she experiances joy and love and brings joy and love. Her parents are happy and there are times she is happy. She should be given every chance under the sky. But a few years back a baby was born lacking a brain. The child had a brain stem therefore grew and did not need outside assistance to obtain air. However, this child could never know what life is, there was no way for the child to obtain the salvation of Jesus or know the love of his/her parents. So why should the parents or child be forced to suffer all the pain in the world without the joy?

Is it destiny?

Tonight I was sitting and listing to a minister talk about free will vs predestination. As this was being discussed I had an idea! Ok, this may be lost on some, but just follow me here. Parents seem to ALWAYS know what the children are doing or are going to do. Sometimes they step in, sometimes they do not. Well it is not that the child does not have the free will, but the child will act in his/her nature. Well how much more will God know what we are going to do. I mean if earthly human people know that you are going to do X then why can't the heavenly father know we will do Y?

Life, Love, and the such

I am begging to notice that things do not always work out as one would hope they would. Oddly, I have found when I have it "all figured out" in reality I have nothing figured out. Why is this? Do I do not stop and think about what I do when I am doing it...or just wait for everything to fall apart before I exam it. Like love, I have been engaged two times and both fell apart at about the point that they should have been at the strongest point. I have eyes for others now...but it seems that they do not nor ever will share this idea. However, this does not matter to me right now. I figure that since this is "figured out" then I should have the "real" answer soon. The funny thing is I have known the guys I have a crush on for ever, and my "eyes" for them come and go as random as the the leaves blow. I just hope that the "winds" do not send me back towards my previous loves...I want new ones.

The Old Covenant

Ok, under the old covenant...was anyone outside of the Jewish faith allowed to get to heaven. It is my understanding that the Jews were the chosen people and it was only after Jesus' death that others were invited to have the privilege. So what happened to all of the other people pre-Christ?

One Wonders (well at least I do)

I wonder how people see life so differently. Example: my father sees life as a challenge and a strange experiment to keep the poor person poor and him always to busy to enjoy himself. Then his wife sits on the couch all day drinking and slowly dying (though she did eat more today than normal). Next there is my little sister that just assumes life will be given to her on a platter... and she does not care who is serving. I, much like my father, demand to work for everything, but I am also extremely picky... all of us shared many experiences, but we are all SO different. I find it interesting that there can be that many different ideas around in the world.

God and Blood

In my readings for Sunday School it mentioned that the Jewish/Christian God was one of blood lust. I am not sure if I agree with this statement. The suggestion does lead me to wonder why was it necessary for blood to be the "cure all."