Terri’s Crime? She’s Still Breathing

I think as Americans we naturally assume that anyone who is found guilty of a crime deserves to be punished. Of course, many Christians will disagree on the amount and severity of a particular punishment for a particular individual for a particular crime. However, I think I can safely say that, on the whole, we do agree that God has set governing authorities over us in order to keep the peace and maintain order in our society. And punishing criminals is just one of the duties of a God-ordained system of government.

Sometimes the death penalty is given to individuals who commit very heinous crimes. Sometimes a suspended sentence and a small fine are given to those who commit “petty crimes”. In the eyes of the law there is a marked difference between ax-murdering your entire office staff in cold blood as opposed to going ten miles over the speed limit.

But in the eyes of God, a sin is a sin is a sin is a sin…

There is no difference, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God …

So, our society says that some people must die. But who makes these life and death decisions? A jury usually makes this decision in the case of a murderer on trial. In other matters, it’s left up entirely to a judge’s discretion.

Which brings us to the sad case of Terri Schiavo… A brain-damaged woman guilty of the most heinous crime of all—she refuses to die quickly and quietly!

I mean, she’s been sentenced to a long, protracted death by starvation/dehydration. Even the Pope, when he recently fell ill, was allowed sustenance via a food tube. But somehow Terri is not.

Animal rights activists would be up in arms if a dog or cat or horse or guinea pig in a similar situation was left to starve to death. So, why isn’t there an outcry about Terri’s inhumane treatment from these groups?

Why are so many Christians silent about this “murder by degree” treatment of a defenseless woman?

Why is Terri’s life considered a “crime” because she can’t speak for herself?

In the beginning, God created life and it was good. So, why are severely disabled people not considered “good”? And why are unwanted babies aborted and thrown into dumpsters behind abortion clinics?

Why aren’t their lives considered “good”? Didn’t God create them, too?

As Christians, we have to consider this an “either/or” proposition… Either we believe all life—particularly human beings—is “good” since God created man in His own image, or we believe all life is “bad” and worthy of death whenever we feel like it.

And the people who make these decisions… are they to be considered as “gods” and all life must reflect their “good” image?

I wonder what Judge Greer in Florida would think about having some government authority force him into giving up food and water, to slowly starve him to death? Since he’s acted as Terri’s judge, jury and executioner without impunity for so long, maybe it’s time someone turned the tables on him?

There is no difference, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God …

A sin is a sin is a sin is a sin…

Crawling Out of My Comfort Zone...

Hello out there. This is a new venture for me as a writer and as a Christian. I just felt that I needed to shout about a lot of things in the news recently... I'm not a cable news junkie (well, not really) but there are just so many things going on in the world today that Christians aren't speaking out about--both for and against.

Now, I know that's a generalization, but it's probably close to the truth. The vast majority of Christians like to stay in their "comfort zones" and prefer not to get their hands dirty talking about life and death issues, same-sex marriages, people starving and homeless in their own cities and the overall level of "acceptable violence" apparent in our Western culture.

Most Christians just want to drive to their suburban church on Sunday morning, sit in the pew for an hour or two and then drive on home and forget about all this Jesus stuff... As long as they feel their "souls" are being "fed" with "feel good" ideas, then does it really matter that children are starving on the other side of the county or world? Wouldn't Jesus have preferred to hang out at the Country Club and sip martinis and shoot a game of golf every once and a while? He certainly wouldn't want to get his hands dirty or risk derision for taking a stand on the issues, now would he?

Not!

So, I hope you see where I'm coming from. Feel free to post your views and comments, too. Maybe together we'll be able to "crawl out of our comfort zones" and share the Gospel the way Jesus intended, dirt and controversy included.