We are encouraged by the Main Stream Media that we need to be more enlightened in determining our behavior in our society. We are told that we need to emulate the great European cultures of France and Germany, and to not be so concerned with morality and ethics as a people. The enlightened societies of the world have a tendency to look at the United States as being intolerant and socially behind the times because of our Judeo-Christian heritage.

CNN has a story today, Specialist: Keeping fetuses may be widespread, which illustrates just how enlightened society in France has become. Here is a segment:

“Investigators probing the shocking discovery of hundreds of fetuses and stillborn babies stored in a Paris hospital morgue are likely to find that the practice is widespread in France, a top medical specialist said Wednesday.

A day after officials said 351 stillborn babies and fetuses were kept at Saint-Vincent-de-Paul Hospital’s morgue — some for two decades — more than 100 worried families called a hotline to inquire about their cases, hospital authorities said.

Investigators were probing how such a breach of French law could have happened, and why. But one top geneticist and medical ethicist said he was not surprised.

“I think that there are fetuses and stillborn infants in all maternity wards at university hospitals,” Dr. Axel Kahn, a member of France’s national ethics committee, told The Associated Press. “Once, it was the norm … Researchers who needed them for their work asked obstetricians not to dispose of them.”

The law was changed in the mid-1990s to prevent the practice.

Current French law calls for bodies of unclaimed stillborn babies to be cremated within 10 days. Fetuses cannot be used for medical purposes except with the parents’ explicit consent. In that case, the bodies must be cremated within six months.

Even after the laws were changed, some specialists at Saint-Vincent-de-Paul may have wanted to keep the remains to do genetic testing on them one day, Kahn said.”

Just a casual reading of the above speaks volumes about how the people of France view life, law, and individual rights. Once a society has become callous about human life, the rest becomes commonplace.

We see that medical professionals in their quest for further research have broken the laws of the land which were changed fifteen years ago to prohibit this sort of thing from happening. We see that the rights of the dead infants have been trampled on in not allowing for a decent burial or cremation for over two decades. We see the wishes and rights of the parents of these dead infants ignored for the sake of expediency.

For what? To find a cure for cancer! To find a cure for alzheimers! To what gain? Is extending our miserable existence on this earth worth losing our collective soul over?

We read every day about how medical advances are providing new answers in the fight against disease, and we are all for new research. But where does research stop, and degradation begin?

We need to be very careful in the United States with our constant drumbeat for embryonic stem cell research. We are dangerously close to crossing the line between legitimate research and our own ethical demise.

We dance and play while Rome burns again, but this time the fire may burn here. It is past time for a thorough investigation of what our scientific researchers are doing in this country. It is past time for the public to understand the implications of what the media and politicians are asking for, even if it is our Senate Majority Leader, Bill Frist.

We may need to ask ourselves, is eradicating a disease really worth worth losing our collective soul over? It is but a short walk from abortion on demand, to the storage of dead infants for research, to harvesting the brain dead for organs. We as a society need to make certain that we never allow that walk to be taken.

Read the whole shocking story.

“As Stossel reports:

Thirty years ago this month, Newsweek reported: “There are ominous signs that the Earth’s weather patterns have begun to change dramatically and that these changes may portend a drastic decline in food production — with serious political implications for just about every nation on Earth. The drop in food output could begin quite soon, perhaps only 10 years from now.” The headline? “The Cooling World.” That’s right: Just 30 years ago, scaremongers were telling us about global cooling . The alarmists never stop. Maybe the key issue isn’t science. Maybe they just want us to be “concerned.”

Red State Rant has the link to the original article on Town Hall. Our two pet theories debunked in one week. What more could one ask for? See here for the other theory debunked.

This from the report:

“According to an article published in last month’s Science magazine, in 2003 scientists found a Tyrannosaurus Rex thigh bone during an archaeological dig. The research team had to break the bone in pieces in order to fit it into a helicopter, and when they did so, they discovered the fossil contained well-preserved soft tissues, including blood vessels.”

The original Science Magazine article can be found here.

This raises some fascinating questions concerning some key components in the evolution theory time-line. Ken Ham, President of Answers In Genesis is quoted as saying,

“The reason this is such startling news is because you just wouldn’t expect soft tissue and cells like this in a bone supposedly 70 million years old.”

Whether this brings any change in the current thought process in evolution remains to be seen. Those who believe and promote evolution, will more than likely not allow facts to overcome faith in their theory. They will simply devise with a means to explain away this important discovery.

Another excerpt says this:

“But what AiG (Answers In Genesis) scientists would say about the find, Ham observes, “is that it’s totally consistent with the fact that these bones aren’t that old and probably date back to the time of the flood just a few thousand years ago.” However, he doubts evolutionists will give consideration to the possibility that the T-Rex bones are only thousands rather than millions of years old.”

As we have said before, here, evolution is just as much a religion as is creationism. It should be viewed as such, and our education system should be teaching it as such, allowing creationism to be taught right alongside.

Once we understand that humans are special creations of God, a whole new perspective on life is formed. A perspective that does not view life so cheaply as it is viewed today.

It seems a well-meaning, but uninformed judge has granted the power of attorney to the granddaughter. The granddaughter has moved the elderly woman to a hospice and is now withholding nutrition and water from her. This despite the existence of a living will. Thrown Back Blog has the details, here.

The following is an excerpt:

“The similarities of Mae Margourik’s situation and Terri Schiavo’s are obvious: Once again we have a family divided over what care should be given to a seriously ill relative. And once again, we have a judge playing God with someone’s life. But what is different, and in a sense worse, is that Mae is being deprived of food and water in clear contravention of her own stated wishes, and at the request of someone who should have no standing under Georgia law. “

Our thanks to Insta Pundit for pointing to this story. Please read the whole article.

Update: Another link to this story from World Net Daily in an article entitled, Granddaughter yanks grandma’s feeding tube. It seems we may have been too kind in our reference to the judge in our statement above. This artice is much more detailed, with statements from Mrs. Magouirk’s nephew Ken Mullinax.

The article written by John Leo entitled, End of the Affair, has a round-up of final thoughts about the Terri Schiavo case. Please read the entire article. It is worth your time and effort.

The most stunning paragraphs of the article are the “Unsettled Questions”. Here is the excerpt:

” Unsettled questions. Public opinion: Polls showed very strong opposition to the Republican intervention, but the likelihood is that those polled weren’t primarily concerned with Terri Schiavo or Republican overreaching, if that’s what it was. They were thinking about themselves and how to avoid being in Terri Schiavo’s predicament. Many, too, have pulled the plug on family members and don’t want these wrenching decisions second-guessed by the courts or the public.

If this is correct, it means the country has yet to make up its mind on the issue of personhood and whether it is moral and just to remove tube-supplied food and water from people with grave cognitive disabilities. The following candid exchange occurred on Court TV last month in a conversation between author Wesley Smith and bioethicist Bill Allen. Smith: “Bill, do you think Terri is a person?” Allen: “No, I do not. I think having awareness is an essential criterion for personhood.” Fetuses, babies, and Alzheimer’s patients are only minimally aware and might not fit this definition of personhood, and so would have no claim on our protections. Smith points out that other bioethicists narrow protection further, requiring rationality, the capacity to experience desire, or the ability to value one’s own existence. Tighter definitions of personhood expand the number of humans who can be killed without blame or harvested for their organs while still alive. On Court TV, Allen argued that the family could have removed Terri’s organs while she was alive, “just as we allow people to say what they want done with their assets.” This issue has been hiding behind the Terri Schiavo case for years. Soon it will be out in the open.”

What is said in the above paragraphs goes back to the question of our view on life which we posted about here.

We are standing on a slippery slope at the edge of a precipice with this issue. These are questions of staggering importance. These are questions of what constitutes life.

Let us hope and pray for a path leading out of this valley of death.

From the Toronto Free Press we have this article from March 31, 2005 entitled, Mainstream media unreported conflicts of interest in Schiavo tragedy. Here is an excerpt:

” There’s the death-is-beautiful, right-to-die activist Michael Schiavo attorney George Felos.

Don’t make eye contact with Felos, who claims he can ascertain a person’s desire to die by “looking into their eyes” and letting their spirits speak directly to him.

A jumped-up volunteer at Woodside Hospice, Felos became chairman of the Hospice of the Florida Suncoast, which runs Woodside, and only came off the board about a year after Michael Schiavo placed his estranged wife there.

Then there’s Dr. Ronald Cranford, handpicked by Michael Schiavo to examine Terri and on whose say-so Terri was categorized in “persistent vegetative state”. Cranford is the MD who officially ordered Terri’s feeding tube removed on March 18. A neurologist, Cranford testifies in cases such as Terri’s around the country, always pumping the dehydration and starvation side. He was 1992’s featured speaker for the pro-euthanasia Hemlock Society, which was renamed The Choice in Dying Society. (WorldNetDaily).

Cranford nicknamed himself, “Dr. Humane Death”.

A bioethicist, and a pioneer in euthanasia and right-to-die issues, Dr. Humane Death is a fully-fledged member of The Choice in Dying Society.”

There is a complete list of the conflicts contained in the rest of the article. Read it!

Then there is a transcript from Rush Limbaugh entitled, I Feel Like Taking a Shower After I Listen to Felos, which reveals a side of Felos that isn’t very pretty. Here is an excerpt:

“This guy wrote a book, 2002, Litigation: A Spiritual Practice. Here it is. This is just one excerpt from that book. “Felos describes himself as crusader for the right to die in Chapter 21. He also admits to enjoying his status as a news celebrity, describing it as exhilarating to see himself on TV. On page 217 he writes. ‘I was getting pretty good at trying my case in the media and shaping public opinion, developing a good sound bite helped but so did the media’s support of the cause. Some of my best quotes appeared on the editorial pages.’” Then there is this. “As Mrs. Browning lay motionless before my gaze I suddenly heard a loud, deep moan and scream and wondered if the nursing home personnel heard it and would respond to the unfortunate resident. In the next moment as this cry of pain and torment continued I realized it was Mrs. Browning. I felt the midsection of my body open; I noticed a strange quality of light in the room. I sensed her soul in agony. As she screamed, I heard her say in confusion, ‘Why am I still here? Why am I here?’ My soul touched hers and in some way I communicated that she was still locked in her body. I promised I would do everything in my power to gain the release of her soul. With that, the screaming immediately stopped. I felt like I was back in my head again. The room resumed its normal appearance and Mrs. Browning as she had throughout this experience lay silent.” He thinks he communicated. His body opened up, his soul communicated to hers. When he assured her that he would get her soul out of her body, she lay quiet. This guy is a cult leader. Now, here’s a guy that can communicate with people in persistent vegetative states, by his own admission, in his own book. He says he can communicate with them one soul to another, but the family, of course, couldn’t communicate with her. She was in a persistent vegetative state. We’re listening to a cult leader here, folks. “

With these two articles in mind, it is not difficult to believe the conspiracy theories that abound. It is our hope that legitimate investigations would be launched, and law breakers punished.

It is also evident from these articles just how far euthanasia has advanced among our intelligentsia. Be fore-warned! Get your “Living Will” and “Durable Health Care Power of Attorney” documents written now. Information on where to obtain these documents can be found here.

The “Angels of Death” are in every facet of society. They can be found in our court system, our elected government, our health-care institutions, and some of the very attorneys we hire to protect our interests.

Make sure you don’t get caught up in a conflict of interest web, as Terri Schiavo did.

“Revelation 21:4
“He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.”

Hugh Hewitt, has a roundup of several articles that are well worth reading. His roundup is entitled, An Outbreak of Religiousrightitis. Here are a couple of excerpts from his post.

He includes a quotation from Peggy Noonan’s Wall Street Opinion Journal article dated today, found here.

“Back to Noonan, who, when she is “on,” says things in ways that ought to be scratched into marble somewhere, like this:

“A great nation does not like to see an innocent woman put to death. Everyone seems aware: It is not like us. Her death, if it comes to that, will be a big loss. We will ponder what happened here for years to come. The fight for life has many fronts, and the war will not be over in our lifetimes.

For now, may those who fought for life be honored. May Jesse Jackson be honored, and all who fought the fight in Florida. From David McCullough’s ‘John Adams’: ‘Adams had, however, arrived at certain bedrock conclusions before [his] end came. He believed, with all his heart, as he had written to Jefferson, that no effort in favor of virtue was lost.’ Onward.”

And here is Mr. Hewitt’s final statement from his post linked above.

“A few lines that ought to give pause to those who have felt no qualms at all, who have taken comfort in the opinion polls, who have been mocking those praying at the hospice. Terri Schiavo has endured long enough to force nearly everyone to recognize the barbarity of a court order that forbids a mother from offering her dying daughter an ice-chip. The national shudder will have lasting effects, and those politicians who sought mercy for Terri Schiavo have nothing to fear from those effects.”

May the ripples roll on.

First, Lone Star Times has an article entitled, Margaret Sanger, Eugenecist. One may not catch the significance of this article on first glance. Here is an excerpt:

“Sanger promoted birth control as a means to reduce the population of “defectives, delinquents, dependents. These are the most devastating curse on human progress and expansion.” In this category fell the mentally retarded, the disabled, the poor, blacks, Jews, and eventually even Catholics. These groups of “human waste” were, in Sanger’s view, to face enforced sterilization and internment in concentration camps.”

Secondly, Radio Blogger has some information on another view of life. In an article entitled, Who is George Felos?, there are some passages from a book written by the attorney who represents Michael Schaivo. Here is an excerpt:

“Let’s see if you still support the “right to die” movement after these passages:

About the Jews, George Felos wrote, “The Jewish people, long ago in their collective consciousness, agreed to play the role of the lamb whose slaughter was necessary to shock humanity into a new moral consciousness. Their sacrifice saved humanity at the brink of extinction and propelled us into a new age.” (pg 240)

Felos further wrote, “If our minds can conceive of an uplifting Holocaust, can it be so diffucult to look another way at the slights and injuries and abuses we perceive were inflicted upon us?” (pg 240)

While on a plane trip, Felos thought “I wonder what it would be like to die right now?” (pg 181)

Felos felt that God told him, “You are more powerful than you realize.” (pg 182) “

The final view of life comes from Peggy Noonan. In the The Wall Street Opinion Journal she writes what follows, in an article entitled, In Love With Death, The bizarre passion of the pull-the-tube people.

“God made the world or he didn’t.

God made you or he didn’t.

If he did, your little human life is, and has been, touched by the divine. If this is true, it would be true of all humans, not only some. And so–again, if it is true–each human life is precious, of infinite value, worthy of great respect.

Most–not all, but probably most–of those who support Terri Schiavo’s right to live believe the above. This explains their passion and emotionalism. They believe they are fighting for an invaluable and irreplaceable human life. They are like the mother who is famously said to have lifted the back of a small car off the ground to save a child caught under a tire. You’re desperate to save a life, you’re shot through with adrenaline, your strength is for half a second superhuman, you do the impossible.

That is what they are trying to do.

They do not want an innocent human life ended for what appear to be primarily practical and worldly reasons–e.g., Mrs. Schiavo’s quality of life is low, her life is pointless. They say: Who is to say it is pointless? And what does pointless even mean? Maybe life itself is the point.”

It all boils down to our view on life. Our view on life has huge ramifications on the society around us. Those ramifications are like a rock in a pool of water. The ripples are felt far beyond a small room in a hospice in Florida.

All of the articles above are well worth your time to read.

First of all, most of the poll questions of last week on the Schiavo issue have been suspect, thus providing bogus results.

Secondly, It was not only Republicans, but a large number of Democrats who participated in the emergency legislation.

John Fund writes in the Wall Street Opinion Journal Online, a “barn burner” of an article entitled, Selective Restraint, Liberals cheered when Janet Reno defied the courts to seize Elian Gonzalez, where he points out quite well the hypocrisy of the Liberals, and MSM concerning these events. Here is an excerpt:

“But liberals have gotten off easy for some of the somersaulting arguments they have made on behalf of judicial independence and states’ rights to justify their position that Terri Schiavo should not be saved. Many made the opposite arguments in the Elian Gonzalez case.”

Here is his final statement in the article:

“According to some reports, Gov. Jeb Bush considered seizing Mrs. Schiavo, Ã la Elian, and taking her to a hospital so she could be fed. But he did not do so. “I’ve consistently said that I can’t go beyond what my powers are, and I’m not going to do it,” the governor says. Janet Reno and the Clinton administration showed no such restraint when it came to Elian Gonzalez.”

Michael Barone also addresses this issue in a commentary for Real clear Politics entitled, No, It Wasn’t a Cynical Ploy. In this article, Mr Barone, in his usual clear, and concise manner, has a clear refutation of all the negative punditry going on even now. It is well worth your time to read the entire article. Here is a small excerpt:

“On the Schiavo issue, most members of Congress, on both sides, were not indifferent but acted on moral convictions in a difficult situation. They were trying to do what they believed was right. They deserve respect, not contempt.”

Just a reminder to everyone, the Democrats who bothered to show up for the emergency legistation Palm Sunday weekend, by and large voted with the Republicans. There were a number of big name Democrat members of both the House and Senate, who didn’t even bother to show up.

There is a lesson learned a long time ago, that is applicable here. If someone chooses not to vote on an issue, whatever that issue may be, the abstainer, votes with the majority. So when the MSM, (Main Stream Media) or liberal Democrats think they might try to make political hay out of this situation, just remember, the Democrats overwhelmingly voted with the majority on the Terri Schiavo issue.

Powerline, has the complete roundup on Terri Schiavo in an article entitled, Conduct unbecoming, that is well worth reading.