Terry & The Pope

Terry....


As I grow older and jaded, I find myself becoming a reluctant soldier in a war against obviousness. We live in a country where people still elect presidents based on their moral and religious beliefs. This pains me for many reasons not the least of which is the blatancy of religion being man made and fabricated from whole cloth. While even Steven Hawking can not disprove “god” per se, it has become obvious to any thinking person that Christianity and the slew of other religions practiced by millions are nothing more than a way for people to have answers to questions that have none.
While tragic figure Terry Schiavo laid on her deathbed a shitstorm of media percolated outside the hospice that would become her living tomb. More upsetting than the fact that any of us even knew about what should have been a private family matter was the fact that everyone with a still beating heart used the tragedy as a springboard for their “cause.”
Perhaps worst of all were the Christians who quickly used their Photoshop skills to turn out such offensive material as this....


Of course a more recent photo of Terry might have elicited a different thought from those who viewed this poster. But that would have required a little more honesty on the part of the people who created it....




I particularly enjoy the woman who has managed to incorporate the colors of old glory into her spare-time-armchair-protesting. What I do find odd, is that nowhere in this whole fiasco did the mention of bulimia come up. The hot-topic and current buzz-disease would have been the one thing positively effected in the wake of this mess. A woman, who at the mercy of an overzealous, vanity obsessed society binged and purged her way into a semi-catatonic state, should be the poster child for today’s pre-disposed youth.
In the end none of it matters. We all go –hopefully- gently into the unknown abyss. Whatever the details may have been in Terry’s case, she should have been granted the honor and courtesy of a peaceful passing. Instead, thanks to right-wing religious fanatics she died within a whirling dervish of grand-standing, child frightening, selfish individuals who at this very moment weep not for a person that they didn’t even know; but for their own weak minded, and yes obvious, fears.

And The Pope....

“Now Terry Schiavo has him to help her through to the other side.” I heard it for the first time on the F train this morning. If I had started the pool that I wanted to I would have won some cash. I would have bought up all of the first boxes -the ones that would have had me the victor having heard this comment sooner than later. It’s a lovely and calming thought and in as much serves its purpose.


While I am not a religious person, I do have a deep spirituality. At the core of my soul is the age old golden rule. It says that we should treat others as we would want to be treated ourselves. As far as I am concerned this is the only unnatural human act that is worth a shot –the only rule worth abiding by. What the golden rule does that all of the religions and all of their followers seem to miss, is to lay the foundation for nothing less than a universal compassion. Most Catholics conveniently contest that this rule as well as the commandment that states “thou shalt not kill” extends only to humans. In severe circumstances such as those of wartime, this courtesy becomes constricted and only applies to other humans who think just like them. This is but one of the things that make people like George Bush a hypocrite and a simpleton, prone to painful obviousness.
However, Pope John Paul the 2nd has devoted an entire lifetime to the pursuit of peace and understanding. For this his passing will be a great loss -as is the loss of anyone who lives with such compassion.