Where Do We Go From Here? Now The Bigger Questions Begin to Be Asked
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In "How Liberalism Failed Terri Schiavo," Eric Cohen is one of many who are beginning to raise the debate to a broader, more philosophical level. I think this is useful and important stage in the debate, and it's a chance for conservative people of faith to win some hearts and minds. I also think it is there-- in hearts and minds-- where we have to win. Only after that can the legislatures (and finally the courts) follow.
Here's a Cohen excerpt:
FOR ALL THE ATTENTION we have paid to the Schiavo case, we have asked many of the wrong questions, living as we do on the playing field of modern liberalism. We have asked whether she is really in a persistent vegetative state, instead of reflecting on what we owe people in a persistent vegetative state. We have asked what she would have wanted as a competent person imagining herself in such a condition, instead of asking what we owe the person who is now with us, a person who can no longer speak for herself, a person entrusted to the care of her family and the protection of her society.
Read the whole thing. We need to have this discussion, whether or not that discussion is pleasant, messy, or bruising. And, as wonderful as discussion is, at some point the debating needs to lead to some conclusions-- and we'll need to fight for them.
posted by Lowell Brown at 4:46 PM
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1 Comments:
Cohen raises the essential point, we’re “living…on the playing field of modern liberalism.” We’ve all but lost the constitutional moorings this country was founded to uphold; adrift and at the mercy of whatever passes for liberal thinking, as long as it holds sway. The well-meaning law passed by the Florida legislature seems to provide some sensible safeguards for people who are disabled and dependent upon caregivers—“a person who can no longer speak for herself, a person entrusted to the care of her family and the protection of her society.”
The fallacy appears when it is discovered just how shallow is the commitment to the lofty ideals expressed. In the face of mere sentiment, liberalism was unable to recognize when the clear intent of the law was being violated by an incompetent judge. Does this account for the impotence of Governor Jeb Bush and his legal advisors? Were they also caught up in this peculiar form of liberal blindness? We need some answers.
Posted by RLG
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