One Woman's Opinion: Mrs. T. Schiavo & Hypocrisy

I applaud and thank the federal state/circuit judges who had ruled in favor of the removal and subsequent refusal for re-insertion of the feeding tube of Mrs. T. Schiavo. Your deference to the law is appreciated by many segments of the population, myself included.
I thank you for a number of reasons: first, for validating a person's wishes for their medical treatment and their decisions for the vision they have of life ending choices. Secondly, for empowering marriage as a contract; formal and informal of spouses and not government. Thirdly, for upholding the law and refusing to react to a small, but vocal group of protesters who refuse to honor the rights of the individual. And lastly, for acting in a manner that speaks of integrity as opposed to gratuitous pandering.

I am appalled at the waste of time, tax dollars and energy that the Bush administration and the Senate spent involving themselves in an issue that needs no government intervention. I am equally appalled at the tolerance by city officials of protesters who have surrounded the hospice of Mrs. Schiavo and who have done so without any connection to the family themselves, and often without the benefit of a permit, something which any other group must procure before gathering to protest things such as war, violence, or administration policy. These people have intruded on a private time in other's lives and they have convinced members of the Senate and government that their personal agenda is more important than is the dignified death of another single member of our society.

What bothers me greatly is that by virtue of attempting to over ride the rights of Mrs. Schiavo's spouse, that
very action would devalue the sanctity and legal status of marriage between heterosexual couples.
This is the same group of people who object to gay, or same sex marriage on the grounds that it threatens
the sanctity of marriage between "a man and a woman". What utter hypocrisy! It is they themselves that threaten, not just the sanctity of marriage, but the very freedoms our country prides itself in. My message to those who chose to recognize only those laws which validate their personal agenda: be very careful for what you wish; you just might get it. When you change the institution of marriage to fit your own ideals, you open the gates to other issues as well.
If you believe that the entire nation will sit idly by as you rewrite our constitution, you are wrong. Many of us who are opposed to your intolerance realize it is time for us to stop being so tolerant ourselves. It is time for
us to stop accepting your narrow view of the world and how you crave it's future destruction. When all people who are opposed to your bronze age mentality pick up their pens, take to the public airwaves to remind people that freedom of religion also embraced freedom from religion, perhaps we'll see an end to peer pressure religious dogma.

It sickens me to see supposed 'clergy members' grabbing at sound bytes for a moment in the spotlight. You
are not ministering while you are pandering - get back to your pulpits and preach that which is familiar to you, as the law is certainly not a topic in which you have knowledge. Your brand of Christianity is the noose that is tightening around the very neck of freedom. Your brand of Christianity would not be recognized by the Jesus who preached tolerance and open-ness for the new religion.

And politicians: you tread on dangerous ground. Remember the words of Jesus himself as he alluded to his action of evicting the money lenders and changers from the temple: "Render onto Caesar that which is Caesars'. Render unto God that which is God's".

I have no softer words for the mother and father of Mrs. Schiavo. Let your daughter go to her rest. Each human being is born to live and as we do so, prepare for death. If you believe this, then let your daughter go. Do you think you give her ease of mind to see you struggle so with the law of this land in her name? What is it about angst and pain that attract you so, even to the point of keeping alive someone who can not even recognize her own humanity? What is it that you so fear of death? Does not your faith hold dear the notion that upon death, those with a good heart and a soul accepted by Jesus will live in paradise? Why would you want your daughter to linger on and be the face of suffering? All humans who love face the loss of a loved one. Why must your daughter be the poster child for denial?
Additionally, you both, as her parents, are not living the definition of the faith you claim is yours. Does not the bible teach that honor must be given to a mother and father, but upon marriage, a daughter is cleaves to her husband and leaves her childhood home behind her? Again, another distortion of the bible is being perpetuated in the name of personal agenda, religious dogma and popular pandering.

Stop the madness of your hypocrisy!