MaxedOutMama
Thursday, February 24, 2005
An Exceedingly Strange Man
George Felos is the attorney representing Michael Schiavo. He believes strongly in the right to refuse medical treatment, as I do, but he takes things a lot further than I do. I believe that human beings have inherent rights of self-determination and that the courts should not force a person who has knowingly rejected a treatment to undergo the treatment. Felos believes in something else.
George Felos apparently thinks he connected with the soul of Estelle Browning (his first big feeding tube case) and determined her wishes. He wrote a book in which he says so, according to a number of sources, including the book's publisher. So it can't be a fabrication:
Oh wait - Hitler thought the Jews had to die for the good of Aryan race - this man thinks they had to die for the good of the ENTIRE human race. I guess that could be a meaningful distinction, but it isn't to me.
I'm having difficulty comprehending those who see the withdrawal of Terri's tube as a defense of the inherent dignity of a human being. Felos does seem to genuinely believe he is fighting on behalf of those who are unable to choose for themselves. He is very much into the right-to-die cause. This is from his bio at the speaker's bureau:
George Felos apparently thinks he connected with the soul of Estelle Browning (his first big feeding tube case) and determined her wishes. He wrote a book in which he says so, according to a number of sources, including the book's publisher. So it can't be a fabrication:
Such a deep, dark, silent blue. I stared as far into her eyes as I could, hoping to sense some glimmer of understanding, some hint of awareness. The deeper I dove, the darker became the blue, until the blue became the black of some bottomless lake. "Mrs. Browning, do you want to die ... do you want to die?" I nearly shouted as I continued to peer into her pools of strikingly beautiful but incognizant blue. It felt so eerie. Her eyes were wide open and crystal clear, but instead of the warmth of lucidity, they burned with the ice of expressionlessness.This struck me as being odd, so I searched for more (I had found the title of the book at a website blurb for George Felos as a speaker). I came up with this quote in a journal opposing the withdrawal of the feeding tube:
Chapter Eight, “Soul-Speak”This same quote is all over in Catholic publications and other websites. Continuing the hunt, I ran into this at Catholic Citizens:
“As I continued to stay beside Mrs. Browning at her nursing home bed, I felt my mind relax and my weight sink into the ground. I began to feel light-headed as I became more reposed. Although feeling like I could drift into sleep, I also experienced a sense of heightened awareness. As Mrs. Browning lay motionless before my gaze, I suddenly heard a loud, deep moan and scream and wondered if the nursing home personnel heard it and would respond to the unfortunate resident. In the next moment, as this cry of pain and torment continued, I realized it was Mrs. Browning. I felt the mid-section of my body open and noticed a strange quality to the light in the room. I sensed her soul in agony. As she screamed I heard her say, in confusion, ‘Why am I still here … why am I here?’ My soul touched hers and in some way I communicated that she was still locked in her body. I promised I would do everything in my power to gain the release her soul cried for. With that the screaming immediately stopped. I felt like I was back in my head again, the room resumed its normal appearance, and Mrs. Browning, as she had throughout this experience, lay silent.” (73)
George Felos' book, "Litigation as Spiritual Practice" (Blue Dolphin Publishing, 2002) contains the following quotes.My mind can't conceive of an uplifting Holocaust. It just can't. I doubt I could force myself to embrace that concept at gunpoint. Nor can I imagine how anyone could say that the Jewish people agreed to "play the role of the lamb whose slaughter was necessary to shock humanity into a new moral consciousness". I am losing my self-control!!! How can anyone write this? How is this any different from how Hitler and his pack of racial supremicists saw the matter?
About the Jews, George Felos wrote, "The Jewish people, long ago in their collective consciousness, agreed to play the role of the lamb whose slaughter was necessary to shock humanity into a new moral consciousness. Their sacrifice saved humanity at the brink of extinction and propelled us into a new age." (pg 240)
Felos further wrote, "If our minds can conceive of an uplifting Holocaust, can it be so diffucult to look another way at the slights and injuries and abuses we perceive were inflicted upon us?" (pg 240)
Oh wait - Hitler thought the Jews had to die for the good of Aryan race - this man thinks they had to die for the good of the ENTIRE human race. I guess that could be a meaningful distinction, but it isn't to me.
I'm having difficulty comprehending those who see the withdrawal of Terri's tube as a defense of the inherent dignity of a human being. Felos does seem to genuinely believe he is fighting on behalf of those who are unable to choose for themselves. He is very much into the right-to-die cause. This is from his bio at the speaker's bureau:
Felos is the creator of Meditation for Lawyers, the first-of-its-kind instructional course accredited for continuing legal education. His article by the same name has been published and posted in various journals.I would like to close this by saying that hospices do great work and I believe they do support the dignity of the individual.
Felos graduated from Boston University School of Law, has practiced in Pinellas County since 1978, was a founding member of the National Legal Advisors Committee on Choice in Dying, and served as Board Chair of The Hospice of the Florida Suncoast, the largest non-profit Hospice in the world.
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Honestly, MoM, it took a while for what you wrote to sink in- that is how stunning the Felos ideas are.
I will comment again, later. Right now, I'm just speechless.
I will comment again, later. Right now, I'm just speechless.
Bonnie - I had the instinct to avoid it when I saw it was supposed to win awards. I don't generally think much of the ones that Hollywood admires.
What, is it about euthanasia? Maybe Professor Singer makes a cameo appearance?
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What, is it about euthanasia? Maybe Professor Singer makes a cameo appearance?
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