Terri Schiavo: Teen Blog Roundup (Part 2)

Karen of Rhetorical Response reminds us of why she is one of our favorite teen bloggers:

In The Abolition of Man, CS Lewis correctly predicted the moral state of the western world. With the decline of firm belief in absolutes, the modern world has been left with a moral code that is little more than a frail shell. This code cannot stand against serious onslaughts and shatters when the need for strength and resolve is greatest.

Perhaps the most tragic example of the consequences of weakened principles is the life and death of Terri Schiavo, the woman who, one year ago, was starved to death by the will of her own husband. At a time when protecting those too weak to protect themselves ought to have been the primary concern, America's moral code betrayed some of its greatest principles: the sanctity of life and the defense of the weak and helpless... [read the rest]

Catch Word puts forth an excellent critique of a culture that has deified the Enlightenment concept of reason:

In a world defined by reason and feelings, there is no room for humanity. Reasonable people should think it only sensible to let Terri go. She was in a vegetative state that any reasonable person would abhor. Think of all that she had been. And now to be confined to this broken, twisted body… How could we let her go on like that? What reason was there? With Terri’s right to die we have carried, “I think therefore I am,” to “We can see that you think, therefore you are.”

What reason? That is where the paradigm of Reason breaks down. It is an unanswerable question. Why are we here and what makes us human? For what reason? Humanity is more than reason, and we know it. That’s why we go away from a book of logical plots and cardboard characters unsatisfied. In a world devoid of spiritual realities though, “I” is the only logical answer to the meaning of life. But as nice as that sounds, it is not at all fulfilling.

Humanity is more than rational thought. Life is more than happiness. “I think therefore I am” is not enough to explain the love of a mother for her difficult child or helpless laughter at your best friend’s stupid joke or the sacrifice of patriots for generations they will never meet. These belong to the realm of something bigger than reason… [read the rest]