Thanks Stephen

I was reading all the posts & couldn't quite think of what to say. I
agree with you here, though, & did not think (nor did Alison in her
response) that Ken was attacking those who disagreed with his position,
but that in pain he was trying to tell us why he has gone in that
direction.

After reading that article in The Guardian I am even more convinced
that there must be some 'way' between the black/white oppositions that
have caused so much pain, suffering here & elsewhere. I know I'd want
to be given some help to die in a situation like Terri Shiavo's, &
what's more she seems to have made that choice 15 years ago.

But of the personal pain all those close to her are suffering, there
are no words. Of the political posturing by people who have no problem
killing many others (& Ken was clear he did not join in such thinking
[if that's the term]), there's too much to say. But that these people
are willing to break the Constitution of their country to get their
way, that should frighten every USAmerican; that it doesn't is even
more frightening....

Doug


On 25-Mar-05, at 8:23 AM, Stephen Vincent wrote:

> Just for the record, Ann, it was my post - "A Rose for Emily and the
> Schindler Family"  (way back when) that unleashed a bunch here! All I
> can do
> - as well as maybe any of us - is to acknowledge Ken's obvious anguish.
> Obviously a hard time. And, at the same time, as people have also done
> is to
> (so far!) politely suggest not to mix anguish with lashing out, making
> judgments of others, etc. None of which relieves the anguish, but
> appears to
> add more burdens and consequences, as well as make compassion more
> difficult
> for any of us to express.
> I suspect Ken's desire to withdraw is an acknowledgement that his and
> resulting tempers are not going to solve the anguish. Indeed, time to
> chill.
>
> I wish the same could be said for all the anger surrounding the
> conditions
> of Terri Shiavo. God(?) knows the full extent of what this has already
> been
> released and what's to come. Maybe it's just another circus in the wax
> museum of Fox media & company (Madame T - as curator - could not be
> doing a
> better job. And if not Terrie's face, we have Michael Jackson, or the
> satanic hair cut of the boy who shot up his classmates), in the
> meantime, as
> tribal leaders are pointing out, President Bush has not made one public
> expression of sympathy for the the anguish of those families in Red
> Lake.
> Sadly, Bush seems permanently in his own museum, too.
>
> Nothing like Good Friday thoughts! It's actually a beautiful early
> sunny
> morning in SF - the wild parrots are squawking in and out of the
> palms, and
> the mourning stuffs are bubbling away.
>
> Thanks for the good post, Ann and others - and peace to you, Ken.
> And I will work hard on feeling compassion for Fox et al!
>
> Stephen V
>
>
>> Ken,
>> Noting your desire to "take it private." However, you've taken upon
>> yourself so many roles here, including that of conversation intiator,
>> subject determinator, judge, knower-of-facts, generalizer and victim.
>> You've pushed alot of my buttons with nearly every one of your posts,
>> and while you are feeling free to exercise your right to express
>> yourself, I have curbed mine in the attempt to keep this thread civil.
>>
>> You are not the only person in the world who has been alienated for
>> who
>> they are and for what they believe.
>>
>> You are not the only person in the world who has personal, intimate
>> experience with suicides and attempted suicides.
>>
>> Surely you have never had an abortion.
>>
>> You used this board to air out your anger and your judgmentalism and
>> now
>> when things are stirred up, you want to take it private.
>>
>> Sensitivity to others is what's missing in your thread. So ironic, as
>> that is the essential lament of your thread.
>>
>> Ann
>>
>> --
>> "The sweetest of all sounds is praise."
>>       -Xenophon
>>
>> ***
>> The Red Hibiscus   http://theredhibiscus.blogspirit.com/
>
>


Douglas Barbour
Department of English
University of Alberta
Edmonton  Alberta  T6G 2E5 Canada
(780) 436 3320
http://www.ualberta.ca/~dbarbour/dbhome.htm

He saw the dark as a ragged garment
spread out to air.
Through its rents and moth-holes
the silver light came pouring.

                Denise Levertov