Blogging for Terri Schiavo: the deathwatch

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(This was originally part of the post below but I decided to separate the two items.)

At this point I haven't got much confidence that the authorities will do the right thing. I feel like we're about to begin a long slow deathwatch as Terri Schiavo is slowly starved to death. This reminds me a lot of the episode of Daniel in the lions' den (Daniel 6). The king had passed a law that would cost Daniel his life. The king realised that the law was wrong and an innocent man would die because of it. By custom he could not change that law.

In For the Love of God: Volume II, D. A. Carson writes,
The expression "laws of the Medes and the Persians, which cannot be repealed" (6:8) was probably a badge of honor in the empire. Probably the policy was designed to discourage favoritism, corrupt exceptions, shifting pragmatism. But no legal system can ensure consistent justice. Corrupt people will always find ways of exploiting the system to oppress others and advance themselves. Hidden behind the slogan is a deeper issue. Historically there has long been a tension between positive law theory, in which the only law to be obeyed is that enacted by government, and natural law theory, in which some fundamental are thought to be discoverable by human beings. In the name of equity and justice, British courts, until fairly recently, would sometimes set aside positive law in favor of natural law where it was pretty obvious an injustice was otherwise being committed. Both in Britain and in the United States, such considerations are now rare. In Britain, what must be obeyed is what Parliament say; in the United States, what must be obeyed is what the Supreme Court says. In both instances, positive law largely prevails, as in ancient Persia. The matter has become increasingly difficult here since Western state have come to think they have a therapeutic role in society, defining the "illnesses" that must be confronted and the "therapies" that must be imposed as they go along. The potential for injustice and inequity multiplies.

In the crisis precipitated by this unjust law, Daniel remains consistent, neither flaunting his independence nor hiding his convictions and habits. The outcome he leaves with God...
Michael Schiavo is trying to use the law to murder his wife. He is using the law to take advantage of his disabbbled wife. The law has so far said that he is permitted to do so. May God deliver Terri from the injustice of men as he did Daniel.

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