Wrapping it Up

It should have become obvious to anyone who drops by regularly that this site (williamluse.com/apologia) languishes in a condition fast approaching the moribund. This is due to the fact that I'm tired of the worldly wars, and of contentious Christians (which would include me, wouldn't it?); of the unabated degeneration of our once (at least moderately) Christian society in whose future I see little room for Christianity; of a supposedly Christian president who is himself a slave to the political correctness of our times (look at the borders, look at airport security, affirmative action, women in war); of a country which gives the moral mediocrities we call judges such power as to confer upon others the right to commit murder, such power as to void legislation that would protect, for example, a baby from having its skull crushed by a forceps after all but its head has been delivered from its mother's womb; of a country in which no one goes to jail for this sort of thing; and of a world in which signs of hope for those who follow Him to whom 'all power in heaven and earth' has been given are - I almost used the cliché "few and far between", but in fact I can't remember the last time I saw one - virtually absent from the field of view.

I would like to be wrong, of course. So I come home from the Maryland tournament to see on TV the Pinellas County medical examiner delivering the results of Terri Schiavo's autopsy. And delivering it rather forcefully, I might add, to the degree that, as he bellowed his assurance that Terri had suffered no physical abuse, it seemed he was an advocate for Michael Schiavo. We learned other things as well: that she was working with about half a brain; that she was blind (a possibly recent occurrence, as the girl in those old videos clearly was not); that her heart was as healthy as a horse's; that she could not in all likelihood have been taught to swallow; and that she died not of starvation, but dehydration. (Well, don't you feel all better now that a man of science has drawn yet another distinction without a difference?)

The doctor's manner indicated he thought all this would surprise us, or put our minds at ease, when in fact none of it is either surprising or relevant. There was only one relevant question in the whole affair: was the withholding of a woman's tube-delivered food and water an act of murder? Don't worry; I won't go through it again, but simply offer the reminder that those of us who answered in the affirmative are in the distinct minority, and that the power of life and death remains in the hands of judges, some of whom would, in a sane society, have their offices stripped from them and their carcasses thrown in jail. In a sane society, state legislators - such as those in Florida - who even try to draft legislation relegating an entire class of disabled people to the status of inmates awaiting execution, who would turn the wards of our hospitals and hospices into death rows motivated by mercy and compassion rather than retribution, would themselves suffer some similar ignominy, such as impeachment, if they were not first tarred and feathered and run out of town on a rail. But, most truthfully, in a sane society they could never have been elected.

Eventually I turned off the TV and picked up a magazine which had arrived during my absence (National Review, I think) to find that a bill has passed the U.S. House of Representatives granting approval to the destruction of those 'leftover' in vitro embryos for the purpose of harvesting their stem cells, the same Krauthammer position I had attacked in a recent post. The bill passed because 50 morally deracinated Republicans lent it their support (what a marvelously Big Tent that party is, so tolerant, so inclusive), and they would not have done so did they not sense a good measure of public support. If it passed the House, it will almost certainly pass the Senate. I wonder if there are enough votes to override a presidential veto. I wonder what will happen if a Democrat is elected president.

In that same issue, NR paid a fond and sad farewell to Dennis Miller, the comedian whose CNBC show was cancelled. He was, we are told, "bright, informed, gifted, bold." And courageous, hanging out as he does in Hollywood. They left out "funny." They must have accidentally forgot. I found him especially hysterical when he wasn't supporting gay marriage and abortion rights.

Perhaps all these things are merely excuses masking the overriding feeling that I've pretty much said what I had to say, a feeling that began to take over toward the end of Holy Week 2005. I was done in by the death of a great Pope and the murmur of approval accompanying the worldwide witness to the murder of an innocent woman. Maybe some great fruit will be born of it far down the road, but, in the meantime, I've said what I had to say.

This site is paid up through July 27th or thereabouts, after which time it should disappear from the web. My apologies to Jeff Miller, who worked so hard setting it up. If it means anything, I learned a lot from him, about computer code, for example, but especially about one man's generosity. My apologies also to those who have linked here. I am in the process of transferring the archives to a free site so that any of you interested in doing some re-reading will be able to do so. If you don't want to link to it I won't be offended. Many of your comments have been preserved, a few lodged in the comment boxes, but most simply appended to the post itself. If I do any posting, it will most likely take the form of mediocre poetry, sentimental reminiscence, and possibly even some chapters of that novel I'd hoped to spend the summer revising but haven't been able to get to. I might even try some prayer. Those of you who think me too impious for that endeavor...are probably right. Give me enough time and I'll prove you wrong. There is always the possibility that something will annoy me into a more traditional post, but not much of one. Maybe I'll see you there now and then.