A Word For Brittany

Brittany with her husband, and shortly before her death.

  Brittany Maynard died the other day. She had terminal brain cancer and was slowly slipping away. She had forgotten the name of her husband, even though she still knew him and had been married just a short time.  She suffered increasingly long seizures and excruciating headaches and neck pain. She chose to end her life with dignity, instead of having the cancer take away her sense of self, and having her loved ones bear the agony of watching her slip slowly away, unaware of who they were. 
 "She died as she intended — peacefully in her bedroom, in the arms of her loved ones," said Sean Crowley, a spokesman for the advocacy group Compassion & Choices. Many people admired her choice. Others, such as myself, think that her decision was a personal one, and that she made it of her own free will. I think that she was a brave young woman who decided to take her final journey by her own hand. It should have ended there, with tributes to her life and a mourning period for her loved ones. But no.. that was not to be. As soon as her death was announced, the negative, hurtful comments started.
 "She was no hero!" wrote one person. "She was a coward! She had no right to take her own life!" said another. "Only God can make the decision to take a life!" 
 Really? Who are we to judge her? Who, in fact, has the right,  who is not going through what she was going through, to say anything about this young woman's decision? "Only God can make a decision to end a life?" Think about this for just a second.... if you believe that God influences all that we do, and that we are God's creations, did not God give her the free will to decide this? Humans take other lives every single day. They justify it through there legal systems. They justify it through the biblical 'eye for an eye', and yet they would condemn this poor young woman for seeking peaceful relief from her suffering. It seems to me that they are being more humane to convicted murderers than they are to someone who is in agony. I am so astonished at the condemnation by the people who claim to be holy and God fearing. I just don't understand their reasoning.
  Those who insist on judging this young woman on religious grounds, I refer you to your own bible.

Matthew 7:1 - 3 King James Version
 Judge not, that ye be not judged.
For what judgement ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measures ye mete, it shall be measured against you again.

 Now, I am far from a religious person, but when someone uses the bible and wraps themselves in scripture to cast aspersion on another, then I have to use a quote from the bible to try to make them see that they should not condemn another so easily. 

 This young woman's story broke my heart. I sorrow for her and her family, especially her husband, who knew the joys of being married to such a good woman for only a short time. 
  I know that there are those that will disagree with me, and that's alright. I just want people to understand that this woman thought that she was doing the best for her family and her, and I would like people to show some respect for her memory, and for her family.
  As always, I wish love and peace to all that wish it.

John Zaffino, November 5, 2014
Kent Lakes, New York