[ziggytrix]

Originally Posted by KevinTheOmnivore

He would object to an MRI out of spite? That's a reasonable argument to you?

Not out of spite. Out of exhaustion.

You're the one who went off on my "merciful church," or whatever. You clearly hate religion, hate Christianity, and don't even want to see her faith, or her family's faith brought into the discussion, right?

I hate the pushing of the dogma of institutionalized Christianity onto others. I don't hate religion in general, or even Christianity in specific. I AM sick of vocal Christians screaming about activist judges and the modern persecution of Christians in America, and so that may be coming thru in my choice of words. But, no, I don't think it's right that because she was a Catholic, that means she couldn't have REALLY meant it when she said she wouldn't want to live in a vegetative state or whatever.

I never implied that the Pope's opinion, or the Church's opinion on the matter should hold weight over the law. You knew that too, but you wanted to be a little cockbite yourself.

However, if you're going to analyze what the living intentions of Terri Schiavo may have been, I think her personal belief system would be pretty relevant, no? Whether she be a jew, a quaker, a muslim, a Budhist, whatever.

Yes, yes, and YES! But saying she was a devout Catholic does not mean she couldn't have REALLY meant it when she said she wouldn't want to live in a vegetative state or whatever.

"You know what I don't get? Since when do we cherish life as a state of simply breathing and digesting? I mean, hypothetically, do we keep someone alive as a brain in a jar, if we have the technology, just because we can, even if we still don't know enough about the working of said brain to know if it's functioning at whatever arbitrary level it needs to be classified as "human life"?"

It sounds to me like life only means life when it produces some kind of contribution to society.

Thanks for continuing to put words in my mouth. There is a whole fucking universe between "simply breathing and digesting" and "contributing to society" - and surely there is a point where even you think that doing everything within the bounds of medical science to keep that heart beating is neither wise, nor merciful.

And what of the judges and juries that denied civil rights to African Americans in the south throughout the 19th and 20th centuries....?

Your analogy is flawed unless you mean to suggest the judges who've overseen Terri's case are somehow prejudiced against invalids in the same way a racist is predjudiced against someone of a different skin color. I'm not saying the courts are infallible. But the judges in this case have ALL ruled the same verdict, they ALL know MUCH more about BOTH sides of this than you or I.

Nor did I say they should be. All I was saying was that her faith, as well as her family's faith, might be relevant. I know it would be relevant for me and my family.

It would be relevant for any family. My aunt's Catholic, as my grandparents raised her. She also has a Living Will that says something to the effect of "unplug me if there's no hope for recovery". So you see, I'm sure my grandparents would resist it if she were to wind up in a coma for however long her will says she can go. But ultimately, it's HER decision, not theirs or the Chruch's. And that's what the courts have supposedly been trying to determine, what Terri would have wanted, and have decided each time that Terri would not have chosen to go on like this. Except when they decided, "maybe we need to wait and make sure" - but how long does the waiting go on? If you're 99% sure, there's still that 1% chance. Do you Keep someone plugged in for 10, 20, 30 years because there was a slight chance they didn't really mean it when they said they'd never want to be kept alive hooked up to machines for the rest of their life?

He has lived with that woman for ten years. I'm gonna assume some courtship went on, no? To me, he revoked his vows. But that's me.

Less than 8 actually, but that isn't as relevant as "til Death Do Us Part" and she is clearly dead to him (unless you wanna come out and say you think he's doing this for monetary gain) and he is just trying to see that she be given the final peace he believes she wants. Fuck I'm getting sick of defending this guy's potential integrity, when I know fuck all about him other than what I've read. Point blank: do you think this guy is just a sleazebag or what, Kevin?

It would be even more refreshing if you answered the question.

Sorry I wasn't clear enough for you. The answers were "no" and "yes" in that order (if you'll note you did ask TWO questions).

Fuck it's late - I'm through with this discussion. Someone needs to euthanize this thread.