The Humanity of the Weak

"But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong..." -- 1 Corinthians 1:27

I don't think it's a coincidence that Pope John Paul II died just two days after Terri Schiavo died. I think God is trying to tell us something.

One of the most appalling things about the debate about Terri's fate was how the other side tried to strip her of her humanity. Here are the various terms that I've heard people use to describe her: vegetable, carrot, house plant, slab of meat, blob, vegtard, shell, non-person. There are more, I'm sure. These were shameful, hateful ways to describe Terri. Because, whatever amount of brain damage Terri had, she was still a human being, made in God's image. Even if she were brain dead, she would still be a human being. Nobody has the right to strip anyone of their humanity because of what they can and cannot do, or how they look. You can't proclaim that someone isn't human anymore because of any physical or mental frailty or disability. They are a human being, made in God's image, and nothing you say or do is going to change that.

We need to quit acting like the weaker among us are less worthy or are an embarrassment. I know that while the Pope was aging and in failing health, some felt he should step down -- that the Catholic Church needed someone stronger and more vital to be its leader. Again, this shows how we think that those who are weak have nothing of value to offer. The world favors the strong over the weak, and I suppose this is only natural. But God has a different way of looking at things. Perhaps God was showing us something by the Pope persevering despite his failing health.

This post from Idle Mendacity (found via The Blog from the Core, via a trackback on JYB) expresses what I'm trying to say here much better than I can:

That's when it hit me. The media want Terri to die and the Pope to disappear into some monastery some place because they just don't want to look at them. Terri is sick, her body is helpless, she is an infant in an adult body. The pope is old, his body is crooked, he is a shell with only the unseen brain still in working order. They are both unnatural and unseemly by modern standards. They are both ugly, grotesque, much like that of The Elephant Man, Joseph Merick, a beautiful soul in a misshapen body. So too are the Pope and Terri. Beautiful souls but awful to look at. So people would rather not. They'd rather not be reminded of age and sickness - that's why nursing homes are filled with otherwise healthy senior citizens. They'd rather not go near people so near death and infirmity - that's why literally thousands of citizens of so-called "civilized" France died of neglect during a heat wave. People just didn't care. They didn't want to care. Terri and the Pope and those like them are the Other. They are the not-us. They are the freaks of the modern world. [...]

My answer to that of course people - "normal" people - would not want to die that way. You wouldn't even starve a dog or cat to death. But then, dogs and cats are "normal" in their way as well. There are millions of them - all alike. It is only when one becomes "damaged", like Terri is damaged, that we put them down. But we do not starve them. Because they are not "freaks", they are not something contrary to nature, contrary to the way everyone else looks, contrary to how "humans" are supposed to be. They are a "life", unlike Terri and unlike the Pope is becoming. And who determines what "life" is? The mob, of course and the mob will think whatever the media wants them to think - and the politicians will think whatever the mob thinks. The media of course can't stand "freaks" like Terri or the Pope - people who have outlived their usefulness, ugly people, different people, broken people. The only acceptable people are people like themselves - this is one of the cornerstones of eugenics and this is partly what we're seeing now in the world today.

Yes, I think God is not only trying to tell us something...He is trying to warn us about something.