March 2010 Newsletter
Back to Main Newsletters Page"What arrogance to decree that, because we deem another's life not worth living, it must be ended. But that is the spirit, or spiritlessness, of the age. How far we have come from poor, backward, modest Hippocrates, who advised us: First do no harm. Ah, but how much more we have learned since his time. How much more advanced we are now! Yes, and how much we have forgotten. As knowledge has expanded, wisdom has shrunk."
-- Paul Greenberg, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist
Jewish World Review, March 6, 2006
Last week I was being interviewed for a program on a Catholic radio station in the Midwest. I always enjoy media interviews because you never know what kinds of questions will be directed at you.
It's common when I'm talking about abortion and euthanasia that someone will raise the issue of human suffering. After all, preventing or avoiding human suffering is so often cited as the reason why abortion and euthanasia must be permitted. The host of the radio program asked me, "Why is it that our culture, with all of its knowledge and resources and experience, seems to have such a difficult time dealing with the reality of suffering?" I found it a thought-provoking question.
We know that to experience suffering is to participate in something that is inherent to the human condition. Whether caused by physical, economic, or spiritual factors, suffering has been part of human life in every society throughout history.
But I think the point my host was trying to make is this: why does our modern society seem to have such a difficult time suffering well? Compared to previous ages, we have vastly more resources that can help alleviate, or at least mitigate, the various conditions of human suffering.
The examples are almost too numerous to list: advanced pain control technology; hospice care; better mechanisms for providing social services; centuries of accumulated knowledge and learning from the mistakes of others.
And yet, we're left with this irony: despite all our advances, some of our culture's "solutions" for the problem of suffering have more in common with ancient Sparta than with a modern democracy that claims to uphold human rights and dignity.
This month of March marks the 5th anniversary of the death of Terri Schiavo, the disabled Florida woman who was starved and dehydrated to death by court order. Just in recent weeks, new evidence has come to light showing how little we really understand about patients like Schiavo, who have been diagnosed as being in a "persistent vegetative state."
The New England Journal of Medicine reported February 18 on the results of a study conducted in England and Belgium of 54 patients who were in an unresponsive state due to serious brain injuries. The researchers used a technique known as "functional magnetic resonance imaging" which allows certain areas of the brain to be monitored for activity in response to questions or instructions given to the patient by others.
The study found that 5 of the 54 patients showed the ability to "willfully modulate their brain activity," causing researchers to conclude that some patients in a "vegetative or minimally conscious state" have "brain activation reflecting some awareness and cognition."
One of the patients in the study was a 22-year-old male referred to as "Subject No. 23" who was in a vegetative state for 5 years after an automobile accident. He was asked a series of questions requiring simple "yes or no" answers. Since the "yes" response activates a different part of the brain than a "no" response, researchers were able to watch in amazement as Subject No. 23 correctly answered a series of questions that were unique to him, such as the name of his father, and how many siblings he had.
But will this valuable study lead us to make wiser decisions about how we treat the profoundly disabled among us? Not necessarily. We live in an age of dichotomy, where we have advanced far in knowledge but seem to have regressed in wisdom.
Our mission at Healing the Culture is to help fill the "wisdom deficit" that afflicts our culture. Our Life Principles curriculum teaches how we can suffer well - because we can't build an authentic Culture of Life without forthrightly addressing the issue of human suffering.
For example, one of our resources is a video series entitled Suffering and the God of Love. This 15-part series was professionally produced by EWTN and features our Board Chairman Fr. Robert Spitzer, who explains why God allows suffering and evil, and how we can grow through any type of suffering to achieve peace, happiness, and true freedom.
If you can help support our mission with a contribution of at least $100, we will send you a free copy of this powerful DVD. If you prefer it in VHS format, just let us know. This is a wonderful educational tool that you can share with family members and friends - and help change our culture one heart and one mind at a time.
Whatever amount you can afford to give, please help us fulfill our pro-life mission. Our work is so badly needed in this culture, and your financial support allows us to continue teaching important wisdom to many different audiences. Please give generously!
Thank you in advance for supporting our life-saving work.
Camille Pauley
President
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