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In Moral Relativism Who's
Responsible
American Culture/Nancy Salvato |
March 24, 2005
- As I watch the murder of Terri Schiavo play out on
television at the behest of her husband, who for all intents and purposes is
practicing polygamy since he insists that he is still her spouse after he
fathered two children with his new lover, I can't help but be appalled at
the indifference of those who haven't bothered to investigate the true facts
of the matter. Those not following the case assume that right wing busy
bodies are interfering with Terri's "right-to die." Regardless of the true
circumstances of the situation, because of the prevailing attitude that
humans should have the right to be humanely put to death, there is the
assumption that she would be better off dead –starved to death. The details
are irrelevant.
It adds insult to "injury" that the case of Terri Schiavo is touted in the
mainstream media as more fuel firing the ongoing debate between those who
are pro life and those who are pro choice. The inconsistencies about how she
"fell" into her condition continue to be overlooked by grossly
oversimplifying the situation in the traditional news outlets. There is a
very real possibility that her husband tried to murder her back in l990.
There were lots of broken bones in her body and it was never verified that
her being found face down on the floor was due to a heart attack. There is
an order that she is to be cremated upon her actual death. There would be no
autopsy and no evidence available for a full investigation, should it come
down to that.
Hearing about the progression of Terri Schiavo's murder on television
doesn't make it any more real than any other atrocity broadcast on the
evening news any given day of the year.
Compare the facts of the Schiavo situation to those surrounding Marine Corps
2nd Lt. Llario Pantano, charged with murder after he made a split second
decision in a combat situation last April to shoot two Iraqi suspects who
rushed him and his men. The operative word here is "combat." This man was
serving his country and decided to defend himself and his men –in a combat
situation. How could this be allowed to occur? Why would anyone want to be a
soldier and defend this great country of ours under these circumstances?
According to Dennis Prager, leftist ideology, i.e. moral relativism, allows
"feelings" to determine right from wrong. Conservatives base their positions
on what is right rather than how they are feeling at any given moment.
Certainly this second system allows for greater clarity when distinguishing
right from wrong. Right leaning Conservatives might be seen as unyielding in
their belief system, but as Ben Franklin is quoted, "If men are so wicked
with religion, what would they be if without it?"
Only moral relativism can explain why Mine Ener, a Villanova University
professor who killed her infant daughter and later committed suicide, was
honored posthumously by naming a library study area after her. She slit her
own baby's throat but because she suffered depression, she was not only
excused from her behavior but seen as a tragic heroine.
I imagine that the scariest thing about living under a dictatorship, such as
occurred under Saddam Hussein, is you could never be sure how to frame the
words you say or to couch your actions so that in the long run you weren't
found deserving of torture or death. You would be living in a world where
reality was suspended due to the widespread insanity that was your every day
existence. The notion of an inherent right to life, liberty, and happiness
would be as unlikely as being able to flap your arms and fly away.
Contrast that with living in the United States of America, where there is no
fear in speaking your mind and where opportunity is limited only by your
imagination. Whether or not it is acknowledged, the major influence
permeating our upbringing and which continues to allow our privileged
existence, blessed as such, are the Judeo Christian values that form the
foundation for this, the strongest country in the world. It was acknowledged
by the founders and the framers that the creator endowed us with free will
and the US Constitution was written to protect this freedom.
We need to stop trying to disallow religion in public places. We must stop
promoting moral relativism as an acceptable substitute for the Judeo
Christian principles necessary to distinguish right from wrong, accept
personal responsibility, respect others, and which make us all members of a
community. We must fight for what is right.
As I write this piece, several days after the feeding tube was removed,
Terri Schiavo is dying and the whole world waits for the conclusion to this
unthinkable act of injustice. Why is Terri Schiavo less deserving of the
outrage that moves the moral relativists to protest death row executions,
torture at Abu Ghraib, or the right to abortion? Death, murder, human
pyramids…it's all relative.
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