Commentary by Susan Brinkmann, OCDS
Staff Writer
Two dramatically different stories appearing in today’s news present a tragic example of how differently persons with disabilities are regarded in today’s culture.
In one story, a man drowned while saving a son with Down Syndrome who had fallen into a septic tank. In another case on the other side of the Atlantic, a UK court began hearing the case of a mother who drowned her daughter because she was embarrassed by her cerebral palsy.
In a report appearing on LifeSiteNews today, a 66 year-old Virginia resident, Thomas VanderWoude, died in an attempt to save his 20 year-old disabled son, Joseph, who had fallen into a septic tank on the family’s property. Joseph, the youngest of seven sons, was working in the yard when he fell through a septic tank cover that had suddenly collapsed. Thomas immediately jumped in after his son and managed to hold his son’s head about the surface, saving his life.
However, by the time two men were able to pull Thomas out of the tank, he had been underwater for almost 20 minutes and was pronounced dead at a local hospital. Young Joseph is currently in critical condition at Prince William hospital.
The president of nearby Christendom College, where VanderWoude once served as athletic director, told LifeSiteNews that he attributed Thomas’ bravery in part to his intense faith.
“It was a heroic death,” said Dr. Timothy O’Donnell. He also noted that VanderWoude, a daily communicant, died on the feast of the birthday of Mary, to whom he always had “an intense devotion.”
A friend of the family, Adrienne Smith, said Thomas always had a special affection for his son. “Always at his side was his youngest son, disabled by Down’s syndrome,” said Smith. “This man went everywhere with his son, letting him ramble around campus and make new friends. He always knew what his son was doing and where he was going.
“Oftentimes I would see these two, walking and talking as if there were nothing else in the world. I noticed his face was lit up each time his son was rattling about his thoughts. He loved his son dearly.”
At about the same time that this heroic act of selfless love was taking place, a UK court began hearing the case of a mother who allegedly drowned her disabled daughter in the family bathtub because she was ashamed and embarrassed by the girl’s cerebral palsy.
According to London’s Telegraph, prosecutor Michael Chambers said that on Nov. 26, 2007 Joanne Hill prepared to give her four year-old daughter, Naomi, a bath.
“When the bath was full she told Naomi she was having a bath, but Naomi didn’t want one,” the prosecutor said. “The defendant carried her upstairs and undressed her. The defendant put her in the bath and drowned her by holding her head under the water for a long time until she was dead.”
According to testimony, Joanne then put her daughter’s clothes back on and after driving around for eight hours while intoxicated, entered the hospital claiming her daughter was unconscious. She was arrested at the hospital an hour later on suspicion of murder.
“The defendant couldn’t cope with caring for Naomi and left a lot of the everyday care to her husband Simon,” said Chambers.
A representative of the organization that babysat for Naomi reiterated this point, saying that Joanne was ashamed of Naomi and used to dress her in ways that would hide her disability.
Chambers also told the court that Joanne’s claims of mental problems as a reduced responsibility defense have not been “entirely honest”, describing how she had admitted to lying to doctors about voices in her head.
“She quite simply wanted Naomi dead,” said Chambers.
These two stories are worlds apart in more ways than one. One story exemplifies the self-sacrificing love of Jesus Christ while the other reflects a utilitarian world view where a person is deemed worthy of life only if they meet soemone else’s idea of worthiness. Together, these tragically different stories make something abundantly clear.
The world is in dire need of Christians willing to spread the saving message of Jesus Christ because the culture war is much more than just a catchy slogan.
It’s a matter of life or death.
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