Woody Cavenaugh

I had some terrific comments on my Friday's blog entry about Terri Schiavo, and they inspired in me a frightening realization. There are a whole slew of people out there who have a strong and persistant desire to force their will on others. Let me make it clear, I'm not talking about people with opinions. I love people with opinions. I pride myself on having opinions. I'm talking about people who are comming together to force their will on someone they do not know or otherwise would not care about, such as Terri Schiavo.

I just did a google search on Terri Schiavo and the number one hit was an organization banding together to "fight for her life". Some other groups were fighting in the name of the family, some were fighting in the name of the husband, some were fighting in the name of god, a couple were even fighting for Teri's rights. My favorite link had a plugin for firefox that kept you abreast of her mortal status. The overwelming majority of the hits were news links on the story.

All weekend on TV were people who were going to do everything they could to make sure that Teri was kept alive. Most of them said it was their moral obligation. I hate it when people stick their morals where they don't belong. I imagine all of these people are officers in neighborhood associations dictating what color all the houses have to be and how high the azalias are allowed to grow. I simply can't fathom why I would pay for a house, pay for repairs, pay for a lawn mower and gas for the mower, pay for the pool, sleep in the house, have sex in the house, and eat breakfast in the nude in the house, when some butthead down the block is dictating the color of my house, the size of the flag I can have, the ammount and type of flowers, and the car I may or may not leave in the driveway. Its none of their business. Yet, there they are forcing me to live by their opinions, whims and morals. But I have the ability to fight this, I choose not to live in neighborhoods with people like this. Yes, where I live has a neighborhood association, but its only purpose is to keep the mudholes filled, nothing in the bilaws says I even have to have to have a house. Its main concern is that every year I pay a small fee so the dirt road can be repaired.

Do I degress? Lets find out.

In the Terri Schiavo trainwreck, the husband has power of atterny. She told him in life that she didn't want to be kept alive in these conditions. He authorized the removing of the tubes. Her parents objected, I have no problem with that. They went to court over it, that's what the courts are for. The courts sided with the husband. This issue is over. Everyone who has a right to have any say in the matter have had their say and the subject is closed. Who the heck does Tom DeLay and Jeb Bush think they are to try to stop it? All of those protestors out there are fighting with their every breath to take away the rights of Terri and her husband. They want to pass a law so that everyone who ever finds themselves with a love one in this situation, have no rights to make what they feel is the best decision for their love one. What really creeps me out is that these people "Fighting for Terri and others like her" are stating that they are right because, they know what's best, god is on their side, or both.

Not so very long ago in world history, a man stood up for what he believed in. He gathered his people around him and faught to do what was right because they knew best. Millions of jews, gays, others, and handicapped people were slaughtered because Hitler was doing what Hitler thought was best. I am thinking if he had stopped to ask the Jews what was best for the Jews they probably wouldn't have said, "Put us in concentration camps, take all of our possessions, and kill us." But, to be fair, Hitler wasn't doing it for the Jews, he was doing it for himself and his people.

And here we are today. A bunch of people are forcing their will on a group of people with no real concern for the thoughts wishes and desires of that group. Even if I have a living will drawn up, it doesn't guarantee that my wishes will be followed. Some fool could step in and do everything I do not want done. What do they really want? Do they want to bankrupt my family? Are they investors in some new company whose purpose is to keep these folks alive for profit? Are they so afraid of death and what may or may not lay beyond that they won't let anyone find out. My theory is that way way deep down where their eyes don't go, they know they are wrong, and they are afraid of the consequences.

My living will is going to state that if anyone attempts to act against my will, we should both be shot everyday until we are dead. This way we will be in a position to debate the issue as equals rather than I be a slave to their righteous whims.