The Historical Significance of Jack Kevorkian

A high school student writing a paper about the historical significance of Jack Kevorkian recently contacted me. I hadn't considered that particular aspect of his sagabefore, and so I took some time answering her. I then made that question the topic of my current column in First Things:

It is too soon to answer what, if any, historical significance Kevorkian will have. I hope none.

If we are a moral society in one hundred years, he will be remembered -- if he is remembered at all -- as a cra...