The Omnifarium - Religion/TerriSchiavoInHeaven.html

Terri Schiavo In Heaven

Category: Religion
Sat, 02 Apr 2005, 15:29

Terri Schiavo's body died a couple of days ago, 15 years after her brain died, ending a long ordeal for her loved ones. No doubt, some people who had trouble accepting the death of Terri's brain will choose to continue their own private torment, and will have trouble getting on with their lives. Most aspects of this story belong in the "Politics" file, but here I'd like to touch on a religious question: When did Terri reach Heaven?

I'm not sure if I can believe in an afterlife. But since most of the people who wanted to keep Terri's body alive probably do, it's a question worth considering. I see two possibilities: Either Terri's soul went to Heaven when her brain died, or when the rest of her body died. If the latter, then how cruel was it to keep her soul attached to a disfunctional, brain-dead body for the past 15 years! If the former, then what point was there in keeping her brain-dead body alive for so long?

This is just another example of the kind of problems religious fundamentalists have. Religious conservatives like to look at the world in black or white terms: right versus wrong, life versus death. But for the past 15 years, Terri didn't fit. She wasn't quite dead. But with a dead brain, neither was she fully alive. So long as she was breathing, she was deemed "alive". Her autonomic bodily reactions were confused by some as traces of consiousness. Unfortunately, neither advanced medical science nor the most fervent prayer can turn sludge back into working brain cells.

In their legal and political attempts to keep Terri's body alive, the "Fundy's" have put their moral hypocrisy to the forefront. For example, one radical who supported the Schindlers' legal maneuvers even offered to pay off anyone who would murder Terri's husband or the judges who refused to order the restoration of Terri's feeding tube. Another example is the political leader who publically supported the Schindlers, but who, while Governor of Texas, signed legislation allowing hospitals to pull the plug on terminally ill patients, even in cases where the families wanted to maintain life support!

One legacy of the whole affair is that living wills have become much more popular. More and more people have looked at the Schiavo's ordeal and have decided that they don't want to die the way Terri did.

Hans

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