March 2005 Archives

Justice Tom Parker, of the Alabama State Supreme Court, issued the following statement:

Terri’s unjust death is the result of public officials fearing man more than God.

The most fundamental duty of civil government is to defend life, especially for those most vulnerable and least able to speak for themselves. The forced starvation of disabled Terri Schiavo — ordered and upheld by appointed judges and aided and abetted by elected officials — represents the ultimate violation of this duty.

The Declaration of Independence, the founding document of the Unites States of America, states that “we are endowed by our Creator with certain inalienable rights,” including the right to “life.” An inalienable right is one that may not be taken away — not by a husband and not by a judge — so those condemning Terri to death, and those supporting that condemnation, have perpetrated a great injustice.

Some public officials who refused to act to stop Terri’s unjust killing are claiming “the rule of law” kept them from acting. But the rule of law is not whatever a judge says it is; that would be the rule of man. The unpopular truth is that when a judge issues an order contrary to a higher law such as the Constitution, that order is void and should be resisted by the leaders of other branches of government who took their own oaths before God to defend the Constitution. Whether directly involved or not, every branch that refuses to act in such case becomes culpable too.

Terri’s forced starvation, what one critic called “the longest public execution in American history,” directly violates the Constitution of the State of Florida which mandates that “No person shall be deprived of any right because of race, religion, national origin, or physical disability,” (Article 1, Section 2). No judicial order can change that.

By unduly exalting the judiciary and excusing the executive and legislative branches of government from their constitutional duty to protect life and the most vulnerable members of our society, the Schiavo case establishes a dangerous precedent of judicial supremacy.

Thomas Jefferson warned us of the dangers of judicial supremacy: “[T]o consider the judges as the ultimate arbiters of all constitutional questions [is] a very dangerous doctrine indeed, and one which would place us under the despotism of an oligarchy.” Sadly many elected officials are content to accept such despotism because it helps them avoid controversial issues.

Ultimately, Terri’s unjust death is the result of public officials lacking moral courage and fearing man rather than God. But He sees their deeds and will call them to account: “Woe to those judges who issue unrighteous decrees,” the Scripture says in Isaiah 10:1, “and to the magistrates who keep causing unjust and oppressive decisions to be recorded.”

Posted by Doug Phillips on March 31, 2005 | Permalink

“It’s just completely wrong to deprive this poor woman of food and water,” Gibson said on Sean Hannity’s national radio show yesterday. “It’s a prolonged and cruel execution.” Gibson continued:

I’m appalled and stunned that we’ve gotten to this.... I just sit here watching this whole scenario play out in front of me with my mouth hanging wide open, that our country has come to this. I think it’s really a dark, black day. And I think that this final appeal — it’s too little too late. It’s an attempt [by] the powers that be to sort of really just cover [themselves] ... later on so they can say we tried, but in fact, they’re not trying real hard....

What happened to just being a human being, you know? It’s nothing more than state-sanctioned murder. All the big guys, they all have their hands tied up by some tinhorn judge down there. Come on, when they want to whip a judge, they got no problem doing that. Look what they did to [Ten Commandments proponent Roy Moore] in a heartbeat. So they can do it if they want. They just don’t want to.

It hasn’t had a fair going-over yet, so to just go right to this crucifixion of this woman... even a dog has more rights. You do this to an animal, they’ll lock you up, but this is a human being we’re doing this to.... It’s just a terrible tragedy to watch state-sanctioned murder.

Posted by Doug Phillips on March 31, 2005 | Permalink

Our nation bids farewell to a dear lady who has captured our hearts and attention for several years. Terri fought to the very end to live. This thriving, innocent woman — made in the image of God — had no defense against the diabolical agenda of renegade justices, an oathbreaking husband, and euthanizers.

May the Lord have mercy on our nation. May God grant peace and oneness with Jesus Christ to Terri’s dear family members who have suffered so terribly.

Posted by Doug Phillips on March 31, 2005 | Permalink

And I looked, and rose up, and said unto the nobles, and to the rulers, and to the rest of the people, Be not ye afraid of them: remember the Lord, [which is] great and terrible, and fight for your brethren, your sons, and your daughters, your wives, and your houses. (Nehemiah 4:14)

Deciphering the Terri Schiavo Case

There are five things you must know about the crime which is ongoing in Pinellas Park, Florida: First, an innocent woman is being cruelly tortured and murdered contrary to the law of God, the law of the land, and the law of the state. Second, those individuals most complicit in the torture and murder of Terri have diabolical agendas. Third, there is an immediately available biblical, constitutional, and legal remedy. Fourth, the inability of Christian attorneys and leaders to reach a biblical consensus on the meaning of “the rule of law” has rendered our efforts to save Terri impotent, has spread confusion within the body of Christ, and will be the undoing of our legal and political efforts in the future unless it is resolved. Fifth, they are coming next for you.

I. The Torture and Murder of an Innocent Woman Contrary to Law

He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. Therefore I take pleasure in my infirmities, in reproaches, in needs, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ’s sake. For when I am weak, than I am strong. (II Corinthians 12:9-10)

A. Foundational Principles

There are fundamental questions that must be answered and principles which must be established to rightly interpret the tragic events surrounding the execution of Terri Schiavo. How our society answers these questions and affirms these principles will determine whether or not our children will grow up in a ruthless fratricidal society of bioethical bigots or whether Christian ethics will govern.

1. God Through His Revelation is the Source of Authority

The first question is “by what standard does man have the right to end the life of another human being created in the image of God?” The answer is: God alone gives life, and He alone may take life or delegate to another the authority to take life on His behalf.[i] The mind of God on the matter of taking life is clearly revealed through Holy Scripture — the final authority on the issue. Scripture distinguishes between justifiable killing and murder.[ii] The Bible indicates that man may take the life of another in four and only four circumstances: Where necessary, man may take life in defense of self, in defense of others, and acting in defense of one’s nation against foreign aggressors. Finally, the state has the duty to execute criminals who have been properly convicted of capital crimes. There are no other biblical grounds for taking the life of another person. Note that individuals do not have absolute rights to their own bodies. God is the owner of our bodies, which we hold in trust for Him. This is why suicide — self killing — has always been viewed as a murder, in violation of the Sixth Commandment[iii]

2. Life, Personhood, and the Right to Life

Human life is special and must be distinguished from animal life. It is special because it is soul-ish life made in the image of God. Life begins at conception and continues as long as the soul remains in the body. The Bible teaches that to be “absent from the body [is] to be present with the Lord” (II Corinthians 5:8). So-called “brain dead” men and women with functioning organs are very much alive, and their souls remain connected to their bodies. Science history is replete with numerous examples of individuals diagnosed as comatose, with minimal brain functions, who return to consciousness after many years. They never lost their souls or their personhood, and they were grateful that their lives were not terminated.

Contrary to the teaching of pro-eugenics bio-ethicists, consciousness is not the criteria for life or for personhood. As long as a soul remains in the body, a human is “alive” and is a unique person worthy of respect and protection with the God-given right to life. The popular term “vegetable” and the medical term “vegetative state” are inappropriate, emotionally-charged verbiage designed to reduce the status of a human being to that of a plant in order to rob it of its personhood as a pretext for termination. After all, what could be wrong with killing a vegetable — i.e., a plant? However, to knowingly terminate the life of a living, soul-filled person by depriving him of basic care is to murder the individual, contrary to the Sixth Commandment.

3. Who Decides the Quality of Life of a Person?

For the same reason that man may not kill without delegated authority from the Creator, man may not attempt to evaluate the quality of life of another as a pretext for terminating that life. Unhappiness is not a biblical ground for killing. Pain is not a biblical ground for killing. Mental limitations or physical abnormalities are not biblical grounds for killing. Opinions about the quality of life of another are never biblical grounds for killing.

4. The Duties of Parents and Guardians

There is an affirmative duty in biblical and common law for parents and guardians to provide basic care and to do all that is reasonable to preserve the life of a dependent. Basic care includes food, water, shelter, and air. Finally, the duty of parents and guardians to provide care do not hinge on issues like viability, dependency, self-sufficiency and the use of tools, machinery, or invasive procedures to provide basic care. Pre-born babies are fed through tubes called umbilical cords. IVs are used to hydrate the sick. Spoons are used to hand-feed quadriplegics. Tracheotomies are used to help people who would be otherwise incapable of breathing. One cannot claim a right to suspend basic care based on the necessary use of tools or invasive procedures.

5. Preserving Life vs. Prolonging Death

There is a difference between preserving life and prolonging death. There is a difference between killing a dependent person (baby, elderly, sick, etc.) by depriving them of the basic elements necessary for sustaining life versus taking “extraordinary” medical measures to attempt to extend the life of a person in the midst of systemic and persistent organ failure. Depriving a person of food, water, oxygen, and shelter is an example of the former. Experimental heart transplant surgery on a ninety-year-old is an example of the latter. The former is a cut-and-dry ethical question. The latter has greater complexities.

6. Courts Cannot Trump the Moral Law of God

Sir William Blackstone correctly noted that “This is what is called the law of nature, which, being coeval with mankind, and dictated by God himself, is, of course superior in obligation to any other. It is binding over all the globe, in all countries at all times. No human laws are of any validity, if contrary to this; and such of them as are valid, derive all their authority, mediately or immediately, from this original.[iv]

The lesson of the Nuremburg Trials was that even acting under authority, government officials may not trump the moral law of God. Courts do not have the authority to order the killing of innocent people.

B. The Relevant Facts

In the case of Terri, the relevant facts are not complicated: An innocent, living woman is being deprived of basic care by her guardian with the intent of dehydrating and starving her so she will die. Though it is possible for a healthy human to survive as long as thirty days without food and water, when subjected to dehydration and starvation, most people do not survive longer than fourteen days.

Before the judge ordered her to be starved and dehydrated, Terri Schiavo was not dying or terminally ill. She was a living, breathing woman who laughed, cried, communicated with her parents, and stood to live for many more years. “Terri [suffers from] a cognitive disability not unlike many other handicapped and disabled members of our society.... [She] is not on an artificial (or extraordinary) life support such as a ventilator, pacemaker, dialyses machine, or other device which would keep her major organs running artificially.” [v]

Many in the media have suggested that the consensus among doctors is that there is no hope for Terri. This is simply not true:

Dr. Victor Gambone testified that he visited Terri three times each year. His visits [were] for approximately ten minutes. He testified, after viewing the court videos at a recent trial, that he was surprised to see Terri’s level of awareness. This doctor was hand-picked by her husband, Michael Schiavo, right before he filed to have Terri’s feeding tube removed. To the contrary, fourteen independent medical professionals (with 6 neurologists) have given statements or testimony that Terri is NOT in a Persistent Vegetative State (PVS). Further, there has never been any medical dispute of Terri’s ability to swallow. Yet, even with this compelling evidence, Terri’s husband, Michael Schiavo, has denied allowing Terri any form of therapy for her in over ten years[vi]

C. Irrelevant Issues

For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need. (Hebrews 4:15-16)

There are many subjects on which good Christians may disagree, but whether the state can torture and murder an innocent woman is not one of them. Having established the right to life, the exclusive jurisdiction of God over life, the personhood of all living persons, the duty of basic and reasonable care of a parent and guardian, the difference between preserving life and prolonging death, and of basic care vs. extraordinary measures, it is important to distinguish between relevant and irrelevant issues to the question of whether anyone may lawfully starve and dehydrate an innocent thriving woman with a mental disability:

1. Whether Terri’s parents or Michael Schiavo has custodial guardianship over Terri.

From an ethical and historical legal perspective, the issue of guardianship is irrelevant to the question of whether Terri may be starved and dehydrated to death. It is irrelevant because both the parents and the husband lack biblical jurisdiction and authority to deprive Terri of basic care. Deliberate or negligent deprivation of basic care resulting in death is criminal conduct and rightly falls under the jurisdiction of the state. Parents may not deprive children of basic care, thus starving them to death. Husbands may not deprive wives of basic care, thus starving them to death. No person has the authority to take their own life through suicide, and no guardian has the biblical or common law right to make a decision to terminate a person under their custody through deprivation of basic care — ever! On the contrary, Michael Schiavo ought to be willing to lay down his life to preserve the life of his wife, Terri, as the Apostle Paul admonishes, “Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it” (Ephesians 5:25).

2. Whether Terri is in a “persistent vegetative state,” “minimally conscious,”“improving,” “declining,” or any other status other than “dead.”

This is irrelevant because as long as the soul is in the body (i.e., as long as they are biblically “alive”), there is a non-negotiable duty of a guardian to make best efforts to provide basic care (food, water, air, shelter) for those living dependents under their care.[vii] The starvation of Terri Schiavo is not an issue of “extraordinary measures.” It is not even a medical issue per se. It is an issue of whether we will deprive a living human being of water and food. As long as the soul is within the body, there is a duty to make best efforts to nourish the body with whatever means are reasonably available.

3. Whether Terri is experiencing a quality life.

This is irrelevant because only God may determine the purpose, length, significance, meaning, and quality of the life of another. We do not have jurisdiction to determine that some lives are worth living and others are not. It is sinful to substitute in our decision making processes the presuppositions and ethics of Margaret Sanger for the revealed will of God.

4. Whether Terri requested of her husband that “she be allowed to die with dignity.”

Suicide is immoral because we do not own our own bodies — God does. We lack the jurisdiction to determine whether we should live or die. It is biblically and (at common law) legally invalid to request assistance in the suicide of one’s self through starvation or any other means. Even had Terri made such a recommendation (and there is no credible evidence that she did), Terri herself lacks jurisdiction to call for her own death by dehydration, starvation, or any other means which involves the suspension of a basic, God-appointed duty of care. Again, we must distinguish between the challenging ethical issues surrounding “extraordinary measures” in the midst (for example) of massive and persistent organ failure, versus the ethically perverse decision to deprive disabled or neurologically-impaired thriving humans of basic care. To the extent that any “living will” calls for termination of basic care, it is tantamount to a request for assisted suicide, which is biblically unlawful.

5. Whether outside assistance and/or external technology is necessary to provide Terri with basic care.

Contrary to the prevailing wisdom being advanced by advocates of euthanasia, the immediate ethical issues do not involve questions of technology or artificial assistance. Technology is an ever present reality related to basic care in the life of the healthy, the sick, the disabled, and the handicapped. Technology is used daily in the preparation and delivery of food through the use of ovens, forks, etc. Doctors use technology to create an “unnatural” artificial means of breathing through tracheotomies. Even if given by a feeding tube, nutrition and hydration are still ordinary, natural care needed to sustain any life. As previously noted, babies are fed in their mother’s wombs by “tubes” called umbilical cords. Everyday, patients in hospitals are fed through tubes for various periods of time while recovering from injuries to the throat, esophagus, or mouth. The presence of these tubes delivering food and water do not make babies or hospital patients less than human.

D. The Nature of the Torture

“I am a person in here. Don’t let me starve.”

These are the words of Mrs. Kate Adamson describing the horrifying experience of physician-assisted forced starvation. Lynn Vincent of WORLD Magazine reports that:

A decade ago, Mrs. [Kate] Adamson, then 33, suffered a double brain stem stroke that left her completely paralyzed, unable even to blink. Inside though, she was fully cognitive, able to understand doctors telling her husband she would either die or windup “a vegetable.” She wanted to, but couldn’t, scream out when... “people talked about me as if I wasn’t a person, as if I didn’t exist.... It was like being trapped underground and you’re praying that somebody is going to be able to find you.”

During 70 days of intensive care, doctors fed Mrs. Adamson through a tube. Then her digestive system failed, forcing them to remove the tube until her body could again eliminate waste. For the next eight days, she learned what it feels like to starve. Unable to communicate, she remembers the terror of being “on the inside screaming out, ‘Feed me something! I don’t want to die! ... I’m alive! I’m a person in here! Do not let me starve!’ The hunger pains were unbearable,” she said. “I thought I was going insane.”[viii]

Appearing on Larry King Live, Michael Schiavo offered an emotional appeal in which he told viewers that death by dehydration was dying with dignity, “Larry, she’s not dying by starvation. This is a natural, painless death. What happens is when you stop eating, your electrolytes will slowly diminish. You’ll slowly go into a nice, deep sleep and then pass away.”[ix]

Other proponents of euthanasia and assisted suicide have included the term “death with dignity” in describing Terri’s impending death. Numerous newspaper editorials and letters to the editor have included references to “just letting her go.”

The truth about death by starvation and dehydration is far less glamorous than Michael Schiavo and his pro-euthanasia comrades have led the general public to believe. It is difficult to imagine any of the survivors of Japanese and Nazi prison camps describing the death of their emaciated, dehydrated, and starving comrades as “death with dignity.” The truth is that a knife to the heart would have been less cruel and more dignified than the prolonged, torturous measures of Michael Schiavo and the prophets of euthanasia in the legal and medical community.

Dr. David Stevens of the Christian Medical Association explains what happens with starvation:

As dehydration begins, there is extreme thirst, dry mouth and thick saliva. The patient becomes dizzy, faint and unable to stand or sit; has severe cramping in the arms and legs as the sodium and potassium concentrations in the body goes up as fluids go down. In misery, the patient tries to cry but there are no tears. The patient experiences severe abdominal cramps, nausea and dry-heaving as the stomach and intestines dry out. By now the skin and lips are cracking and the tongue is swollen. The nose may bleed as the mucous membranes dry out and break down. The skin loses elasticity, thins and wrinkles. The hands and feet become cold as the remaining fluids in the circulatory system are shunted to the vital organs in an attempt to stay alive. The person stops urinating and has severe headaches as their brain shrinks from lack of fluids. The patient becomes anxious but then gets progressively more lethargic. Some patients have hallucinations and seizures as their body chemistry becomes even more imbalanced. This proceeds to coma before death occurs. The final event as the blood pressure becomes almost undetectable is a major heart arrhythmia that stops the heart from pumping.[x]

Following are the medical effects of forced death by starvation and dehydration as described by a Massachusetts judge in the 1985 Brophy case
[xi]:

• The mouth would dry out and become caked or coated with thick material.
• The lips would become parched and cracked.
• The tongue would swell, and might crack.
• The eyes would recede back into their orbits and the cheeks would become hollow.
• The lining of the nose might crack and cause the nose to bleed.
• The skin would hang loose on the body and become dry and scaly.
• The urine would become highly concentrated, leading to burning of the bladder.
• The lining of the stomach would dry out and the sufferer would experience dry heaves and vomiting.
• The body temperature would become very high.
• The brain cells would dry out, causing convulsions.
• The respiratory tract would dry out, and the thick secretions that would result could plug the lungs and cause death.
• At some point within five days to three weeks, the major organs, including the lungs, heart, and brain, would give out and the patient would die.

In his book Forced Exit: The Slippery Slope from Assisted Suicide to Legalized Murder, Wesley J. Smith describes the intense suffering imposed on those being starved to death. “Proponents of dehydration contend that deaths by dehydration are peaceful,”

[xii] Smith wrote. Explaining that, “the patients we are discussing are not terminally ill” and that those who are conscious can feel hunger and thirst, Smith quotes Dr. William Burke, a neurologist in St. Louis, who described the agonizing process:

A conscious person would feel it (dehydration) just as you and I would. They will go into seizures. Their skin cracks, their tongue cracks, their lips crack. They may have nosebleeds because of the drying of the mucous membranes, and heaving and vomiting might ensue because of the drying out of the stomach lining. They feel the pangs of hunger and thirst. Imagine going one day without a glass of water. Death by dehydration takes ten to fourteen days. It is an extremely agonizing death.[xiii]

One of the great ironies of the present battle for the life of Terri is that the same state which is overseeing the forced starvation of an innocent woman just locked up a man for five years for starving his cows. We are reminded that “A righteous man regardeth the life of his beast: but the tender mercies of the wicked are cruel” (Proverbs 12:10).

II. The Diabolical Agendas of those Complicit in the Murder

“Bill Allen, do you think she is a person still?” —Joe Scarborough: MSNBC

“Well, I think she has lost the distinguishing feature, or she has lost the physiological ability for awareness, self-awareness, which is the distinguishing feature of human being or, if you will, even the divine image.” —Bill Allen, bioethicist arguing for forced starvation of Terri Schiavo[xiv]

The American public has been sold a bill of goods. We have been told that Terri feels no pain of starvation, that starvation and dehydration is a “dignified” way to die, that Terri was dying from her handicap, and that she is a vegetable who has no awareness, even that she is no longer a person. The public relations campaign of those intent on her death has been carefully conceived and brilliantly executed. But behind the “PR” is a diabolical agenda of self-interest and radical politics.

A. The Husband

The first question that typically comes to mind when considering the behavior of Michael Schiavo is this: Why is an unrepentant, serial adulterer, presently living with a mistress, who has sired two children out of wedlock, who has had no compulsion violating the law of God and his marriage vows, still reluctant to divorce his wife and be free of the burden of her care? Why not simply transfer her guardianship to those individuals (her family) who love her and want to care for her for till death do them part?

Is it the insurance money? The book and movie deals? Or the trust fund which has been depleted due to Mr. Schiavo’s legal efforts to kill his wife?

At the time of his marriage to Terri, Michael Schiavo vowed to care for his wife “in sickness and health till death do us part.” He made the same statement to a jury. In fact, when Michael Schiavo promised a jury that he would spend the rest of his life taking care of Terri, he was granted just under a million dollars that was placed in a trust fund for her care. Yet Michael, “said nothing about Terri wanting to die until seven years into her disability. For the past 14 years he has denied Terri any therapy. Thirty allegations of abuse, neglect, or exploitation were filed in court by the Florida Department of Children and Families. But the judges disregarded all that.”[xv]

The jury also awarded him $300,000 for loss of consortium. Mr. Schiavo then took the money and sought consortium through adultery. Additionally, while more than $700,000 of the trust fund remained, he sought a court order in 1998 to have Terri’s feeding tube removed. He has now spent most of the money on attorneys’ fees trying to keep it removed.

Michael’s disdain for his wife is well-documented. In 2003, National Review Online reported, “In the mid 1990s, according to...[registered nurse Carla Iyer’s] affidavit filed under penalty of perjury, Michael was overheard saying things such as, ‘When is she going to die?’, ‘Has she died yet?’, and ‘When is that bitch going to die?’”[xvi]

Under biblical law, a man who claims to be committed to his wife’s best interests, but commits successive adulteries (resulting in multiple children sired out of wedlock), and who then urges his wife to be torturously dehydrated and starved to death, is both a liar and a murderer. This is the record of Michael Schiavo.

One thing is clear: This “husband” has consistently acted against the best interests of his wife. In his commitment to the death of Terri, Michael Schiavo has:

• Denied her speech, swallowing, and other rehabilitation therapy;
• Denied her parents visitation with Terri for as long as five months at a time;
• Had her two cats euthanized in preparation to move in with his girlfriend who had a dog;
• Admitted in a deposition that he took Terri’s engagement and wedding rings and made them into jewelry for himself;
• Brought girlfriends to Terri’s bedside;
• Refused to permit doctors to give Terri antibiotics when she developed a urinary tract infection;
• Refused to have her teeth cleaned for several years and five had to be pulled as a result; and
• Refused to have her wheelchair fixed and permit Terri to be taken outside.[xvii]

B. The Attorney

Attorney George Felos is at war with the life-affirming Gospel of Jesus Christ. As an outspoken advocate for euthanasia, he is committed to building a society where individuals, families, and doctors can be free to “mercy kill” those whose lives are “not worth living.” He is a member of the notorious, ultra-radical, pro-death Hemlock Society, an organization committed to breaking down legal and cultural barriers to assisted suicide for individuals with quality of life issues — from the unhappy to the disabled to the sick. His Amazon.com entry for his book, Litigation as Spiritual Practice,[xviii]notes that he is “spearheading a social revolution to enable death with dignity in the state of Florida.”

C. The Expert Witness

Dr. Robert Cranford, a faculty associate of the University of Minnesota’s Center for Bioethics, is the leading “medical expert” on the side of Michael Schiavo. Three years ago, Dr. Cranford examined Terri Schiavo for forty-five minutes and declared her to be in a persistent vegetative state, and he has since lobbied stridently for her death.

As a member of the board of directors of the Choice in Dying Society, Cranford is a hard-core proponent of the pro-death movement and is unabashed about his position. “Everybody needs a scapegoat,” said Cranford mockingly. “They need a Dr. Evil. And they’ve got one.”[xix]

With a frequent presence on national television, Cranford’s tactics include belittling the qualifications and dismissing as non-credible the opinions of well-respected physicians who disagree with him, calling some “pro-life fanatics,” and others quacks and charlatans.[xx]

In an op-ed published in the Minneapolis Star Tribune in 1997, Crawford decried the medical community’s “inability to be realistic and humane in treating irreversibly ill people.”[xxi] His answer: kill them. Otherwise, we will only prolong “a dehumanizing existence for the patient.” Crawford has advocated that Alzheimer’s patients should be starved.[xxii]

D. The Philosophy Behind the Pro-Death Doctors and Lawyers

Terri Schiavo is what Margaret Sanger, founder of Planned Parenthood and mastermind of modern birth control, abortion, and eugenics policy, described as human waste. As Edwin Black comments in his revealing book, War Against the Weak:

Sanger was an ardent, self confessed Eugenicist and she would turn her organization into a tool for eugenics which advocated for mass sterilization of so-called defectives, mass incarceration of the unfit and draconian immigration restrictions. Like other staunch eugenicists, Sanger vigorously opposed charitable efforts to uplift the downtrodden and deprived, and argued extensively that it was better that the cold and hungry be left without help so that the eugenically superior could multiply without competition from the unfit. She repeatedly referred to the lower classes and the unfit as human waste not worthy of assistance, and proudly quoted the extreme eugenics view that human weeds should be exterminated.[xxiii]

It is appropriate to mention Sanger because, in many ways, she is the American most responsible for masterminding the widespread acceptance of various forms of eugenics, policies that are at the heart and soul of the courts’ decision to kill Terri. What began as one clinic has burgeoned into a global movement, earning Planned Parenthood the status of being the only organization in recorded world history to surpass both Hitler and Stalin in the sheer volume of weak and helpless human beings brutally killed as a result of its influence.

Sanger’s biggest victory, however, was not merely the gradual acceptance of her radical eugenics mindset by the courts, but the gradual wearing down of the resolve of the Christian community to oppose the birth control mindset, embrace all life, and care for the weak and those in distress. While few Christians would embrace Sanger in her most radical form, many have accepted her basic premises that we should manipulate the womb to accommodate economic realities, that some disadvantaged people would be better off dead, and that it is a mercy to pull the plug on the old, the weak, and the comatose.

In her 1922 book, Pivot of Civilization, Sanger dedicated an entire chapter to the “Cruelty of Charity.” Quoting the great social Darwinist Herbert Spencer, she wrote, “Fostering the good for nothing at the expense of the good is an extreme cruelty.” She pulled no punches when castigating those who would help the weak:

Organized charity itself is the symptom of a malignant social disease. Those vast, complex, interrelated organizations aiming to control and to diminish the spread of misery and destitution and all the menacing evils that spring of this sinisterly fertile soil are the surest sign that our civilization has bred, is breeding and is perpetuating constantly increasing numbers of defectives, delinquents, and dependents. My criticism is not directed at the failure of philanthropy, but rather at its success. The most serious charge that can be brought against modern benevolence is that it encourages the perpetuation of defectives, delinquents, and dependents. These are the most dangerous elements in the world community, the most devastating curse on human progress and expression.[xxiv]

Footnotes:

[i] “Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers. For there is no power but of God: the powers that be are ordained of God. Whosoever therefore resisteth the power, resisteth the ordinance of God: and they that resist shall receive to themselves damnation. For rulers are not a terror to good works, but to the evil. Wilt thou then not be afraid of the power? do that which is good, and thou shalt have praise of the same: For he is the minister of God to thee for good. But if thou do that which is evil, be afraid; for he beareth not the sword in vain: for he is the minister of God, a revenger to execute wrath upon him that doeth evil” (Romans 13:1-4).

[ii] See Deuteronomy 19:12, for example, “Then the elders of his city shall send and fetch him thence, and deliver him into the hand of the avenger of blood, that he may die.”

[iii] Exodus 20:13, “Thou shalt not kill.”

[iv] Sir William Blackstone, Commentaries on the Laws of England; edited by William Carey Jones, Vol 1., Section II, “Of the Nature of Laws,” pg. 41 (Claitor Publishing Division).

[v] For an excellent summary of the facts, see “The Terri Schiavo Controversy: Facts, Myths, and Christian Perspectives,” by John Stemberger, president and general counsel, Florida Family Policy Council.

[vi] Excerpted from “Most common misconceptions about Terri’s situation.”

[vii] Even our enemies are deserving of this: “Therefore if thine enemy hunger, feed him; if he thirst, give him drink: for in so doing thou shalt heep coals of fire on his head” (Romans 12:20).

[viii] WORLD Magazine March 26, 2005, Lynn Vincent “‘Don’t let me starve’: A recovered stroke victim joins the fight to save Terri Schiavo.”

[ix] CNN’s Larry King Live, aired March 21, 2005.

[x] WorldNetDaily.com, March 24, 2004, “Dehydration death called ‘cruel, agonizing’ Expert debunks ‘myth’ of no food, water being painless way to die.”

[xi] From the opinion of Judge Lynch of the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court, as reported on LifeSiteNews.com, March 23, 2005, “Death by Dehydration Symptoms Regarded as ‘Cruel and Violent’ in 1986 Brophy Case.”

[xii] “Forced Exit, The Slippery Slope from Assisted Suicide to Legalized Murder” by Wesley J. Smith (Crown, first edition, May 27, 1997).
[xiii] Ibid.

[xiv] Scarborough Country, March 29, 2005.

[xv] American Family Association E-mail Update, March 29, 2005, Don Wildmon, “Terri’s Case: The Roe v. Wade of Euthanasia.”

[xvi] National Review Online, September 5, 2003, Wesley J. Smith, “Schiavo’s Date with Death:A Florida Woman Needs Non-Dehydration Intervention.”

[xvii] WorldNetDaily.com, March, 24, 2005, “The Whole Terri Schiavo Story: 15-year Saga of Brain-Injured Woman no clear-cut, right-to-die case.”

[xviii] Blue Dolphin Publishing, copyright 2002.

[xix] Minneapolis-Star Tribune, March 30, 2005, Maura Lerner, “HCMC Doctor Takes on Role in Schiavo Fray.”

[xx] National Review Online, March 28, 2005, Andrew C. McArthur, “PVS and the End of Life.”

[xxi] WorldNetDaily.com, March 23, 2005, “Schiavo Doctor a Right-to-Death Activist:Neurologist chosen by husband addressed Hemlock Society.”

[xxii] National Review Online, March 28, 2005, Andrew C. McArthur, “PVS and the End of Life.”

[xxiii] Edwin Black, War Against the Weak: Eugenics and America’s Campaign to Create a Master Race (New York: Four Walls Eight Windows, 2003), pg. 127.

[xxiv] Ibid., cited on pp. 129, 130.

Posted by Doug Phillips on March 30, 2005 | Permalink

Thank you, Joe Farah, of WorldNetDaily.com. Joe nails it again:

I don’t know Greer personally, but I know many people like him. They go to church on Sunday and then between Monday and Friday lead lives with no seeming connection to what they hear preached in the pulpit, what they read in the Bible, what they claim to believe of the Christian faith.

This may be the biggest single problem we have in America today — this disconnect between the spiritual lives of Christians and how they practice their faith in the world.

Greer, until recently, was a member of the Calvary Baptist Church in Clearwater, Fla. He left at the urging of Pastor William Rice, who counseled him wisely: “You must know that in all likelihood it is this case which will define your career and this case that you will remember in the waning days of life. I hope you can find a way to side with the angels and become an answer to the prayers of thousands.”

Rice has my highest regard for that decision. Too many pastors in this country don’t require obedience to God as a prerequisite for church membership. They seem to believe in a kind of “cheap” grace that comes with regular attendance or tithing rather than a Christian walk. They seem to have no minimal standards for fellowship and communion with the
saints.

There are few heroes in the Terri Schiavo scandal. Her parents and siblings qualify. Terri herself qualifies. Those who braved arrest to bring her cups of water qualify. And, in my book, so does Rev. William Rice. Do you want to know why the church doesn’t have influence and impact in our increasingly secular world today?

Because there are too many so-called Christians like Judge George Greer and not enough like Pastor William Rice.

Read his entire article.

Posted by Doug Phillips on March 30, 2005 | Permalink

If a brother or sister be naked, and destitute of daily food, And one of you say unto them, Depart in peace, be ye warmed and filled; notwithstanding ye give them not those things which are needful to the body; what doth it profit? (James 2:15-16)

When you sit down for dinner tonight and enjoy a nice meal with your family, please remember that Terri Schiavo, though hanging onto life by a thread, is still starving to death. Please remember that, at this precise moment, her body hungers terribly, and she is suffering from gross dehydration. Remember that she is starving to death by court order. Remember that the court ordered her to die even though she breathes freely without life support and smiles and responds to human interaction. Remember also that 59% of evangelical Christians told TIME Magazine that they believed it was acceptable for her to be starved and dehydrated.[i] When you remember this, consider also the words of the Author of our Faith, the Lord Jesus Christ who said:

And whosoever shall give to drink unto one of these little ones a cup of cold water only in the name of a disciple, verily I say unto you, he shall in no wise lose his reward. (Matt. 10:42) And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me. (Matt. 25:40)

On Our Watch

Our generation is presiding over the single greatest legal and cultural attack on the biblical family in the history of Christendom. One out of four Americans are not here. They were aborted by their parents.[ii] For the first time in the recorded history of the West, a generation of children is emerging which may never know a world in which marriage is recognized as one man and one woman for life. The ethical chaos and war on the family seems to know no boundaries. We are now told that it is merciful and dignified to starve women and children — even our very parents — simply because they are dependent, infirm, disabled, or handicapped. Before our very eyes, we are daily confronted with ever-more horrifying legal and cultural triumphs of the proponents of the culture of death and their relentless war on the weak. All of this is happening on our watch. My thesis is this: Whether or not the present war on the weak blossoms into a full-blown, irreversible culture of death has more to do with the ethics and character of the Church of Jesus Christ than it does with the rise of humanism, post-modernism, or any other ism. The Church is the centerpiece of history, the salt of the earth, and the primary means for restraining evil and blessing nations. When the people of God are faithful, focused, and unified, nations prosper — because we are not, chaos reigns. (“Righteousness exalteth a nation: but sin is a reproach to any people,” Proverbs 14:34.) There are few significant statistical variances between the behavior of professing Christians and non-Christians on issues of family and life. A recent Barna report indicates that there are no fundamental differences in the training of children between Christians and non-Christians within our society.[iii] In the thirty-two-year wake of Roe v. Wade, we have witnessed the widespread acceptance by Christians of the belief that children are a burden, as well as the related acceptance of the use of abortifacient contraceptives. (No one knows the millions of souls that have been aborted by Christians simply through their use of the Pill.) Not surprisingly, TIME Magazine now reports that a majority of evangelicals support the forced dehydration and starvation of Terri Schiavo.[iv] How this generation of pastors and parents respond to the murder of Terri may be one of the most important legacies we leave to our posterity. We must confront these issues head on, or we will risk searing the collective conscience of American Christians regarding the sanctity of life, thus opening a philosophical and legal floodgate of euthanasia, assisted suicide, and privatized eugenics in the form of ruthless killing of the disabled, the handicapped, the elderly, and the unwanted members of our society. The purpose of this report is to help believers sort through the relevant ethical issues. Deciphering the Terri Schiavo Case There are five things you must know about the crime which is ongoing in Pinellas Park, Florida: First, an innocent woman is being cruelly tortured and murdered contrary to the law of God, the law of the land, and the law of the state. Second, those individuals most complicit in the torture and murder of Terri have diabolical agendas. Third, there is an immediately available biblical, constitutional, and legal remedy. Fourth, the inability of Christian attorneys and leaders to reach a biblical consensus on the meaning of “the rule of law” has rendered our efforts to save Terri impotent, has spread confusion within the body of Christ, and will be the undoing of our legal and political efforts in the future unless it is resolved. Fifth, they are coming next for you. Stay Tuned for Part II

Footnotes
[i] The TIME Magazine Poll asked this question of evangelical Christians, “Do you agree with the decision to remove Schiavo’s feeding tube.” Fifty-nine percent said “yes.” [ii] According to National Right to Life, more than forty-six million abortions have been performed since the Roe v. Wade decision. During this same period, the Center for Disease Control reports 120 million live births (see www.cdc.gov). Thus, 27% of American children have been aborted. [iii] Barna Update, February 28, 2005, “Parents Describe How They Raise
Their Children.” In this report, George Barna notes that the faith commitment of
parents made surprisingly little difference in how children were raised:
“You might expect that parents who are born again Christians would take a
different approach to raising their children than did parents who have not
committed their life to Christ — but that was rarely the case,” Barna
explained. “For instance, we found that the qualities born again parents
say an effective parent must possess, the outcomes they hope to facilitate in the lives of their children, and the media monitoring process in the household was indistinguishable from the approach taken by parents who are not born again.” [iv] See endnote [i] above. In addition to 59% of evangelical Christians supporting the removal of Terri Schiavo’s feeding tube, a startling 69% indicate that they would want their guardian to remove their feeding tube if they were in this same condition as Terri

Posted by Doug Phillips on March 30, 2005 | Permalink

The Assoicated Press reports that in Denver, Colorado, a 3-2 divided Colorado Supreme Court ruled that juries cannot turn to the Bible for advice during deliberations. The court threw out the death penalty for a convicted murderer because jurors discussed Bible verses. Defense attorney Kathleen Lord, arguing before the state Supreme Court last month, said the jurors had gone outside the law. “They went to the Bible to find out God’s position on capital punishment,” she said.

Click here to read the story.

Posted by Doug Phillips on March 30, 2005 | Permalink

Not surprisingly, liberals, libertines, partisan sycophants, and left-wing media outlets have done their very best to minimize the significant outcry among religious, legal, and political leaders who are calling on the governor of Florida to act lawfully and courageously by setting aside politics and exercising his authority as chief executive to enforce the Constitution, pursuant to his oath of office.

Tonight, Dr. James Dobson joined religious leaders like Dr. D. James Kennedy, religious broadcasters like Dick Bott, legal experts like attorney Larry Klayman, constitutional thinkers like Ambassador Alan Keyes, and judicial leaders like former Alabama Chief Justice Roy Moore in stating both the legality and moral imperative of Governor Jeb Bush to enforce the Constitution against Judge Greer who acted without authority because his actions were contrary both to the law of the land and the moral law of God.

These are co-equal branches of government.... There are checks and balances.... He [Jeb Bush] could take on the courts. He has equal authority.... Jeb Bush needs to throw caution to the wind.... They are intimidated by the courts. Somebody needs to take them on.... It ought to start right there in Florida with this probate judge.

—Jim Dobson on MSNBC’s Scarborough Country

Posted by Doug Phillips on March 29, 2005 | Permalink

Question: Is it the role of the state to provide health care for people like Terri Schiavo?

Answer: No. It is the role of the state to enforce God’s moral law which prohibits killing. The issue in the Schiavo case is not about state-subsidized medicine. Nor is the issue about using extraordinary measures (a more complex issue) to prolong the life of an individual who is dying. The issue is not even about medicine. The issue is whether it is lawful to deprive an innocent, living, thriving woman of basic care (food, water, shelter). The answer is: To do such is not only a dereliction of the duty of a guardian, but is homicide. Terri is being murdered, and it is the first principle of government (Gen. 9) for the state to protect innocent life and to prosecute parents, guardians, judges — anyone who wrongfully uses their position of authority to kill another. In this case, the state has an affirmative duty to prevent an ongoing crime.

Duty of Care: Biblically, both basic care and health care of every level is a matter reserved to the private sector. There is a fundamental biblical and common law duty of a parent or guardian to provide basic care for all dependents. Parents and guardians with the means of providing food, water, and shelter for their dependents who negligently or willfully fail to do so in a manner that results in their injury or death are guilty of criminal conduct. Under biblical law, the extended family has a duty to provide resources for an indigent family in crisis. If neither the immediate family, nor the extended family are capable of caring for the basic needs of dependents, then the family is to turn to the local church which is charged with a duty of provision and care (1 Timothy 5). The local church, the family, and the individual may be supported by the broader body of Christ where they are lacking in resources. The people of God are to act liberally toward each other, and toward all in society who are in need, especially the sick (including disabled and handicapped), the poor, the widow, and the fatherless.

In the case of Terri Schiavo, the issue of state funding is not germane (contra statements by Gary North). The family has a trust fund and insurance from which Terri’s financial needs are met. Would additional funds ever be necessary, there can be little doubt that these needs would be amply met through donations.

For example, at Vision Forum Ministries, the issue of preservation of life through private solutions is not just theory. Three years ago, we established the Life and Liberty Medical Fund (formerly the Baby William Fund), the goal of which was to assist families with members in a life or death crisis where leaders in the medical establishment have recommended termination of life, but where the family is willing to fight for the life of their loved one. Another condition of the Life and Liberty Medical Fund is that the family must strive to meet the medical needs apart from government assistance. The Fund has been enormously successful and responsible for raising and distributing hundreds of thousands of dollars to families in need, and assisting in the negotiation of reduced medical bills for these families in crisis. I also want to add that donations to this fund are tax-deductible and that none of this money goes to Vision Forum or Vision Forum Ministries. All administrative costs are donated by Vision Forum Ministries to the Life and Liberty Fund.

Last thought: Let’s be careful not to adopt the liberal argument used by pro-abortion activists: “Let’s keep the government off our bodies.” The fact is the government must stay out of all jurisidictions not specifically delegated to it by the Lord. Protecting innocent life from criminal conduct is a specifically delegated duty of the state, both under biblical and constitutional law.

Posted by Doug Phillips on March 29, 2005 | Permalink

After three visits to Terri Schiavo’s hospital bed in the last twenty-four hours, Sherry Payne, close friend of Terri Schiavo, appeared on MSNBC’s Abrahm’s Report Monday night. Mrs. Payne indicated that Terri recognized her, interacted with her, tried to speak, was very loud, and was the most communicative she had seen her:

Terri is very verbal.... Her eyes follow you. When I was speaking to her last night about all the good times we had, she lifted her face to me. Her eyes followed me, me and tried to talk.... She was very loud to the point that the police officer came to the bed and looked at her. When you speak to her she looks at you, she follows you and tries to speak.... Last night was wonderful.... She has come a long way.... When I spoke to her about dancing both of her arms came up, then went down.

Posted by Doug Phillips on March 29, 2005 | Permalink

The following statement was issued by Dr. D. James Kennedy:

As Governor, Jeb Bush is the only legal authority who can save the life of Terri Schiavo. He must act and he must act immediately on her behalf. He must disregard the order of Judge Greer. He has both the authority and the duty to do so under the state constitution.

The Florida constitution states in Article I, Section 2, that “[a]ll natural persons, female and male alike, are equal before the law, and have inalienable rights, among which are the right to enjoy and defend life....” According to the Constitution, “no person shall be deprived of any right [including the right to enjoy life] because of ... physical disability.”

As governor, Jeb Bush has the “supreme executive power,” and the constitutional duty, stated in Article IV, Section 1, to “take care that the laws be faithfully executed.” The governor, who is sworn to uphold the constitution, is obligated to safeguard this constitutional guarantee of the “inalienable right ... to enjoy and defend life,” regardless of physical disability.

The Governor may not disregard that obligation even if a member of the judiciary has ordered otherwise. He is not bound by a court order that is at odds with a constitutional guarantee.

Thomas Jefferson said that “[T]o consider the judges as the ultimate arbiters of all constitutional questions [is] a very dangerous doctrine indeed, and one which would place us under the despotism of an oligarchy....”

Governor Bush has tried patiently to work with the courts and the legislature but to no avail. Now, at the very last moment, he has a constitutional duty to protect Terri Schiavo’s “inalienable right ... to enjoy and defend life.” Jeb Bush must choose between the clear mandate of Florida’s constitution and a judiciary which, in this case, has acted in defiance of that state supreme law.

Posted by Doug Phillips on March 29, 2005 | Permalink

“A righteous man regards the life of his animal, But the tender mercies of the wicked are cruel.”

Roman Catholic Priest and Schindler family counselor, Paul O’Donnell, told reporters today: “In the state of Florida where a man is in jail for five years for starving two cows, their [the Schindler’s] daughter is being starved.”

Posted by Doug Phillips on March 29, 2005 | Permalink

Apart from the tacit support of Jeb Bush as chief executive officer of Florida, there is no authority to enforce the order to starve Terri.

Whoever attentively considers the different departments of power must perceive, that, in a government in which they are separated from each other, the judiciary, from the nature of its functions, will always be the least dangerous to the political rights of the Constitution; because it will be least in a capacity to annoy or injure them. The executive not only dispenses the honors, but holds the sword of the community. The legislature not only commands the purse, but prescribes the rules by which the duties and rights of every citizen are to be regulated. The judiciary, on the contrary, has no influence over either the sword or the purse; no direction either of the strength or of the wealth of the society; and can take no active resolution whatever. It may truly be said to have neither force nor will, but merely judgment; and must ultimately depend upon the aid of the executive arm even for the efficacy of its judgments.

Federalist 78

Posted by Doug Phillips on March 29, 2005 | Permalink

Readers of Doug’s Blog who are willing to seriously examine the issue of federalism and judicial review, must take the time to read the brilliant article of Dr. Alan Keyes on the subject. Though I might quibble with some points (especially regarding majoritarianism), it is a brilliant overview of our constitutional system of checks and balances. The following are his concluding comments on Governor Bush’s duty as chief executive officer:

Despite his protestations of interest and conscience with respect to the assault on Terri Schiavo’s constitutional rights, Jeb Bush has failed to act on his clear and direct responsibility to defend the integrity of Florida’s constitution.

Whether from timidity or political calculation, he has pretended that legislative initiative is required to authorize his action, even in the face of consistent proof that the legislature is powerless against a determined and literally ruthless application of judicial prerogative.

As a result, the nation and the world have been witness to the spectacle of the slow, judicially mandated murder of an innocent and helpless woman, while Jeb Bush’s actions have given credibility to the patently false impression that the judiciary has any claim whatsoever to executive authority over the chief executive.

The law’s delay must cost Terri Schiavo her life, which is precisely the reason executive power in America is entrusted to single executives, rather than to plural deliberative bodies.

When time is of the essence, necessity authorizes the executive to safeguard the security of the constitution and the people before citizens and the polity suffer irreversible damage.

Terri Schiavo’s survival depends on Gov. Bush’s faithful execution of this responsibility, and the survival of American self-government on the willingness of all those in a like position faithfully to execute the duties of their high office.

In times like these, calculating politicians are not good enough. Enlightened statesmen are needed at the helm. God help us if we do not soon choose to find them there.

Read the complete article here.

Posted by Doug Phillips on March 29, 2005 | Permalink

Lynn Vincent of WORLD Magazine reports the following:

A decade ago, Mrs. [Kate] Adamson, then 33, suffered a double brain stem stroke that left her completely paralyzed, unable even to blink. Inside though, she was fully cognitive, able to understand doctors telling her husband she would either die or windup “a vegetable.” She wanted to, but couldn’t, scream out when... “people talked about me as if I wasn’t a person, as if I didn’t exist.... It was like being trapped underground and you’re praying that somebody is going to be able to find you.”

During 70 days of intensive care, doctors fed Mrs. Adamson through a tube. Then her digestive system failed, forcing them to remove the tube until her body could again eliminate waste. For the next eight days, she learned what it feels like to starve. Unable to communicate, she remembers the terror of being “on the inside screaming out, ‘Feed me something! I don’t want to die! ... I’m alive! I’m a person in here! Do not let me starve!’ The hunger pains were unbearable,” she said. “I thought I was going insane.”

Posted by Doug Phillips on March 29, 2005 | Permalink

This week, I will be updating blog readers on the conclusion of our 25,000-mile adventure through the South Pacific. For now, I offer the following observation:

On the beaches of Iwo Jima, the mortality rate was the highest for any battle in Marine Corps history. Entire batallions were wiped out, some experiencing 75% casualties. Men were cut into pieces. Many suffered unimaginable pain and were wounded with little hope of survival.

But even under the worst circumstances, the men of the United States Marine Corps (with the aid of heroic Navy Corpsman) were 100% committed to rescuing every man, regardless of injury or life potential. They were committed to recovering every body, even at great risk to the living. Every life (and every body) was precious, regardless of injury or hope of survival of the wounded.

Aren’t you grateful that the 53% of the professing Evangelical Christians who told TIME Magazine that it’s okay to starve Terri Schiavo were not defending our nation in 1945?

Posted by Doug Phillips on March 28, 2005 | Permalink

There are five things you must know about the crime which is currently taking place in Pinellas Park, Florida: First, an innocent woman is being cruelly tortured and murdered contrary to the law of God, the law of the land, and the law of the state. Second, those individuals most complicit in the torture and murder of Terri have diabolical agendas. Third, there is an immediately available, biblical, constitutional, and legal remedy. All that is required to save Terri is courage. Fourth, the unwillingness of some Christians leaders to embrace a biblical and historical view of the rule of law has rendered our efforts to save the life of Terri largely inaffective. Fifth, they are coming for you next. In this blog post, I examine the first point.

Terri Schiavo has committed no crime. She has never stood trial. Nevertheless, because of the efforts of an unrepentant, adulterous husband with financial interest in her death and a politically motivated probate judge, she is being executed in a cruel and unusual manner, and without due process of law, contrary to the United States and Florida constitutions.

When Michael Schiavo appeared on the television show Larry King Live, in an emotional appeal, he told viewers that death by dehydration was “dying with dignity.”

“It’s painless, and probably the most natural way to die,” Michael Schiavo told King. “It is a very easy way to die, probably the second best way to die, the first being an aneurysm.”

Many commentators have included the term ‘death with dignity’ in describing Terri’s impending death. Numerous newspaper editorials and letters to the editor have included references to ‘just letting her go.’ It is difficult to imagine any of the survivors of Japanese and Nazi death camps describing the death of their emaciated, dehydrated, and starving comrades as experiencing “death with dignity.” The truth is that a knife to the heart would have been less cruel and more dignified than the brutalitarian measures of Michael Schiavo and Mengelesque henchmen in the legal and medical community.

Strong words? Following are the medical effects of forced death by starvation and dehydration as described by a Massachusettes judge in the 1985 Brophy case:

• The mouth would dry out and become caked or coated with thick material.


• The lips would become parched and cracked.


• The tongue would swell, and might crack.


• The eyes would recede back into their orbits and the cheeks would become hollow.


• The lining of the nose might crack and cause the nose to bleed.


• The skin would hang loose on the body and become dry and scaly.


• The urine would become highly concentrated, leading to burning of the bladder.


• The lining of the stomach would dry out and the sufferer would experience dry heaves and vomiting.


• The body temperature would become very high.


• The brain cells would dry out, causing convulsions.


• The respiratory tract would dry out, and the thick secretions that would result could plug the lungs and cause death.


• At some point within five days to three weeks, the major organs, including the lungs, heart, and brain, would give out and the patient would die.

Dr. David Stevens of the Christian Medical Association explains what happens with starvation: “As dehydration begins, there is extreme thirst, dry mouth and thick saliva. The patient becomes dizzy, faint and unable to stand or sit; has severe cramping in the arms and legs as the sodium and potassium concentrations in the body goes up as fluids go down. In misery, the patient tries to cry but there are no tears. The patient experiences severe abdominal cramps, nausea and dry-heaving as the stomach and intestines dry out. By now the skin and lips are cracking and the tongue is swollen. The nose may bleed as the mucous membranes dry out and break down. The skin loses elasticity, thins and wrinkles. The hands and feet become cold as the remaining fluids in the circulatory system are shunted to the vital organs in an attempt to stay alive. The person stops urinating and has severe headaches as their brain shrinks from lack of fluids. The patient becomes anxious but then gets progressively more lethargic. Some patients have hallucinations and seizures as their body chemistry becomes even more imbalanced. This proceeds to coma before death occurs. The final event as the blood pressure becomes almost undetectable is a major heart arrhythmia that stops the heart from pumping.”

In his book, Wesley J. Smith describes the intense suffering imposed on those being starved to death. “Proponents of dehydration contend that deaths by dehydration are peaceful,” Smith wrote. Noting that, “the patients we are discussing are not terminally ill” and that those who are conscious can feel hunger and thirst, Smith quotes Dr. William Burke, a neurologist in St. Louis, who described the agonizing process.

“A conscious person would feel it (dehydration) just as you and I would. They will go into seizures. Their skin cracks, their tongue cracks, their lips crack. They may have nosebleeds because of the drying of the mucous membranes, and heaving and vomiting might ensue because of the drying out of the stomach lining. They feel the pangs of hunger and thirst. Imagine going one day without a glass of water. Death by dehydration takes ten to fourteen days. It is an extremely agonizing death.”

Posted by Doug Phillips on March 28, 2005 | Permalink

At the heart of the Terri Schiavo tragedy is the question of assisted suicide and euthanasia. There is no proof-text of Scripture which explicitly forbids suicide. Libertines and liberals will justify suicide by claiming that “only God gets to define sin, and nowhere does the Bible expressly forbid suicide... therefore, whatever is not expressly forbidden is allowed.”

The problem with this reasoning is both moral and hermeneutic. The moral spirit of personal rights which is the hallmark of the libertine results in a theological rejection of the Bible as an all-sufficient Word revelation. The result is essentially a proof-text approach to hermeneutics, rather than a careful evaluation of the totality of Scripture along with appropriate analysis of precepts to the patterns and principles of Holy Scripture. All who take seriously the sufficiency of Scripture and thus believe that the Bible speaks authoratively to everything (at least in principle) are deemed legalists and Pharisees by the libertine and the liberal. Consistent libertines with such a proof-text approach to hermeneutics must at least make allowances for the legitimacy of suicide.

In contrast, the near-universal message of orthodox Christianity for two thousand years has been that the Bible teaches that suicide, though not condemned by name in biblical precept, is self-murder and thus a violation of the Sixth Commandment. Furthermore, we are reminded of two examples of suicide presented in Scripture (Saul in I Samuel 31:4 and Judas in Matthew 27:5) in which the suicides were the culmination of a pattern of wickedness and rebellion.

Posted by Doug Phillips on March 28, 2005 | Permalink

Gov. Bush, Don’t hide behind the skirts of judicial supremacy. You have a responsibility as chief executive of your state to make sure the constitutional rights of each citizen is protected. Terri’s basic constitutional rights are being violated. Don’t let her die on YOUR watch. —Matt Chancey
Harrisonburg, Virginia

Posted by Doug Phillips on March 28, 2005 | Permalink

If he [Jeb Bush] lets Terri Schiavo die, that is, if he capitulates to the judicial death culture, his political future will turn as cold as it did for Ted Kennedy. The pro-life community has a long memory. This issue should never have gotten to Congress or the President. It could have been taken care of in the sovereign state of Florida by the elected governor.... Even if Jeb Bush does not gain a political inch in deciding for Terri Schiavo and her courageous parents, he would be doing the right thing. If there are Republicans out there who see this as a privacy issue when Miss Schiavo’s husband has deserted her and shacked up with another woman, then it would be better for them to join with the majority of Democrats and embrace the culture of death with both hands. Governor Bush, act on what is right. Don’t go down in history with a dead woman’s memory always at your side.

Posted by Doug Phillips on March 28, 2005 | Permalink

Article I, Section 2 (“Basic Rights”) of Florida’s constitution states the following: “All natural persons, female and male alike, are equal before the law and have inalienable rights, among which are the right to enjoy and defend life and liberty.... No person shall be deprived of any right because of race, religion, national origin, or physical disability.”

Posted by Doug Phillips on March 28, 2005 | Permalink

An interesting acknowledgement from Jewish Democrat Joe Lieberman on Meet the Press:

This is a nation founded by Christians, the majority of the citizens of which are Christians.

Posted by Doug Phillips on March 28, 2005 | Permalink

The reports from Florida are not only that Terri yet lives, but that she continues to interact with the nursing staff and has tried to speak, saying, “I want....”

Posted by Doug Phillips on March 27, 2005 | Permalink

Two thousand years ago, a Roman bureaucrat asked, “what is truth?”, washed his hands, and passed the buck concerning his responsibility over the cruel murder of a man he knew to be innocent. It was the greatest crime in history.

When men in authority have the biblical and legal power to save innocent life from state-sanctioned torture and murder, but refuse to do so citing lawyer-speak and technicalities as justification for moral cowardice, they are demonstrating the spirit of Pontius Pilate.

Thankfully, if God can use the greatest crime in history as the centerpiece of the greatest act of love and redemption, he can (and does) use the behavior of lesser Judases and Pontius Pilates in our modern world to advance His Kingdom.

For our part, we must learn to recognize the differences between heroes and villains, between courageous men and the Pontius Pilates of the world. There are many lessons to be learned from the torture and murder of Terri Schiavo — one of them is the difference between professing Christians in leadership with the legal philosophy of Pontius Pilate, and leaders who behave like Christians because they fear God and will not pervert justice.

Pontius Pilate had his excuses and so do our leaders today. One can almost imagine Pontius Pilate burning in Hell for eternity, repeating over and over again: “But I just didn’t know, I just didn’t know.”

Posted by Doug Phillips on March 27, 2005 | Permalink

In the case of Terri, the relevant facts are not complicated: An innocent, living woman is being deprived of basic care by her guardian with the intent of dehydrating and starving her so she will die.

There are many subjects on which good Christians may disagree, but whether the state can torture and murder an innocent woman is not one of them. From a biblical, medical, and ethical perspective, we begin with the assumptions that only God can give or take away life, that He has enumerated specific circumstances in which humans may kill others, and that quality of life evaluations are not among them. We also recognize that the Bible teaches an emphatic duty of basic care (food, water, shelter, air) which parents and guardians must provide to dependents, regardless of their health, mental state, or age. Consequently, those biblical ethicists who embrace the sufficiency of Scripture recognize that the following issues are completely irrelevant to the question of whether or not Terri Schiavo should be tortured and murdered:

(1) Whether Terri’s parents or Michael Schiavo have custodial guardianship over Terri.

There are helpful strategic issues surrounding who is guardian over Terri. (In my view, an unrepentant, adulterous husband with financial motives in the murder of his wife has no right to guardianship.) But from an ethical and historical legal perspective, the issue of guardianship is irrelevant to the question of whether Terri may be starved and dehydrated to death. It is irrelevant because both the parents and the husband lack biblical jurisdiction and authority to deprive Terri of basic care. No person has the authority to take their own life through suicide, and no guardian has the biblical or common law right to make a decision to terminate a person under their custody through deprivation of basic care — ever!

(2) Whether Terri is in a “persistent vegetative state,” “minimally conscious,” “improving,” “declining” or any other status other than “dead.”

This is irrelevant because as long as the soul is in the body (i.e., as long as they are biblically “alive”), there is a non-negotiable duty of a guardian to make best efforts to provide basic care (food, water, air, shelter) for those living dependents under their care. The starvation of Terri Schiavo is not an issue of “extraordinary measures.” It is not even a medical issue per se. It is an issue of whether we will deprive a living human being of water and food.

(3) Whether Terri is experiencing a quality life.

This is irrelevant because only God may determine the purpose, length, significance, meaning, and quality of the life of another. We do not have jurisdiction to determine that some lives are worth living and others are not.

(4) Whether Terri requested of her husband that “she be allowed to die with dignity.”

It is biblically and (at common law) legally invalid to request assistance in the suicide of one’s self through starvation or any other means. Even had Terri made such a recommendation (and there is no credible evidence that she did), Terri herself lacks jurisdiction to call for her own death by dehydration, starvation, or any other means which involves the suspension of a basic, God-appointed duty of care.

Dear friends in Christ, we need God’s law, God’s Word, God’s sufficient revelation or we will perish in the twenty-first century.
One thing is clear, at a time when Christians en masse are aborting their children through the use of the Pill, are pulling the plug on their own parents, and are sending their children for discipleship to ethical Hell-pits called government schools, confusion reigns within the community of professing Christians. Division over the torture and murder of Terri is simply a reflection of the broader ethical confusion. In my view, only orthodox Christians committed to the doctrine of the sufficiency of Scripture will have the ability to clearly and consistently provide an authoritative trumpet blast on the issue of biomedical ethics. Those professing Christians (from neo-Barthians, to natural law theorists, to cultural neutralists, libertines, and syncretists) who claim that all practices are allowed unless they are specifically forbidden (i.e., they demand proof-texts instead of careful biblical analysis of an all-sufficient text) cannot speak to the issue of Terri Schiavo since there is no clear biblical proof-text which exactly addresses the precise facts of her case. They may speak of the complexity and sadness of the issues with Terri’s case, but they cannot and will not sound a clear trumpet blast. Without an infallible standard (other than their opinion), how could they do so?

As we progress into what is arguably the most ethically challenging century in the history of the Church, we must go back to the basics of God’s Word. We must be prepared to listen to the words of Nehemiah who rallied families to help him rebuild the ruins of his culture.

“Be not ye afraid of them: remember the LORD, which is great and terrible, and fight for your brethren, your sons, and your daughters, your wives, and your houses” (Nehemiah 4:14).

Over the next seventy-two hours, please stay tuned to Doug’s Blog as these issues are explored in greater depth.

Posted by Doug Phillips on March 26, 2005 | Permalink

One of the greatest blessings of our Uniting Church and Family Conferences is the ability to meet and network with dear like-minded families.

On April 15 and 16, 2005, in Raleigh, North Carolina, Vision Forum Ministries will be hosting a Regional Uniting Church and Family Conference, the first of several conferences to be held in various regions around the country. This regional conference will give many men and their families a chance to meet and fellowship with other families who live in their area, thus, strengthening communities across the country. We cannot begin to solve all the problems relating to church and family, but this conference is an important first step toward the goal. Join NCFIC Director Scott Brown and New Testament Professor Dr. David Black for a conference dedicated to encouraging father-directed, family-affirming local assemblies that reject the peer grouping and age segregation mentality of modern evangelicalism.

Click here for more information and to signup for the event.

Posted by Doug Phillips on March 24, 2005 | Permalink

Click here to read my article, written two years ago, regarding the life of Terri Schiavo.

Posted by Doug Phillips on March 24, 2005 | Permalink

“The New International Version translation of Proverbs 24:11-12, referring to those who are innocent, reads: “Rescue those being led away to death ... If you say, ‘But we knew nothing about this,’ does not He Who weighs the heart perceive it? Does not He Who guards your life know it? Will He not repay each person according to what he has done?”

Explaining this passage from God’s Word, the great Puritan Bible commentator Matthew Henry says that it requires “a great duty” from us, “that is to appear for the relief of oppressed innocency,” that we ought “to bestir ourselves all we can to save them ... If any [innocent person] be set upon by force or violence, and it be in our power to rescue them, we ought to do it.”

This Proverb, of course, applies to all of us. But, all of us do not have it within our power and ability to rescue Terri Schiavo, to stop her from being murdered in cold blood.

You, Mr. President, and you, Governor Bush do, however, have this power. And we intend no presumption, sirs, when we tell both of you that you must exercise the power you have to save Terri Schiavo’s life because God commands you to do so and your oath of office makes it your affirmative duty!

Both of you have the power and ability to stop the murder of Terri Schiavo. If you do not act and use the power you have, her innocent blood will be on your hands.

Here, please, are some of the things we think both of you have the power and ability to do right away:

— You, Mr. President, could order Federal marshals to be sent to guard Terri Schiavo, have her feeding tube reinserted, and arrest anyone who attempted her murder by removing this tube. If her case goes all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court, and the ruling there is to take her feeding tube out, ignore this ruling and leave the Federal marshals there as long as is necessary to keep her from being murdered. Any court ruling that orders murder is illegal and binds nobody.

— You, Governor Bush, could do, basically, the same thing — order your relevant law enforcement personnel to take Terri Schiavo into protective custody; order her feeding tube to be reinserted; and arrest anyone who attempts to murder her be removing this feeding tube. And if any court, at any level, orders her feeding tube to be removed, ignore this order because no court order that orders the murder of anybody has any validity.

Mr. President, Governor Bush, you are men to whom much has been given; thus much is required of you. We pray fervently that you do your Christian and Constitutional duty (remember your oath) and act now to save the life of Terri Schiavo.

Michael and Stephan Peroutka

Posted by Doug Phillips on March 24, 2005 | Permalink

The following images were taken from my window on our transport plane as we approached Iwo Jima. More than a few tears were shed by veterans as they looked for the first time in sixty years upon the island where one out of four of their comrades became casualties.

The sky over Iwo. God gave us a gloriously beautiful day.

My first view of Suribachi.

The mountain of death and glory from the portal window.

One thousand feet over the coast of Iwo during our flyby and circumnavigation of the island.

The coastline and Mt. Suribachi where the American invasion commenced.

Posted by Doug Phillips on March 14, 2005 | Permalink

A sunset picture which I took from the balcony of our Guamanian hotel. Over the last four hundred years Guam has been under the control of the Spanish, the Americans, the Japanese, and finally America. We spent a day with the governor of Guam (a professing Evangelical Christian) who reminded us that “America’s day begins in Guam.” Guam’s economy is completed supported by two factors—-the American military and the tourist trade which (ironically in light of the mass executions of Guamian Chamorrans by the Empire of the Rising Sun) is 95% Japanese. Every single Chamorran with whom I spoke had lost at least one or two family members to decapitation, crucifixion, rape or torture during the Japanese invasion sixty years ago.

Posted by Doug Phillips on March 14, 2005 | Permalink

With gratefulness to the Lord for opportunities and mercies far too numerous to detail in this blog, the Vision Forum Faith of Our Fathers expedition film crew prepares tonight to wrap the second of three stages of shooting. Our journey thus far has brought us from Fredericksburg, Texas to Japan to Guam to Iwo Jima and back to Guam.

We are simply overwhelmed by the quality and quantity of material the Lord has providentially provided for this film dedicated to honoring America’s heroic fathers, and communicating multi-generational duties and blessings in the context of the defining battle in the Pacific of the World War II era. The images included in this blog will give you an on-location peek at our film sets.

Colonel Bill Henderson (Fifth Marines, 28th Division, Green Beach, D-Day Iwo Jima) sits with his son and grandsons just yards away from the site where sixty years ago he first hit the beaches of Iwo Jima (Suribachi is in the background). He has never desired to come back to the location where he saw such human suffering and death, but on this emotionally exhausting day he opens up “for the sake of Christ” so that the generations after him will never, ever forget what God has done.

Many thanks to the United States Marines who made this film shoot possible through their tireless efforts to transport us around the island and help those less ambulatory veterans to locations. Here, the Marines prepare to carry Colonel Henderson to an old Japanese pill machine gun bunker.

The above shoot took place on Guam at the site of the Battle of Guam. American troops recaptured the island from the Japanese who had beheaded and crucified many thousands, including women and children and established forced labor camps for the local population. Several of the 87 Iwo Jima veterans with whom we were traveling participated in the battle on Guam. Tears and emotion ran high as these men remembered the site where they faced Japanese bonsai charges and lost many dear friends.

Cinematographer, Geoff Botkin sets up a camera inside a moving eight ton military truck as we travel around Iwo.

Back in Guam we interview numerous veterans. Above is an image of me interviewing Marine veteran Tom Mueller who turned eighty the day we visited Iwo. He celebrated his twentieth birthday (60 years ago) being incessantly shelled and shot at by Japanese defenders.

Posted by Doug Phillips on March 14, 2005 | Permalink

Standing atop Mt. Suribachi on the Japanese island of Iwo Jima, my son Joshua Phillips surprised me by pulling out an American flag adorned with the signatures of surviving Iwo Jima veterans. He tied the flag to a stick and waved it just yards away from the spot where the now iconic flag raisings of 1945 occurred. The wind was blowing furiously and the ledge on which he stood overlooked a pretty drastic precipice which added drama to his private ceremony of thanksgiving.
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I snapped this image from the ledge of Suribachi. You can clearly see the beach where so many thousands of Marines were killed during the invasion. The army divided the beach into color coded regions. The hottest spot during the battle was Green Beach which is the furthest to the bottom of the picture. Colonel Bill Henderson with whom I was traveling hit Green Beach on D-Day. He emphasized over and over that no one was not there can ever really describe or imagine what the fight was like. In addition to Colonel Henderson, several veterans returning to the island for the first time in sixty years with whom I spoke indicated that they never fully appreciated the strategic advantage of Suribachi for Japanese snipers. Standing on the mountain it became pretty clear that those on the beach below were essentially sitting ducks.

Suribachi (like the rest of the island) is full of caves and secret tunnels. More than 1600 rooms were built by the Japanese defenders of the island. Though many of the caves were torched and bulldozed shut by the Americans during the battle, many more remain accessible to this day. Some caves can take you deep below the earth if you are daring enough to negotiate the unlit pathways. (Some from the broader delegation of which we were a part did just this.) Some cave rooms were still full of bullets, bayonets, boots, and other artifacts of the battle. There have been no efforts at preservation or formal recovery. Americans are rarely allowed on the island and what few dozens of Japanese remain to guard the island (which we gave back to the Japanese two decades ago) have not launched any serious recovery efforts.

Justice Phillips stands with his brother Joshua.

Posted by Doug Phillips on March 13, 2005 | Permalink

She was born when Garfield was President of the United States. When she turned 18, the year was 1898. She has lived in three centuries, given birth to ten children. She was a mature 65 year old women at the time of the Battle of Iwo Jima. As things stand, she could out-live Abraham for revolutions around the sun.

Yesterday, The Associated Press reported that an elderly woman living in a small, wooden shack in rural southern Brazil, and the mother of fourteen children, could be the world’s oldest living woman. Maria Olivia da Silva, who recently celebrated her 125th birthday, “is definitely the oldest living woman in Brazil and possibly in the entire world,” said Iolete Cadari, administrative director of RankBrasil, this country’s equivalent to the Guinness World Records. Da Silva, whom Cadari described as “mentally sound and rational,” was married twice and has outlived all but three of her 14 children—four of them adopted.

Posted by Doug Phillips on March 5, 2005 | Permalink

How You Can Further the Faith of Our Fathers Project
We are so deeply grateful to those men and women who have written in with letters, prayers, and financial gifts of support for the message of honoring our heroic fathers of the Second World War. During the month of March, anyone who makes a tax-deductible donation of $50 or more to Vision Forum Ministries and the Faith of Our Fathers Project will receive a CD containing Bill Brown’s memorable message on the Second World War, as well as Doug Phillips’ sermon, “Our Duty to Honor,” delivered to veterans on “Honor Our Fathers” Sunday. With a gift of $100 or more, you will also receive a free copy of Bob Boardman’s inspirational book, C-Rations for the Warrior’s Heart, which is a collection of combat stories filled with courage, character, and victory of outstanding warriors from various branches of the Armed Forces, many of them decorated and/or wounded. The sacrificial duty and exploits of all these men reveal, by example, that the principal ingredient in any battle is the condition of the spirit inside a man’s heart and his walk with God.

Those who donate $1,000 or more to the Faith of Our Fathers Project will be listed in the film credits. (A number of individuals have written, making their tax-deductible donation in memory of their fathers.) Click here to make an online donation. Or, write to Vision Forum Ministries, 4719 Blanco Rd., San Antonio, TX 78212 (please specify on the memo line if donation is for the Faith of Our Fathers Project or for general support).

Posted by Doug Phillips on March 4, 2005 | Permalink

Posted by Doug Phillips on March 4, 2005 | Permalink

The Vision Forum Ministries team participating in the Faith of Our Fathers Project will also be stopping in locations throughout the Pacific to encourage the restoration of the biblical family and unity between church and home. If you live in any of the following locations, please consider attending and stay tuned to Vision Forum for more information about the following events:

March 9 — Outrigger Hotel, Guam
Home Education, Uniting Church and Family
Speakers: Doug Phillips, Scott Brown, Don Hart, Jim Zes

March 20 — Honolulu Bible Church, Oahu, Hawaii
Morning and Evening Services
Speakers: Doug Phillips, Scott Brown, Don Hart, Jim Zes

March 22 — Kauai, Hawaii
Uniting Church and Family
Speakers: Doug Phillips, Scott Brown, Don Hart, Jim Zes

Posted by Doug Phillips on March 3, 2005 | Permalink

Thanks be to God for the uncompromising leadership of the Indiana Association of Home Educators who sponsored a visionary and principled state conference to the glory of God this last weekend. More than 2500 people attended an event which emphasized the biblical basis for home education, the turning of the hearts of fathers to their children, the importance of the culture of the Christian family and home life to the restoration of our nation and the necessity of multi-generational faithfulness.

Chris Klicka of HSLDA and myself were the keynotes for this year’s events. Chris spoke on several subjects including “The Heart of Home Schooling.” I was given the opportunity to bring two keynotes and workshops including: “A Home School Vision of Victory,” and a message on the meaning of Christian culture and dominion. This last important message examines the diverse theological and methodological problems in Christian cultural theory from gnosticism to syncretism, and explains why only a courageous, presuppositionally biblical and holy agenda will win the day.

Most impressive were the many, many testimonies of family renewal for the glory of Jesus Christ which attendees shared with us. It was so encouraging to learn of seeds which were planted years ago being watered today. Our hearts (the whole Vision Forum staff in attendance) rejoiced all weekend and we returned to San Antonio refreshed and encouraged. Thanks to all of our Indiana friends and families who are fighting the good fight for the Lord.

Posted by Doug Phillips on March 3, 2005 | Permalink

Thanks be to God for the more than 500 people who attended the “Honor Our Fathers” day of worship and thanksgiving. A special thanks to the different local churches that came together for Sabbath worship to give honor to Jesus Christ and to remember His faithfulness in preserving our nation. Of course we are most grateful to the Lord for bringing so many wonderful veterans, many of whom were Christians. We remain prayerful for the work of the Lord in the life of those WWII veterans who have not turned to the Lord Jesus Christ. Knowing that they are in the twilight of their lives we had bathed the event in prayer, hoping that some would turn to Christ. There is no doubt that they heard the Gospel on this special day and we were thankful for the opportunity to present it to them.

Honor Phillips listens to men more than three quarters of a century older than himself tell their stories about the providence of God during our conflict against the Japanese.

One of the most touching moments of the day was a sermon from eighty-two year old former flyboy and Mustang pilot, Bill Brown. You simply must hear this message on tape. With holy reverence to the Lord, grandfatherly appeal and the most deeply personal approach, Mr. Brown took the entire congregation of saints assembled back in time to the 1940’s. We were moved and even brought to tears as he sang for us the hymns and songs of faith that motivated a generation of Christian defenders of our homeland. This was a not to be repeated special treat for all in attendance.

We gathered under an enormous tent assembled on the Headwaters Ranch in Fredericksburg, Texas.

Two great aviator buddies who had not seen each other in sixty years were recently reunited. What a blessing to see them laugh and swap stories about flying against the Japanese. These two men were just boys at the time. But the flyboys of that era had man-sized responsibilities that few of the plugged-in, zoned-out boys of the MTV generation could imagine or process.

All of us were deeply touched by the reverential sermon of eighty-one year old Marine Silver Star recipient Bob Boardman who delivered the message “Marked for Life.” Shot through the neck by a Japanese sniper, this heroic evangelist for Jesus Christ has never fully recovered the use of his voice, but is still able to communicate the love of Jesus Christ and the meaning of having true Christian faith in the foxhole.

Posted by Doug Phillips on March 2, 2005 | Permalink

We asked our children to do various projects and read books in preparation for the “Honor Our Fathers” celebration of our World War II heroes and the sixtieth anniversary of the Battle of Iwo Jima. My son Joshua asked if he could build a Jeep. Thanks to the encouragement, oversight, and big-brotherly guidance of friend Nolan Manteufel, the Jeep was completed in time for the celebration.

Posted by Doug Phillips on March 1, 2005 | Permalink