Quick Take: John's Response

In our on-going discussion of the Terri Schiavo situation (which I promise I never had intended on writing very much about) John has posted an interesting and well-thought out response to my last post.

You can view it here.

I'm afraid I don't have time to respond right now (nor probably this weekend), however I will as soon as I'm able.

My quick thought is this: As I read through his piece I think he relies on many a distinction without a difference.

Secondly, I think John operates under assumptions about a variety of things that I don't think can be automatically inferred. Of course, ideology is defined by those things which we take as "obvious givens." But I still take issue with much of what he wrote.

Regarding the issue of anorexia, I must offer my apologies. I misinterpreted to what John was referring, in large part because I had somehow missed the accusations regarding eating disorders as a cause of Schiavo's condition in the first place (how I missed that, I do not know).

For what it's worth, Terri Schiavo's family maintains that allegations regarding an eating disorder are slanderous. That in itself isn't necessarily surprising, but also cannot be automatically discounted.

Anyway, more to come as time permits...