Free Republic

Not a day goes by without us losing another American to a “suicide bomber.” On other days the Jihadists slaughter women, children and other non-combatants. These horrific acts are done without apologies and with religious fervor. Commonly, people in the West either see Jihadists as mentally troubled or mindlessly following the dictates of a 7th century religion. There is another way to look at this. Ernest Becker’s book, The Denial of Death was first published in 1973. It achieved immediate recognition, a Pulitzer Prize and remains in print. In 1997 The Free Press edition included an introduction by Sam Keen....

Who would have thought, when Roe v. Wade was decided, that we’d all get used to living in a culture of death? But every once in a while, a story comes out of that culture that breaks your heart and makes you realize just how far we have fallen. Like the story of baby Rowan. Rowan’s mother, Angele, is a divorced mother of two who, in her words, had been “terrorized.” Like many women, she thought abortion was her best option—but she wanted the method that was “most painless” for the baby. She wanted to hold him and “grieve him.”...

You may have briefly allowed Terri Schiavo into your life a few weeks ago as her picture flashed across your television screen, or her name poured from your radio. That fleeting visit with Terri might have left you with the visual image of a brain dead woman left to linger in a perpetual state of limbo simply because her family can’t come to terms with her injuries. Terri’s plight may have impressed you as nothing more than a family feud gone horribly public, but Terri’s battle for life is much more significant than a simple personal dispute. On the surface...

While agonizing over the fate of Terri Schiavo, this murder of the infirm and cognitively impaired has become a mainstay of the American medical and legal establishment. At a Missouri medical center, I was given an information sheet entitled “Fluid Deprivation and the Terminally Ill” which stated, “…the decision not to provide hydration, IV fluids, and nutrition (feeding tubes, etc.), may be helpful. …As death approaches dehydration occurs naturally. Administering IV fluids to the terminally ill patient can increase urine output, often creating the need for a catheter or the frequent use of a bedpan. Administering tube feedings can result...