#19287: Hank Fox — 03/21  at  02:58 AM
Despite the House of Bush Ascendant, I'm actually starting to feel hopeful again, lately.

Something I've noticed that happens if you stress an extremely religious person is that some degree of nuttiness (which they mask in polite company) comes out into the open.

That stress can be negative stress (distress), the result of being pushed or challenged strongly or repeatedly. Or it can be positive stress (which I've heard called eustress), the result of events which provide a greater sense of entitlement, success or control.

The godders are feelin' their oats, lately, reveling in what they see as a swelling trend toward the success of their agenda. And they're getting visibly nutty.

They're confident enough, in and out of Congress, that they're pushing this desperate bid to interfere in the Sciavo matter.

As a result of actions like this, I'm thinking that more and more U.S. citizens are starting to see the true rift between such people and themselves.

They're thinking stuff like "What if this was my grandmother, or my wife or husband, and I had to live with them brain dead for years, while the medical bills stacked up and ripped the guts out of my kids' college plans? What if it was ME, and my wife and kids had to suffer while I lay there for all that time?"

"If they can take family medical decisions away from this Sciavo guy, what will stop them from taking 'em away from me and my family?"

The flip side of Congress getting involved in this thing is that Scott Sciavo suddenly has a national microphone to say what he thinks and feels about what's happening. And he seems to be coming across overall as a reasonable guy with a strong streak of compassion.

And when you get right down to it, I think most Americans see death as a mercy, compared to being indefinitely hooked up to machines.

Even if the Republicans and the godders win this thing, what they win is the image of a husband trapped in never-ending anguish, a couple of pathetically hopeful parents who continue to hover over the shell of the daughter they can never have again, and the enduring, horrible picture of a braindead woman trapped forever in a mechanically-assisted half-life.

#19290: Ben — 03/21  at  04:34 AM
"Scott Sciavo"? Freudian slip?

#19310: Hank Fox — 03/21  at  11:22 AM
Argh! Curse this 52-year-old brain of mine!

Michael! Michael Schiavo!

(And I work at a newspaper; you'd think I could get it right.)

#19336: — 03/21  at  06:02 PM
At the blog linked by PZ, there's a suggestion to go door to door and convince people that their religious beliefs are wrong.

This reminded me of something from Australian television: John Safran in his series "John Safran Vs God", wearing white shirt, black pants and name tag, door-knocking Mormons in Salt Lake City, asking if he could speak to them about Charles Darwin and the theory of evolution. "How about a reading from the good book: Charles Darwin's theory of evolution?" "Did you know that when you die your body decomposes and returns to the elements?"

At least one person turned the hose on him.

(He also went to Sheikh Omar Bakri in London & got a fatwah placed on a TV host who he had a petty grudge against... but don't worry, he had it rescinded later by admitting to the mullah that he'd made up the things supposedly said by the accused, such as "Don't be a jerker, take off your burka" and "Forget halal - get some pork on your fork!" And this was all on publicly funded TV... thankfully the theocratic forces in this country are not as strong as in the US.)