“A nation never falls, but by suicide.”—Ralph Waldo Emerson

 Yesterday, people struggled with speculation on what the death of Terri Schiavo would mean to America.  Moments ago, that question moved from the theoretical to the practical.  Terri is dead, and the United States has killed her.  Though there are many individuals who are completely innocent, the simple, unavoidable fact is that our country, yours and mine, allowed the murder of a helpless woman.  There is no way to prove it now, but I believe deep down that most people recognize that her death will one day be looked upon as a watershed event in U.S. history.  

 It would seem that people on both sides of the issue intuitively know its importance.  A flood of articles on the subject, from Cal Thomas to Ann Coulter to Peggy Noonan to even my lowly self has deluged the net.  They seem to have been coming from every side, so much so that a reader of the Rant.us actually remarked, “Damn Kill her already!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!”  The news channels bombarded us with articles on Terri’s condition, albeit from a biased perspective.  A Pro-Life protestor actually tried to hold up a gun shop in Florida to get the weapons needed to stage a rescue.  John David Morris found himself “freaked out” by the situation (though apparently not enough so that he would take a stand).  Peggy Noonan noted that

 Everyone who has written in defense of Mrs. Schiavo's right to live has received e-mail blasts full of attacks that appear to have been dictated by the unstable and typed by the unhinged. On Democratic Underground they crowed about having "kicked the sh-- out of the fascists."

 Everyone seemed to realize that our collective decision would somehow affect the future of the country in a very fundamental way.

 Without rehashing the arguments laid out by the many and diverse commentators who have taken up their pens, the “mercy” killing of Terri Schiavo broke new ground.  People can at least pretend that a baby they have not seen is nothing more than a lump of flesh.  Terri did not give us that luxury.  A cancer patient in the advanced stages of a disease clearly has no hope.  Dozens of doctors offered to work with Terri, and many expected improvement.  It is a step beyond anything that we as Americans have ever allowed before.  Now that it has happened, I seriously doubt that we will somehow turn back the clock, or treat it as a special case.  If this proves true, we may well look back on it some day as the final step that sent the United States on a downward spiral the likes of which we have not seen since that other important moment, Dredd Scott (with apologies to James Atticus Bowden, who pointed out the similarities between the cases).

 I know of no earthquake that struck the state of Florida the moment that Terri actually expired.  No bricks marked “Welcome to a new epoch of American History” fell from the sky to clobber us all.  Then again, what do we expect?  Did July 5^th, 1776 feel somehow mystically different for Farmer Joe in Virginia?  Did Frau Jane wake up from visions of the Holocaust in a cold sweat early in the morning after the first handicapped person was euthanized in Germany?  No.  Life will continue, move along, and references to Terri will quickly disappear from the news.  Soon, all that will be left is a lingering, uneasy memory settling in the pit of the stomach (and a new precedent on euthanasia).  If I am right, and I truly hope to be wrong, the significance of the moment will become increasingly and frighteningly clear as we make the slow trudge through the next few generations.

 I also feel there is a spiritual significance to what we have seen, though I understand that not all readers will be able to understand me.  I firmly believe that this nation has been blessed of God, even though we aren’t a “chosen” people as many have used the term.  It was founded as a Christian nation, on Christian principles, and set up a society based on faith in the Almighty.  We have to one extent or another enjoyed His favor, blessing, and protection.  But how far is too far?  How many bridges can we burn to our past before we are that nation in name only?  How much farther can we push our disregard for Him, His creation, and human life before He removes His preserving Hand from us?  I fear that with the death of Terri Schiavo, that time may well have come.  Maybe I’m overreacting to a horrible situation, but it worries me nonetheless.

 Many will blame Michael Schiavo, others the media, and still others the courts. The truth is that this country, the United States of America, has killed her.  We had every opportunity to intervene or to disobey illegal, immoral judgments, and we have failed.  We have allowed our culture and nation to degenerate to the point where human life is disregarded, where murder by judge is accepted and even defended by a Christian commentator (Cal Thomas insists that it is wrong for Christians to oppose or disobey “lawful” decisions…and Christians should have supported the Holocaust because the orders inflicting it were “lawful.”). 

 Again the words of Thomas Jefferson ring truer than ever:  “Indeed, I tremble for my country when I reflect that God is just, that his justice cannot sleep forever.”