
 |
|
February 10, 2012
Lisa M. Krieger: Man with defibrillator demands access to his own heart's information
David G. Savage: Why activists may not be in a hurry to have High Court rule on alternative marriage
February 9, 2012
Laura McMullen: 10 Least Expensive Public Schools for Out-of-State Students
Kimberly Palmer: How to actually enjoy -- relaxing, financially -- your vacation
February 8, 2012
Warren Richey: Why momentous Prop. 8 ruling might not satisfy gay-rights groups
Menachem Wecker: Though Controversial, LL.M.'s Can Lead to Specialized Legal Jobs
The Kosher Gourmet byDana Velden: Going to the bother of making soup? You know it better be good. This CREAM OF TOMATO SOUP certainly is! And it's a cinch to make, too (Includes techinques and serving secrets)
February 7, 2012
Frank J. Gaffney, Jr.: Caught off-guard? President's Super Bowl interview with Matt Lauer gives those who need a reason not to vote for him, a darn good one
Suzanne Bohan: Leaping lizards! Tiny reptiles advancing robot design
February 6, 2012
Jonathan Tobin: Iran Threatens Israel With Destruction, But the New York Times Doesn't Hear It
Jeffrey Fleishman: In newly democratic Egypt, tens of democracy activists jailed, to stand trial; their groups are 'threatening the stability of the homeland'
Julie Deardorff : Researchers say antioxidants may not be that effective and could do more harm than good
Mark Clayton: How did Anonymous hackers eavesdrop on FBI and Scotland Yard?
February 3, 2012
Edmund Sanders : Israeli official says Iran is creating missile that could reach East Coast of US
Victoria Kim: Immigrant-smuggling ring used black drivers to avoid racial profiling
February 2, 2012
Jim Carney: Wrong number call may have saved her life
Reza Kahlili : Ex-CIA spy in Iran's Revolutionary Guard: What Obama doesn't grasp about striking deals with Tehran
Tina Susman: For woodchuck rescuer, every day is Groundhog Day
February 1, 2012
Brian Bennett: US officials see increasing threat of domestic attack from Iran
Emily Brandon: How to Take Advantage of New 401(k) Fee Disclosures
January 31, 2012
January 30, 2012
Paul Richter and Ramin Mostaghim: Misreading Teheran's limits -- deadly and economically devastating as they may be -- is a risk administration, Europe seem willing to take
Suzanne Bohan: Warning: Nap-deprived tots missing more than sleep, study finds
Meg Handley: Banks Revamping Rewards Programs to Woo Customers
January 27, 2012
Caroline B. Glick: Obama: Of course I intend to prevent a nuclear holocaust . . . in a few months
Yochonon Donn: In liberal New York City, fervently-Orthodox Jews may soon be getting a district to call their own
Jeannine Stein: An inflated ego and thinking you're 'all that' doesn't just make others sick of you, it can make you ill
Katy Hopkins: New budget rules may affect how much money you get for college
January 26, 2012
Ed Koch: To the New York Times, calling for the murder of Jews by those capable of having their incitement taken seriously isn't news
Jeannine Stein: Mental illness struck one in five U.S. adults in 2010: Report
January 25, 2012
Richard Simon: House passes two bills endorsing the use of religious symbols at military memorials
Fred Weir: Putin: Multiethnic Russia cannot survive as a US-style 'melting pot'; must find its own way
Susan Johnston: 5 Sneaky Coupon Strategies Consumers Should Watch Out For
January 24, 2012
Carol Clark: The price of your soul: How your brain decides whether to 'sell out'
Caroline B. Glick: America lost most in 'Arab Spring'. Sadly, many voters still don't grasp the extent
Warren Richey: Drug criminal scores win in GPS ruling from conservative-leaning high court
Erika Bolstad: Black conservatives gather to talk about gaining strength
January 23, 2012
Melissa Dribben: Jewish voters to play a key role in Florida's Republican primary
Jordan Rau: In quest to grow, Catholic hospital system will announce this morning its break from church
Ali Safi: U.S. envoy gives Taliban terms for peace talks
January 19, 2012
January 18, 2012
January 17, 2012
Frank J. Gaffney Jr.: No-kidding red lines: U.S. response to an Iranian nuke may be bluster, but Israel's won't be
David G. Savage: They sued their principals after slandering them online --- now the cases are headed to the Supreme Court
David Francis: Where to Invest in 2012: With stocks expected to rebound, opportunity abounds for investors
January 13, 2012
Ben Lynfield: Israeli lawmakers move to annex Jewish Judea, one museum at a time
Alexia Elejalde-Ruiz: Thriving through touch: Gentle massage helps older people with low mobility improve in mind and body
January 12, 2012
Warren Richey: Landmark Supreme Court ruling a 'resounding win' for religious groups
Warren Richey: Supreme Court says no to new rule on eyewitness testimony
John Fauber : Statins found to raise diabetes risk in postmenopausal women
Katy Hopkins : Consider This Before You Pay for an Online Degree
The Kosher Gourmet by Joseph Erdos: This mushroom and barley soup has an intense -- almost nutty -- flavor that mixes robust with Middle East. It has creaminess without cream
January 11, 2012
Shari Roan: Millions of atrial fibrillation sufferers at risk for devastating, but preventable, stroke
Tom Hussain: Pakistan -- recipient of more than $21 billion in civilian and military aid -- speeds pursuit of Iranian pipeline, defying US
David G. Savage: High court signals it won't be loosening TV's 'indecency' rules
Stephen Ceasar: Oklahoma's Islamic law amendment can't go into effect, court rules
January 10, 2012
Reza Kahlili: From an ex-CIA spy: US must exploit new split in Iran's Revolutionary Guard
Karen Kaplan: Study: Nicotine replacement products ineffective when used in real-life situations
January 9, 2012
Michael Doyle: Put through legal hell over dream home, couple fought back hard --- all the way to Supreme Court
|
| |
Jewish World Review
April 1, 2005
/ 21 Adar II, 5765
A culture of life vs. a culture of death
By
Diana West
| 
|
|
|
|
http://www.JewishWorldReview.com |
What do Robert and Mary Schindler, Mansour al-Banna, Hanim Surucu
and Kofi Annan have in common? Absolutely nothing. Really. By
chance, though, they have all passed through, or, in the case of the
Schindlers, remained, in the spotlight of the news in recent days
because of their relationships with their children.
The Schindlers, of course, are the parents of Terri Schiavo. They
famously and fruitlessly labored to restore their 41-year-old
daughter's right to life after her husband-cum-guardian discovered
her right to death in the shadows and penumbras of his memory
seven years after her brain-damaging accident.
Mansour al-Banna is the Jordanian father of Raed al-Banna, who has
been identified as the perpetrator of the most lethal terrorist
bombing in Iraq. On Feb. 28, the 32-year-old al-Banna is believed to
have killed 132 people, injuring 120, outside a health clinic in
Hilla, 60 miles south of Bagdhad. According to the Middle East
Research Institute's analysis (on www.memri.org), the killer's
bereaved family celebrated with a party a 'wedding of the martyr'
to symbolize the son's wedding in paradise with 72 virgins that,
not incidentally, has ignited a diplomatic crisis with Iraq.
Hanim Surucu is the Turkish-born mother of the late Hatun Surucu,
who, on the night of Feb. 7, is believed to have become the sixth
victim of a so-called "honor killing" in Berlin in as many months.
German police have charged the 23-year-old Hatun's three brothers in
her slaying. The mother, "wearing an ankle-length green-and-blue
print dress and matching hijab," told the Los Angeles Times, "My
sons didn't do this. They went to work and then were taken away in
handcuffs."
United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan is the father of Kojo
Annan, who is at the reeking center of the oil-for-fraud scandal at
the United Nations. Annan pére doesn't really belong in this
parental lineup since his son is facing not death, but disgrace. But
Kofi's parental plan of attack is striking. As a London Telegraph
headline put it, "Annan will sacrifice son to save himself." So much
for Annan family values. Of course, no matter how big a zero Kojo
might be, Kofi isn't going to enhance his own reputation by trashing
his son's. But it's the thought that counts.
Kofi and Kojo aside, do these wholly disparate stories of parent
life and child death tell us anything? Again, these people have
nothing to do with one another except for the fact that none of
these adult children died a natural death. Terri was starved to
death at her husband's behest by the state; Raed was a family-feted
suicide-bomber; and Hatun was murdered, allegedly by her brothers,
to restore "honor" to her family. In other words, some considerable
measure of family approval sanctioned all these deaths. Their lives
were determined to be worse than their deaths.
Somehow, this combined experience put me in mind of something I
recall from an earlier year in the "war on terror." I can't recall
if it was in an Osama rant, a Zarqawi lament, or whether it was just
the rhetoric of some frothing jihadi on the Internet. But I do
remember taking pride in the blunt, cross-cultural attempt at a
put-down: "You love life the way we love death," it went.
You bet. Or so I thought. Maybe, after what Terry Schiavo, even in
her profoundly diminished state, has revealed about her fellow
citizens, it would have been more accurate for that jihadi to have
accused us of loving quality of life, a conditional state of being
that is none too categorical. And much less so than I thought back
when "mercy death" conjured up the release of a comatose,
machine-dependent, painwracked mortal to his maker not the
starvation of a brain-damaged lady who needed just three liquid
squares to make it through the day.
You love some life, the jihadi might have said, the way we love some
death for what is paradise without 72 virgins? A bad dream, to
say the least, but hardly worth the trouble of infidel-murder and
self-detonation. It is a paradox, surely, that the "martyr's"
afterlife in paradise is defined by fleshy rewards a brothel
everlasting while, in theory and in faith, a Western "culture of
life" on earth makes no physical promise. But a culture of the
quality of life may be something else again. It only loves some life
better than death. Which makes me wonder if it can ward off a
jihadi.
Every weekday JewishWorldReview.com publishes what many in in the media and Washington consider "must-reading". Sign up for the daily JWR update. It's free. Just click here.
JWR contributor Diana West is a columnist and editorial writer for the Washington Times. Comment by clicking here.
Diana West Archives
© 2005, Diana West
|
|

Arnold Ahlert
Mitch Albom
Jay Ambrose
Michael Barone
Barrywood
Tony Blankley
Lori Borgman
Stratfor Briefing
Mona Charen
Linda Chavez
Richard Z. Chesnoff
Ann Coulter
Greg Crosby
Alan Douglas
Larry Elder
Suzanne Fields
Frank J. Gaffney
Bernie Goldberg
Jonah Goldberg
Julia Gorin
Jonathan Gurwitz
Paul Greenberg
Argus Hamilton
Victor Davis Hanson
Betsy Hart
Ron Hart
Nat Hentoff
Marybeth Hicks
David Horowitz
Jeff Jacoby
Renee James
Paul Johnson
Jack Kelly
Ed Koch
Ch. Krauthammer
Michael Ledeen
John Leo
David Limbaugh
Kathryn Lopez
Rich Lowry
Michelle Malkin
Jackie Mason
Ann McFeatters
Dale McFeatters
Dana Milbank
Jeanne Moos
Dick Morris
Jim Mullen
Deroy Murdock
Judge A. Napolitano
Bill O'Reilly
Kathleen Parker
Star Parker
Dennis Prager
Wesley Pruden
Tom Purcell
Sharon Randall
Robert Robb
Cokie & Steve Roberts
Heather Robinson
Pat Sajak
Debra J. Saunders
Martin Schram
Culture Shlock
David Shribman
Roger Simon
Michael Smerconish
Thomas Sowell
Ben Stein
Mark Steyn
John Stossel
Cal Thomas
Dan Thomasson
Bob Tyrrell
Ben Wattenberg
Diana West
Dave Weinbaum
George Will
Walter Williams
Byron York
ZeitGeist
Mort Zuckerman

Robert Arial
Chuck Asay
Baloo
Chip Bok
Dry Bones
Lisa Benson
John Branch
John Cole
J. D. Crowe
John Deering
Brian Duffy
Everything's Relative
Mallard Fillmore
Glenn Foden
Jake Fuller
Bob Gorrel
Joe Heller
David Hitch
Jerry Holbert
Lee Judge
Steve Kelley
Jeff Koterba
Dick Locher
Jimmy Margulies
Rick McKee
Michael Ramirez
Kevin Siers
Jeff Stahler
Ed Stein
Danna Summers
John Trever
Gary Varvel
Kirk Walters

Mr. Know-It-All
Dr. Peter Gott
GET A JOB! by Marty Nemko
Richard Lederer
Frugal Living
Tech Maven
On Nutrition
Bookmark These
Bruce Williams
|