One Evangelical Christian's Perspective on the Terry Schiavo Case

I was thinking the other day about an old episode of ER that I saw. I used to love that show -watched it every week. In 1999, George Clooney left the show, and the plot line surrounding why he left continues to resonate with me.

In the final episodes, Clooney risks his job, his medical board certification and all his relationships to steal morphine for a mother who's son is dying a very painful death from a rare disease. She wants him to not suffer. So does Clooney. So he steals a machine from the hospital, which is a captial offense, I think. I'm unsure whether the show implied that the boy's mother killed him with an overdose, or just upped the dose to make him peaceful, and he died naturally.

My close friend, Jonathan (who is an up-and-coming theologian who will soon have his Masters of Divinity and his Phd in Theology - so watch for him) wrote this article articulating, I think better than anyone I've seen, why this Terry Schiavo thing has struck a nerve with so many people.

Jonathan's theory is that people fear death. If all we have is this life, and this world and this body, then suffering is to be avoided at all costs.

But. But. If there is something beyond this world, and this life is simply the opening chapter in a book where each chapter gets better and better - then maybe suffering and dying isn't so horrific. Especially if we know that our part has been written by a master storyteller.

Check out Jonathan's article here.