[Vision2020] Morality, Life and Death

[J Ford]

A LOUD Amen! from this corner.  Well said.

I commend Tom for bringing this letter to our attention.



>From: "Tom Hansen" <thansen at moscow.com>
>To: <vision2020 at moscow.com>
>Subject: [Vision2020] Morality, Life and Death
>Date: Fri, 25 Mar 2005 05:54:40 -0800
>
> >From today's (March 25, 2005) Spokesman Review's Opinion section:
>
>He may not be a subscriber to this list, but no truer words were written by
>a person so far removed from Moscow, Idaho.  Thank you Issac Bailey of the
>Myrtle Beach Sun News.
>
>----------------------------------------------------------------------
>
>Morality, life and death
>Issac J. Bailey
>Myrtle Beach (S.C.) Sun News
>March 25, 2005
>
>I'm going to stop praying to God and start praying to those who believe 
>they
>have the market cornered on morality.
>
>I'm not talking about those who share their beliefs out of love and a
>conviction to speak truth. We need their voices, even when they differ from
>our own. Often their counsel forces us to make better choices.
>
>The people I have a problem with are those who insist their wisdom is as
>complete as God's.
>
>Why shouldn't I pray to them? They already know what's right. Why bother
>figuring it out for myself?
>
>According to those folks, I must be crazy to believe a same-sex couple can
>have a God-honoring relationship. How dare I not simply accept their
>interpretation of Scripture?
>
>And I must be a murderer if I think it's wrong for the legislature to step
>into a situation it knows little about. I don't know what should happen to
>Terri Schiavo because I don't know her, can't know her wishes. I know the
>case has been heard by at least 16 judges. I know a court-appointed 
>guardian
>agrees with her husband and doctors who say she's in a vegetative state. I
>know that given that amount of due process, legislators should have stayed
>out of the situation and instead prayed God's will would be done.
>
>I know that President Bush should get no credit for leaving vacation early
>to sign a law that adds unnecessary judicial action, particularly since he
>signed a Texas law in 1999 allowing hospitals to trump the wants of 
>families
>when continued care is deemed futile. A baby was recently taken off life
>support against the mother's wishes because of that law. Bush didn't rush 
>to
>be by that mother's side as her baby died in her arms.
>
>I know I believe in miracles and that doctors can be wrong. A doctor can
>detect signs of life. He can't fully understand God's plans before they are
>revealed.
>
>I know that someone in a vegetative state can bring joy to those who love
>them and hope to strangers and that they can inspire others. I'm just not
>wise enough to know how much time must pass before that's no longer the
>reality.
>
>I don't know whether I'd want to live if my body were an empty shell. But
>I'd want my wife to make the decision, without interference. Because after
>witnessing how every person with a cause or an opinion feels it's their 
>duty
>to step in where they have no claim, I know I don't want to become another
>Terri Schiavo.
>
>------------------------------------------------------------
>
>Take care, Moscow.
>
>Tom Hansen
>Hog Haven, Idaho
>
>"What is objectionable, what is dangerous, about extremists is not that 
>they
>are extreme, but that they are intolerant. The evil is not what they say
>about their cause, but what they say about their opponents."
>
>-- Robert F. Kennedy
>
>
>
>
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