Life and Death 2005

Whether Terri lives or dies, there should be no exclamations of victory or cries of despair. There are two sides of this thoughtful debate, and those who disagree about the protection of human life should not condemn each other. It is possible that Christians of faith might support the withdrawal of Terri's feeding tube. Each of us wants to claim that God is on our side, but none of us knows for certain where God stands in this debate. That is the goal of the debate, to understand God's will. We cannot know for certain what Terri would want to do in this situation, as she did not clearly document her desires. We should be able to strongly defend our views regarding the important social and ethical issues of this case. However, it is impolite to denigrate those who strongly disagree with our views. Ad hominem attacks are rude and deserve no place in a logical discourse of life and dying, such as is raised by the tragic Terri Schiavo story. To have a worthwhile public debate on difficult issues we need to abide by the rules of fair play and good manners.