SYOSSET, NY [OCA Communications] — In a statement dated March 24, 2005, Protopresbyter Robert Kondratick, chancellor of the Orthodox Church in America, addressed the case of Mrs. Terri Schaivo.
“As affirmed on numerous occasions in recent years, the Orthodox Church in America fully recognizes and proclaims the sanctity of all human life, created in the image and likeness of God,” Father Kondratick said. “Life is a gift from God, one which we are expected as Orthodox Christians to revere and steward in a wise manner, fully recognizing the image of the Creator in every human being.
“In light of this fundamental principle, it has also been affirmed on numerous occasions in the past that extraordinary means of prolonging life, as well as extraordinary means of ending life, are inconsistent with the wise stewardship of God’s gift of life,” Father Kondratick continued. “This is especially crucial in cases in which no clear consensus has been determined with regard to a person’s state, as in the case of Mrs. Terri Schaivo. As such, the removal of Mrs. Schaivo from feeding tubes as a means of hastening her death can in no way be condoned or supported. Doing so constitutes a gross lack of wise stewardship of God’s sacred gift of life and an extraordinary means of hastening her death by starvation. This is especially so in light of the fact that there has been no clear consensus on her level of awareness and responsiveness, that she has been and continues to breath on her own, and on numerous other factors and questions with regard to her long term prognosis. Simply stated, the removal of Mrs. Schaivo’s feeding tubes is not and cannot be condoned.”
Finally! I’m glad to see this statement from the OCA. Hopefully the other jurisdictions will follow suite.
Can someone explain why all Orthodox communites aren’t making a statement against this issue together and why they wouldn’t also make it with other groups in this country that call themselves christians and believe in the right to life case?
It would take my breath away, for once, to see on t.v. a large group of representives of the different “christian” communities in this country to stand up together against something they all find “evil”. To make a joint declaration of agreement and to also publically chastise all their followers that are going against their tradition in believing otherwise.
Adam
Adam: Many people believe that it is more humane, to let a person already rendered brain-dead with no chance of recovery, die with dignity, than to exploit her tragedy in the most shameless, craven and opportunistic manner in order to score political points.
Does that answer your question.
Dean,
Terri’s life is a gift of God, and it belongs to Him. Only He can take it from her. So says everyone from the Vatican to our my own bishops in the OCA. The Vatican and the OCA are not out to score political points. At this point, if you are stating your opinion, you are at-odds with the major leadership of the Christian world.
Like I have said before, if the Republicans were trying to exploit this, which may well be the case, it has certainly backfired. Jeb Bush has cancelled his Good Friday appearances today because he doesn’t want to face up to the protestors. This is all going to be hung squarely around his neck. He has been branded a moral coward, and compared to Pontius Pilate.
There is no political advantage to his position. Quite the contrary, we are witnessing the political death of Jeb Bush. Terri is going to take him with her.
This just goes to show, half-measures and good will gestures aren’t enough anymore. The Republican base wants results. If you thought they were extremists before, just wait for what comes next.
As for the president, this isn’t going to help him either. His base holds his brother accountable more than him, but he is going to share in this also. Trying and failing is going to come out worse than if he had never lifted a finger. He’d have been better off to plead federalism and not gotten into this.
In the end, this is going to hurt Republican unity, not help it. As for the ‘progressives,’ Ralph Nader issued a statement which reads, “Terri swallows her own saliva. Spoon-feeding is not medical treatment. This outrageous order proves that the courts are not merely permitting medical treatment to be withheld, it has ordered her to be made dead.” I never had much opinion one way or the other about Nader, but his performance here has really, really made me take a harder look at him.
The Democrats could really capitalize on this, if only they’d quit giving the impression that they are heartless policy wonks who only care about people in the abstract. One Democratic Congressman was on last night, and when asked his opinion about Terri Shiavo, he said something to the effect, “I’d rather talk about the thousands of senior citizens who will be affected by Republican medicaid cuts.”
Dean – that reaction is just stupid. I know, Political Spin Theory 101 – redirect the question towards an attack on an opponents perceived weakness. But like I’ve said before, that just isn’t going to work. He could have said, “The Shiavo case is a trajedy. Of course, the Republicans have basically said, in this case, that a feeding tube is reasonable and ordinary care and that no one should be denied food and water. I agree. No one should be denied food and water in this manner, which is why I support not only Terri’s right to life, but also proper funding of Medicaid to ensure that the same level of care available to Terri Schiavo is available for each and every American. We have a real opportunity here to reach out to the poor and the disadvantaged, to extend medical care as a right to which all of us should be committed. I am glad that my Republican colleagues seem to have grasped this concept, and look forward to working with them to reverse the irresponsible cuts in Medicaid that threaten the lives of others, like Terri Schiavo, who depend on Medicaid to fund life-sustaining medical treatment.”
The comment the Democrat made on national TV is a disgrace. If such tactics continue, the Democrats will continue to lose, no matter how splintered the Republicans become.
The comment I scripted will win elections, Dean. That is the way the party should go if you really want to accomplish anything.
Dean: No it doesn’t, from a Christian view point or from someone who has worked with the serverly disabled – physical and mental.
I wonder if Christ should of killed the lepers..or told the Apostles to asked the lepers that couldn’t heal themselves by their own faith to terminate their lives. I can only guess, but I think the leper suffers more than Terry is in her condition. I would judge their “quality of life” worse than Terry’s.
When I worked with others in a state like Terry, I learned one thing that profounded impacted me. Sometimes our lives aren’t just about ourselves, what we can take from life, but rather what we give to others. Working with those with extreme disabilities usually brings out in others their own disability of the heart and hope. And they either rise or fall to the challenge.
I do agree with your desciption, it is more humane…I just wonder if it’s more Christ-like.
And “brain-dead” is dead, legally and medically speaking in this country.
Adam,
Excellent insights. When I work with the dying, I tell them about their ministry to comfort those who grieve over their impending death. I tell them they need to allow their loved ones to let them go, to make the friends and visitors who are uncomfortable comfortable, to give words to those who don’t know what to say. The dying person can give great life to those still living, and prepare them for the time when they begin their Exodus.
Note 2. They don’t have the moral courage.
The Dignity of Dying by Starvation and Dehydration:
The Shindler’s report that Terri’s tongue is swollen in her mouth, her lips are cracked and her nose is bleeding. Her eyes are very dark and sunken. Her kidneys are probably slowly failing right now. Anyone know what it feels like to have your kidneys fail? Everybody absolutely SURE that Terri doesn’t feel anything? Hope you are right. Not my idea of “dying with dignity.” We wouldn’t do this to an animal. We would put the animal to sleep. Here’s my living will, if the judge orders me to die of thirst, shoot me.
From Dean Scourtes:
Adam: Many people believe that it is more humane, to let a person already rendered brain-dead with no chance of recovery, die with dignity, than to exploit her tragedy in the most shameless, craven and opportunistic manner in order to score political points.
Does that answer your question.
Comment by Dean Scourtes ? March 25, 2005 @ 6:06 pm
Note 3. Dean, nonsense like this doesn’t help the Democrats’ growing reputation as the party of death. Stand up for what’s right. You are not a culture of death ideologue (correct?). In some things you have to put partisan politics aside.
Could someone explain to my why those who favor the death of Terri Schiavo are not pushing for, at the very least, a lethal injection? I know that assisted suicide is not legal in Florida (Thank God for small favors) as it is in Oregon. But why insist on death by dehydration, which will be the actual cause of death (not starvation, btw).
During the ongoing conversation of these wretched events a nurse called into the Dennis Prager show this week. She agreed with Michael Schiavo, that Terri should die. She agrees with Dean that this is much more humane than to have Terri linger in this state (I don’t agree that Terri would “linger”, btw, I’m simply reporting what the Nurse was saying). After being questioned by the guest host (Dennis has been on vaction this week) this nurse eventually got around to saying, “She should just be given a lethal injection.”
Another conversation I’ve heard this week someone simply stated, “Why not put a bullet in her head?”
These comments at least are honest about what the “pull-the-plug” people, as Peggy Noonan so accurately described them, really want. If you want Terri dead, why insist that she be dehydrated to death? Why not come right and tell the hospice workers to give Terri a lethal injection?
The law in Florida requires that dogs or cats be killed with a lethal injection. Does the pro-death crowd want to tell me that Terri deserves less than a dog?
Daniel writes: “Could someone explain to me why those who favor the death of Terri Schiavo are not pushing for, at the very least, a lethal injection?”
Because it’s not legal. In fact, it’s not even legal in the state of Oregon. In Oregon a terminally-ill patient can request a lethal prescription, but the patient him- or herself has to take it; the physician does not administer the lethal prescription. Even in the “request” phase the patient has to meet various conditions. Thus in Oregon someone in Terri Schiavo’s condition would not even qualify.
Over and above the legal issues physician-assisted suicide raise a whole other set of issues that have to be carefully considered and planned for.
This came in the mail:
My wife’s grandmother has dementia and cannot function on her own in
any capacity. If my wife’s mother opted to deny her food and water,
she would be incarcerated for neglect of the elderly and eventually
murder.
My sister has a baby. He is incapable of feeding himself (or doing
much of anything) on his own. If she decided she did not want to
feed him anymore, she would be the top story on every news station
in the state.
If the US or Oklahoma Government wished to punish Timothy McVeigh and
Terri Nichols, the men who blew up the OKC Federal building and
killed so many innocent people (including children), by refusing them
food and water, civil rights groups would be beating down the door to
every court in the country until their “rights” were reinstituted.
My parents have a dog that is older now and cannot see, hear, or walk
as she once did. Say they decided not to feed her or give her water,
they would be on Animal Cops Houston, be fined and possibly jailed.
Jim, I know it’s not legal. In fact, I thought I alluded to that fact in my post when I wrote, “I know that assisted suicide is not legal in Florida.” Killing people by suffocation and lethal injection wasn’t legal when “Dr.” Keforkian ran around doing just this to about 130 people. But that didn’t stop him from getting positive coverage from Mike Wallace, Larry King and Time Magazine before he was arrested for murdering Thomas Youk now did it?
Furthermore, arguing for giving a lethal injection does not necessarily mean that it must be given by a doctor. I just want to know why people on your side of this issue have failed to stand up and say, “You know dehydration is a cruel and inhumane. Give Michael Schiavo the right to end Terri’s life quickly.” Why doesn’t the “pull-the-plug” people push for this? Could it be that it would result in the outrage throughout the nation? Could it be that a populace that is currently ignorant of the many cases like Terri’s that happen throughout America might actually wake up and say “STOP!” if the pro-death crowd came right and said, “Let’s stop messing around with this dehydration business. Everyone knows it’s painful and causes imense suffering. Just give ’em the lethal dose and be done with it.” Could it be that this isn’t argued for because it is a losing argument?
On the matter of its legality in Florida: In the many years since Michael Schiavo started this process no one ever once thought about actually trying to make “assisted suicide” legal in Florida? A law intended to save Terri was passed and signed in, what, about a week, before being tossed out by the Florida State Supreme Court. How long would it have taken to pass an “assisted suicide” law (not that I would vote for it if I were a Florida resident)?
Your comment on it’s legality is irrelevent as to why no one seems to have the guts to stand up and argue for this. “Assisted suicide” wasn’t legal in Oregon, but people stood up and argued for it.
BTW, you comment that a lethal injection is “not even legal in the state of Oregon” is just silly. Of course it is. It’s just not legal a physician, nurse or other attending medical professional to puncture the skin of the person requesting the lethal dose (if your description of that state’s law is accurate). But it most certainly is legal for these attending medical professionals to put that lethal dose in the hand of whomever wants to die. So this is just a dodge and approaches simple lying.