Hmmmm....

Why was Death Counselling a bad idea in Health Reform?

Sarah Palin struck a nerve by claiming that the Democratic Health Reform bills contained provision for (or would inevitably lead to) "Death Panels" deciding who would live and who would die? After much back and forth, it was revealed that it was the "death counseling" portion of the bill that triggered this accusation. Many advocates claim such end-of-life planning is critical, while others claim it is merely an excuse to end the lives of the helpless.

Charles Krauthammer has posted one of the more reasoned and thoughtful pieces on the subject. It reminds us that health care decisions are NOT private things, but rather collective decisions made by both us and those who love us.

My own living will, which I have always considered more a literary than legal document, basically says: "I've had some good innings, thank you. If I have anything so much as a hangnail, pull the plug." I've never taken it terribly seriously because unless I'm comatose or demented, they're going to ask me at the time whether or not I want to be resuscitated if I go into cardiac arrest. The paper I signed years ago will mean nothing.

And if I'm totally out of it, my family will decide, with little or no reference to my living will. Why? I'll give you an example. When my father was dying, my mother and brother and I had to decide how much treatment to pursue. What was a better way to ascertain my father's wishes: What he checked off on a form one fine summer's day years before being stricken; or what we, who had known him intimately for decades, thought he would want? The answer is obvious.

Except for the demented orphan, the living will is quite beside the point.

Let us not forget about EVIL

There are many differences between Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama. But one of the main reasons that I hope Obama wins the Democratic nomination - even if I am a bit nervous about his policies should he win the presidency - is that unlike the Clintons, he has a real idea of "Evil." To the Clintons, "Evil" is "those who oppose us." To many in America (not just "liberals") "evil" is "misunderstood people" or "victims of abuse, reacting." But scripture teaches, and experience bears out, Evil is a very real thing and it is embraced by many in our world. This commentary reminds us that even in a week without many headlines about atrocities, Evil is alive and strong in our world.

"A suicide bomber killed 14 people at an opening ceremony for a Sri Lankan marathon. More than 90 others were wounded."

In Israel, Haaretz reported that an Arab woman has been shot in an attempted honor killing. She was to be the ninth female member of her family to be killed. "Eight women from this family were murdered in the past six years, all in connection with 'family honor.'" Male relatives had murdered them all because they brought shame on their Muslim family by not marrying the men picked for them or otherwise disobeying family religious dictates.

These are only the news items of the last seven days. I purposely chose a period without dramatic headlines. And, of course, no news came out of North Korea, which continues to be the world's largest concentration camp.

One of the bright points of the Bush presidency has been his ability to talk about Evil and the urgency of confronting it. I don't cotton to the idea of preemptive war, but we need to stay ahead of the curve and not allow Evil a foothold in our nation or our hearts.