MARCH
27, 2005 --
On
March 24, LPR heard a reporter say, on the 5 p.m. WABC radio newscast,
that the next day would be the "one week anniversary" since
the feeding tube was
removed from Terri Schiavo.
This comment might reflect a certain decline in precise use of language in
the media, these days. LPR is not aware that
"anniversary" refers to anything less than the marking of time in yearly
terms.
Switching the car radio to WLIB, the Air America outlet in New York City, LPR
heard Randi Rhodes, chatting with Jerry Springer, say she hopes that Terri
Schiavo is not turned into a martyr.
March 25, this year, marked the Good Friday holiday of the Christian calendar
and the Purim holiday of the Jewish calendar.
Purim celebrates the deliverance of
the Jews of Persia from Haman's plan to kill them.
There was to be no deliverance for Terri Schiavo from the court-ordered removal
of heer feeding tube.
A 1973 film, "Soylent Green" imagined a time -- the year 2022 --
when, according to one synopsis reachable by googling, human life was not valued.
Only 17 years from the actual 2022, we value life highly, don't we? Yet, for
LPR, it is somethat chilling to read in the media, with reference to Terri
Schiavo, that death from lack of nourishment is "serene."
Is there no suffering until that moment of serenity is reached? LPR would call
to the attention of Randi Rhodes that martyrs emerge from suffering caused by
others.
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Perhaps we continue
to value life as highly as ever -- but no longer have consensus
on what "life" is.
Rush Limbaugh, March 25, suggested that the circumstance of Terri Schiavo might
lead to a push for mercy killing. This would, perhaps, first require a
sense that Terri Schiavo suffered after the feeding tube was removed.
But, as Mr. Limbaugh noted, earlier in the week, proponents of the removal
of the feeding tube from Terri Schiavo, also contend that she cannot feel anything
due to brain damage.
Mr. Limbaugh then asked how can she be said to feel serene -- or anything?
If the aftermath allows that Terri Schiavo did suffer after the feeding tube
was removed, how, indeed, will our nation react, as we draw closer to 2022?
In the 1943 film, "The Ox-Bow Incident," after vigilantes were told
by the sheriff that they hanged innocent men, their sense of shame was apparent
-- but, of course, of no consolation to the victims.
Don Imus wondered, on his program, March 25, why Terri Schiavo could not be
given to the custody of her parents, out of "humanity."
LPR cannot now avoid the conclusion, inferred from the recent judicial rulings
on the Terri Schiavo tragedy: 15 years of feeding by tube are enough.
At this writing, one is left to wonder if a sense of humanity will be restored
-- at the funeral of the tragic Terri Schiavo.
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