BuzzFlash Reader Contribution

CONTRIBUTOR ARCHIVES  

Schiavo Legislation Simply "Sleight of Hand" by Congress and Christian Right

A BUZZFLASH READER CONTRIBUTION
by Robert Millman

Letter to the Editor sent to The Daily Gazette:

A memo distributed to Republican senators by party leaders called the Schiavo case a "great political issue" and a "tough issue for Democrats," the Washington Post said in its Sunday edition.

Regardless of how one feels about the Terri Schiavo case, it seems that congressional Republicans have seized on this issue as a way to redirect national attention away from Tom Delay's involvement with a political organization that scammed millions of dollars from gambling casinos and illegally funded the partisan redrawing of Texas Congressional Districts.

If one wishes to raise Terri Schiavo’s case as a way to frame a "culture of life" argument, it logically raises other issues as well: Do religious conservatives who feel so strongly about Schiavo (regardless of a court decision) feel the same sanctity of life applies to people on death row (also a court decision)? Do they feel the same way about thousands of non-combatants who have died as a result of the U.S. war in Iraq? Do they feel the same moral outrage about people that aren’t in the headlines?

I don't pretend to know anything about Terry Schiavo except what appears in newspapers: that she has been in a vegetative state for 15 years; that her parents claim she responds to them; this issue has been in Florida courts for a great deal of time; and that Terri Schiavo’s husband has been named her legal guardian.

It seems that the term “activist judge” applies only to judges that disagree with radical Christian conservatives who selectively interpret Christ’s teachings. Without any sense of irony, Christian conservatives create an exception for war, the death penalty and intolerance of people who question their interpretation of God’s will. Given that we continually hear we are battling Islamic religious fundamentalism, it seems a little introspection would be worthwhile for the Christian right. I don’t expect it to happen, but I pray for it just the same.

For congressional Republicans to now raise the Schiavo case as an emotional lightning rod is right up there with pushing private accounts for Social Security. It is a sleight of hand to divert attention from broader questions that Congress and the religious right would rather not talk about.

Robert Millman
Glenville, NY

A BUZZFLASH READER CONTRIBUTION