Playing God

For those of you not in the know, Terri Schiavo is the Florida woman in the midst of a now-national legal battle between her husband and parents over her right to life or death, depending on what side you take.\nSchiavo's case has gained much attention because it's hard to say just what state her mind is in. Her husband and court-appointed doctors say her brain is basically mush, and it's best to remove a feeding tube -- the only thing keeping her alive anymore.\nHer parents, however, believe there is still hope for their daughter because she responds to various stimuli, a phenomenon that the same doctors say is just reflexive.\nMeanwhile, somewhere in the United States, a rabbit named Toby has a death sentence.\nAccording to the Web site http://savetoby.com, "Toby is the cutest little bunny on the planet. Unfortunately, he will DIE on June 30, 2005, if you don't help ... I am going to eat him. I am going to take Toby to a butcher to have him slaughter this cute bunny ... God as my witness, I will devour this little guy unless I receive $50,000 into my account from donations or purchase of merchandise."\nThough some might doubt the sincerity of the Web site, the webmaster claims the site is serious, according to a Mar. 17 article in The Washington Post. At the very least, this is a sick joke. \nThe site seems to be working, as of a Monday update, the anonymous Webmaster posted his bank account total as $19,762.15. PayPal has suspended more donations for now, but there's still plenty of merchandise for sale, which also goes toward saving Toby. \nThere are no statistics available on who has donated to the "Save Toby Web site, but I have to wonder how many people care about that rabbit more than another human being. \nThere are a lot of people who have never met Schiavo who think it is their business to say she should die, but when confronted with a cute cuddly animal facing certain doom, they break down and shell out money, when human life is certainly much more valuable than any animal.\nI'm definitely not the type of nut who would march around with a billboard of an aborted fetus, but even I have to stand back and wonder how much we've come to devalue life.\nWe've come to the point, now, where some of us respect human life even less than animals, just letting them die as soon as they become an inconvenience. They become bargaining tools for legislation.\nThis is a slippery slope. There's little to stop someone now from starting a Web site threatening to pull the plug on a relative or threatening to have an abortion if not delivered money by a certain date. \nEven if it's a joke, it's an awfully sick one that many people will buy.\nIt's true we don't know Schiavo's mental state, but I have to think it's better to err on the side of caution, especially because her parents are more than willing to care for her. Her husband can walk away at any time, and I don't think many people will judge him poorly for it.\nThere's certainly a time and place for death. If it were Schiavo's will to have her feeding tube removed in a situation like this, I don't think many people would object to that, but this is not an appropriate time. \nWhere do we put a value on any life, whether human or animal?\nDeath, quite frankly, is God's business.