In the most despicible piece of opportunistic trash I've read in many years, Richard Schwartz, the president of Jewish Vegetarians of North America has weighed in on the Terri Schiavo case:
Editor, the Jewish Week
Dear Editor:
Stewart Ain's March 25 cover story "Schiavo Case Creates Ethical Debate" considers Judaism's strong teachings on the sanctity of every life and the importance of efforts to preserve human lives. As president of the Jewish Vegetarians of North America (JVNA), I respectfully believe that we are not adequately considering these teachings with regard to our diets. Every year, about 1.5 million people die from heart disease, various forms of cancer, and other diseases that have been conclusively linked to animal-based diets. An estimated 20 millon people die from hunger and its effects worldwide annually while 70% of the grain produced in the United States and almost 40% worldwide is fed to animals destined for slaughter. Modern intensive animal-based agriculture contributes significantly to many threats to humanity, including global warming, widening water shortages, erosion and depletion of soil, and destruction of tropical rain forests, coral reefs, and other valuable habitats.
So, to best fulfill Jewish teachings on the sanctity of life, and for our health and that of our imperiled planet, it is important that a switch toward plant-based diets be considered.
Very truly yours,
Richard H. Schwartz
It's not simply that JVNA is a marginal group, which it surely is; JVNA is led by a dogmatic ideologue who, the more I read of his work, the more I become convinced is insane.
The lesson of the Terri Schiavo case is clear and it is not to eat more veggies:
Do not starve to death or otherwise kill severely disabled people. They are no less human than, and deserve the same protections as, you or I.
Get it, Richard?