The Most Rev. Robert Lynch, bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of St. Petersburg (Florida), forbade his clergy from being present in Pinellas Park, Florida at the Woodside Hospice where Terri Schiavo is being starved to death. There is a significant Roman Catholic presence at the hospice, including Monsignor Thaddeus Malanowski, two friars (Paul O’Donnell and Hilary McGee) serving as spiritual advisors to the parents, and occasional priests dropping in from other dioceses.
It was reported that Bishop Lynch made an unscheduled trip out of the country for two weeks to coincide with current events. I know nothing about this man other than what was related from numerous sources on the ground and from what I’ve read from his own statements. It is utterly shameful for a leader of the flock of God to forbid his priests to stand up for life and truth. The bishop is accountable to God for his cowardly actions.
The pope has spoken out publicly about the case of Terri Schiavo. He has spoken in favor of life. I am amazed to see a local bishop publicly repudiate the pope and the teachings of the Roman Catholic Church on the sanctity of life. Bishop Lynch seems not to be interested in the value of Terri’s life but simply in the exchange of pleasantries between her parents and husband. It’s as if he’s saying, “Play nice with the murderer and everything will be okay.”
If I were one of Bishop Lynch’s priests, I would already be defrocked. I would have disobeyed him and chosen, instead, to obey God. The defense of life is a duty before God.
Defend the poor and fatherless: do justice to the afflicted and needy. (Psalm 82:3)
This weekend has been very draining. As an explanation, I’ll simply repeat what I told a reporter this morning before I left Woodside Hospice where Terri Schiavo is starving to death. “I don’t want to be here, but I don’t want to leave.”
The darkness and evil is present in an almost-tangible way at that place. While Terri dies, hundreds of supporters are outside praying, singing, preaching, fasting, watching, lighting candles, and receiving Holy Communion. While she melts away and her family’s grief becomes heavier, a world watches the events as simply another human-interest story they really care little about.
I am torn between my moral obligations to stand in defense of life and those to fulfill promises and responsibilities for others. I contemplated staying longer. In fact, I had tried to get there earlier but had to turn back from sheer exhaustion. In the end, late last night, I decided that I’d better travel home. Now that I’m here, I wish I weren’t.
The travel down and back, the endless standing and walking until my feet were sore and swollen, the sunburn, the sleep deficit, the repetitious “I’m Anglican” to inquiring Roman Catholics: all these things are little in light of Terri’s suffering. Even the occasional hunger and frequent thirst were nothing compared to Terri’s ordeal.
At the moment, I’m fighting sleep, as I did most the trip home. Here are some miscellaneous notes I hope to expand on later. For now, I think I will stop fighting and succumb to the sandman.
Prayers
Terri
The Schindler Family
Terri’s Supporters
Executive Decisions
“Good Men Did Nothing”
The Truth to be Dispersed The Cowardly Bishop The Waitress
The Alabama Clergy Council adopted the following resolution in recognition of the plight of the family of Terri Schiavo and the sanctity of life.
ALABAMA CLERGY COUNCIL
RESOLUTION
TERRI SCHIAVO AND THE SANCTITY OF LIFE
Whereas Terri Schiavo, a forty-one year-old, disabled woman, currently residing in Pinellas Park, Florida, is now being starved to death; and
Whereas, many medical doctors agree that she is not in a persistent vegetative state and that she can possibly improve with therapy; and
Whereas, the President of the United States, George W. Bush, has stated publicly that in such cases, and in this case in particular, it is best to err on the side of life; and
Whereas, the Alabama Clergy Council values the sanctity of all human life and affirms that the rights and liberty of mankind come from the hand of Almighty God, not from the will of any government, constitution, or creed; and
Whereas, God has created all of mankind in his image; be it therefore
Resolved that the Board of Directors of the Alabama Clergy Council, joins with millions of others, including the National Clergy Council, the Florida Clergy Council, and the parents of Terri Schiavo, Bob and Mary Schindler, in pleading for Terri’s life; and be it further
Resolved that President George W. Bush and Florida Governor Jeb Bush are encouraged to intervene and have Terri’s feeding tube reinstated; and be it finally
Resolved that copies of this resolution be distributed to concerned parties and others so that our position be clearly understood and that others of faith are spurred to action.
I am here in Pinellas Park, Florida at the Woodside Hospice where Terri Schiavo is being starved to death. This morning, her father went in to see her; he came out later and made some remarks, including that he believes she is in her last hours.
Apparently, there is another federal appeals court proceeding going on now.
The outcry for Governor Jeb Bush to step in and do something is also increasing. Randall Terry, who has been advising the family and serving as a spokesperson, released legal opinions today, including one from the Thomas More Law Center. The legal opinions advised Gov. Bush that he is authorized by state law to use his executive powers to intervene and save Terri from starvation.
The opinion from the Thomas More Law Center states in part,
…The statute provides that the consent of Ms. Schiavo’s guardian is not necessary if the investigator suspects that the disabled adult’s guardian has caused the abuse or neglect of the disabled adult.
…..
In the final analysis, the facts of this case clearly establish probable cause to conduct a full criminal investigation of the circumstances surrounding the disability of Ms. Schiavo. To date, the facts of the case have not been viewed through the lens of a criminal investigation. Shamefully, the governor’s investigatory resources have not been brought to bear on discerning the truth in this case.
Please keep praying for Terri. Also pray that the hearts of men will be turned to God.
Sadly, Terri Schiavo languishes still in a Florida hospice while government leaders from judges to legislators to chief executives shirk their duties to administer justice.
Some children were arrested today for attempting to take water to Terri. Don’t we see the injustice and the ignominy of arresting children (or adults) for trying to give a cup of cold water to a dying woman?
More leaders will be holding a press conference tomorrow to call on Bush & Bush to use their executive powers to protect Terri from starvation. I pray that they will do so but, even if they do, what kind of testimony to their moral resolve is the fact that they’ve waited over five days to do anything while a woman is being starved?
I will be travelling to Pinellas Park this weekend to stand with Terri’s family and friends. More details and news as possible.
Leaders of several national organizations will hold press conferences in Washington, DC and Tallahassee, FL at 12 p.m. EST tomorrow. They will call on President George Bush and Florida Governor Jeb Bush to use their executive powers to protect Terri Schiavo from starvation.
Among those to speak:
Dr. Paul Schenck, National Pro-Life Action Center on Capitol Hill
Stephen G. Peroutka, Esq., Face the Truth TV & Radio
Fr. Thomas Euteneuer, Human Life International
Michael A. Peroutka, Esq., Institute on the Constitution
Rev. Greg Cox, Faith and Action
Fr. Frank Pavone, Priests for Life
Rev. Stephen Cox, Gospel of Life Ministries
Rev. John Vandenberge, National Clergy Council
The staff at RenewAmerica have posted an article placing the buck exactly where it should be: Florida Governor Jeb Bush. Speaking of Gov. Bush, I received this reply to an email I sent him last week concerning Terri.
Thank you for contacting Governor Bush to ask for his help in the case of Terri Schiavo. He has asked me to respond on his behalf.
The Governor shares your concern for this young woman and has pledged to do whatever he can within the laws of Florida to protect her life. The next few weeks will be very difficult ones for Ms. Schiavo, her family and all of those who care about her. The Governor asks that you keep her and her family in your prayers during this difficult time.
Again, thank you for writing Governor Bush about this important issue.
Sincerely,
L. O’Connor
Office of Citizens’ Services
There is still much the governor can do that is within the laws of Florida. But, even if the law did say that women should be starved to death, the governor should stand against it. No law can make right what God has declared wrong.
A blogging doctor notes multiple serious unanswered questions about Terri’s medical diagosis based on the CT scan.
And, someone points out the hypocrisy of a rancher’s arrest that occurred last week in Florida as compared with Terri’s case. The man’s crime? Starving his cows. Read the news story.
Finally, the Rev. Robert Johansen has written a critical review of Terri’s medical diagnosis. He points out the fact that the so-called expert medical witness in Terri’s case only spent a few hours evaluating her condition. That doctor has also previously diagnosed patients as being in persistent vegetative state who could physically maneuver their own wheelchairs or follow instructions to sort sizes and colors.
This house of cards we live in–how long before it falls?
Lord have mercy. Christ have mercy. Lord have mercy.
All of men’s wicked machinations have brought us this day. Make no mistake: this is not the triumph of some great cause; it is the downfall of our nation. The judges and the lawmakers and the governors and the presidents have had their hands in this work. So have the lawyers and the editors and the other monsters of iniquity that we all are.
While our brave are bleeding and dying in strange lands for our liberty, we are injuring and murdering our innocent in our homeland.
Didn’t we think, over thirty years ago, that we were beginning that headlong journey to destruction at a quickened pace? Have we not learned from the rotting carcasses of millions that we are slouching toward Gomorrah at breakneck speed?
How did we get here? We arrived–or, perhaps, descended–here by tolerating the intolerable. We have elected men we didn’t trust to do jobs we knew they wouldn’t do because of promises they couldn’t keep. They make excuses by telling stories that we can’t believe and change the subject to other things. They purport to make law by declaration–the whims of their immoral souls.
Patrick Henry declared that death was as good as tyranny. Our judges have decided that we will have our cake and eat it, too. Well, eating is only figurative in one woman’s case. But the decision is certainly to serve her both tyranny and death. There is no liberty for Terri Schiavo.
Those judges from whose hands blood drips have behind them choirs singing their own anthems of praise. Selfish praise for selfish men. Those representatives and senators and governors and presidents sing their own unending praise.
Some sainted men will make theirstand. But what of these government “leaders”? They’ll do what’s within the law, they say. Pray tell, what law says that women should be starved? Now, is it a crime to eat? And if a law of men says so, what law of God?
Before this ends, will we see those judges, lawmakers, governors, and presidents come to aid the innocent? Or, perhaps, they’d prefer their own comfort, as most may. Will they be there, in chains, if necessary? The chains of the slavemaster are no burden for truth.
Better men from better ages with better minds had better hearts. Yes, we’re all sinners but somehave given in to God. Yet, in our time, men laud themselves with praise and adulation–and turn no ear to cries for mercy. All is well for them; they’ll be there after she has starved.
Justice Tom Parker delivered the following speech on January 14, 2005 at his investiture to the Alabama Supreme Court.
May it please the Courts.
Governor, Public Officials, friends and family, thank you for being here today.
The defining question for the American people today is this: “By what standard?”
By what standard shall we govern ourselves? By what standard shall our courts interpret the Constitution? Who is the ultimate voice of authority? Is it the people? Is it the judges who wear black robes? Are they truly the ultimate voice of authority? Or is there a higher source from which even the legitimacy of constitutions ultimately derive their authority, and to whom the allegiance of every policy maker and judge is due?
Our Founding Fathers answered this question with resounding clarity when they boldly declared that “We are endowed by our CREATOR with certain inalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.”
With these twenty-five simple words, that remarkable delegation of citizen patriots was able to declare with stunning precision what fewer and fewer modern jurists seem able to understand or communicate in their many thousands of pages of decisions rendered during the course of a lifetime.
Namely, this: The very God of Holy Scriptures, the CREATOR, is the source of law, life and liberty. It is to Him, not evolving standards or arbitrary pronouncements of judges, that the leaders of every nation owe their ultimate allegiance.
The most influential jurist on the thinking of our Founding Fathers, Sir William Blackstone, put it this way:
The doctrines thus delivered we call revealed or divine law, and they are to be found only in Holy Scriptures. Upon these two foundations, the law of nature and the law of revelation, depend all human laws; that is to say, no human law should be suffered to contradict these.
Blackstone would add a cautious reminder: Judges do not make law; they do but discover it from its true source.
Yesterday, January 13th, 2005, I was administered the oath of office at the United States Supreme Court building by the leading advocate in our land for original intent interpretation of the Constitution, U. S. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas. Just moments before I placed my hand on the Holy Scripture, Justice Thomas soberly addressed me and all in attendance. He admonished us to remember that the work of a justice should be evaluated by one thing and one thing only–whether or not he is faithful to uphold his oath, an oath which, as Justice Thomas pointed out, is not to the people, not to the state, and not to the constitution, but an oath which is to God Himself.
Today, I once again placed my hand on the Bible, God’s Holy Word. On this day the oath was administered to me by a man who is well known to each of you, a man who sacrificed his very office in the holy cause of liberty. Chief Justice Roy Moore of the Supreme Court of Alabama understood that oaths are sworn to the Creator, that they must be upheld, and that no judge or set of justices may banish from the courtroom the very source of authority which gives legitimacy to law itself.
As I took the oath of office today, I placed my hand on the Biblical charge to judges:
Consider carefully what you do, because you are not judging for man, but for the Lord, who is with you whenever you give a verdict. Now let the fear of the Lord be upon you. Judge carefully, for with the Lord our God there is no injustice or partiality or bribery. You must serve faithfully and wholeheartedly in the fear of the Lord.
2 Chronicles 19:6-9
I stand here today, humbled by this charge, but a grateful man who aspires to adhere to that tradition embodied in the sentiments spoken to me yesterday by Justice Clarence Thomas, and the commitment to our Founders’ vision of authority and the rule of law personified by Chief Justice Roy Moore.
As I took the oath of office yesterday at the U.S. Supreme Court, I placed my hand on those Scriptures which represent my defining prayer not only for this Court, but for every court in our great land. This prayer is summarized in the words of the Lord, who spoke through the prophet Isaiah, declaring:
I will restore your judges as in days of old, and your counselors as at the beginning. Afterward you shall be called, The City of Righteousness, the Faithful city.
Isaiah 1:26
Thank you for the great honor bestowed upon me today. I will always view my oath as solemn, binding and mission-defining.
May God guide us and direct us. May we boldly proclaim that it is God, Jesus Christ who gives us life and liberty. May we, as justices who have taken oaths to our God, never fear to acknowledge Him. And may the Alabama Supreme Court lead this nation in our gratitude, humility and deference, to the only true source of law, our Creator.
This article by Victor Davis Hanson, published in Hillsdale College‘s Imprimis, gives great pause for thought when evaluating our situation in the “war on terror.” Mr. Hanson reviews General George Patton’s approach to warfare and applies some of the general’s principles to our current endeavors.
I have to say that, though I don’t know a great deal about Gen. Patton, if Mr. Hanson’s portrayal is accurate, I’d have to agree with him. This is what I said about Afghanistan and this is what I’ve said about Iraq. If we want to get the job done, let’s do it and quit playing games. The political games are killing our fighting men and women. Why are we still dilly-dallying around in Afghanistan? Why haven’t we put much effort into destroying Osama ben Laden? Why are we still playing cat and mouse with the murderers in Fallujah, et al?
Until our political leaders have the resolve to do the right thing and get it done as soon as possible instead of play political popularity games, we’ll continue to lose. And, yes, I do believe we’re losing. Our soldiers and marines are giving their efforts, certainly. But, our political leaders aren’t. This is what happened in Vietnam. Yes, much has changed since then but, then again, much hasn’t. Instead of spitting on our soldiers, we should run our politicians out of town on rails.
No man deserves to be in public office who sacrifices the lives of Americans for the sake of political expediency. No, I don’t think most of our public officials went into this to play games. Yes, I do think they don’t have the guts to do the right thing–and, in the end, they won’t have the guts to see it through.
You don’t give a man who’s shooting at you time to reload before you incapacitate him. You don’t give terrorists a second chance to attack you on your own soil. Unfortunately, we’ve done that one already. Apparently, we still haven’t learned anything: one Trade Center attack, another Trade Center attack. Now, we’ve moved the fight to another piece of the planet (which is good) but we’re not willing pay the full cost; we’re not willing to sacrifice political safety for the sake of true liberty. Benjamin Franklin said that those who would sacrifice a little liberty for a little safety deserve neither.
