The Least
of These?
Matthew 25:45
Terri Schiavo, the brain-damaged
woman who became the focus of a family feud that mushroomed into a national
right-to-life debate, died Thursday, 15 years after slipping into what
doctors said was a persistent vegetative state and 13 days after a Florida
judge ordered her feeding tub removed. She was 41 years of age.
In response to this entire
episode, I believe the following quotes by Jim Dobson of Focus on the
Family, Phil Patrick of Bakersfield, and Jesus in the Gospel of Matthew,
best represent my feelings. How do you feel? Let me hear from you.
Jim Dobson
Bakersfield Californian
April 1, 2005 (A6)
Dr. James C. Dobson, the
influential founder of the evangelical group Focus on the Family, said the
judges who would not stop the removal of Schhiavo’s feeding tube were
“guilty not only of judicial malfeasance—but of the cold-blooded,
cold-hearted extermination of an innocent human life.”
Phil Patrick
Letter to the Editor
Bakersfield Californian
Friday April 1st, 2005
It’s a sad day. Terri Schiavo
is gone and what makes me angry is that it didn’t have to happen. I don’t
care how you slice the cake and use all the politically correctness of one’s
disposal, this was murder.
We have become a hardened
society. We have been murdering babies for years and calling it abortion.
Homosexuality is called just a different lifestyle.
Our court system is in shambles.
Babies are having babies. But now we’ve managed the ultimate horror. God
have mercy on us all.Terry Schiavo
Jesus
The Gospel of Matthew
Matthew 25:31-46
31
“But when the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the angels with Him,
then He will sit on His glorious throne. 32 “All the nations will be
gathered before Him; and He will separate them from one another, as the
shepherd separates the sheep from the goats; 33 and He will put the sheep
on His right, and the goats on the left. 34 “Then the King will say to
those on His right, ‘Come, you who are blessed of My Father, inherit the
kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. 35 ‘For I was
hungry, and you gave Me something to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me
something to drink; I was a stranger, and you invited Me in; 36 naked, and
you clothed Me; I was sick, and you visited Me; I was in prison, and you
came to Me.’ 37 “Then the righteous will answer Him, ‘Lord, when did we see
You hungry, and feed You, or thirsty, and give You something to drink? 38
‘And when did we see You a stranger, and invite You in, or naked, and clothe
You? 39 ‘When did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?’ 40
“The King will answer and say to them, ‘Truly I say to you, to the extent
that you did it to one of these brothers of Mine, even the least of them,
you did it to Me.’ 41 “Then He will also say to those on His left, ‘Depart
from Me, accursed ones, into the eternal fire which has been prepared for
the devil and his angels; 42 for I was hungry, and you gave Me nothing to
eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me nothing to drink; 43 I was a stranger,
and you did not invite Me in; naked, and you did not clothe Me; sick, and in
prison, and you did not visit Me.’ 44 “Then they themselves also
will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry, or thirsty, or a stranger,
or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not take care of You?’ 45 “Then
He will answer them, ‘Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did not do
it to one of the least of
these, you did not do it to Me.
