raw piety

By Diogenes ( articles ) | Mar 30, 2005

The National Catholic Reporter, like most of the Catholic Left, has been abnormally tongue-tied on the Schiavo affair. Hearing editor Tom Roberts's embarrassed language on the matter, it's hard to avoid the impression that concern for un-pretty people is in deplorable taste, and, not to put too fine a point on it, lower class:

Joe Feuerherd's reporting on the Terri Schiavo case is worth the time even if, by now, you think you don't want to hear or read another word about it. Why? Because his reporting goes in a different direction from the 24/7 onslaught of emotionalism, raw piety and three-year-old video clips of a woman in a sad and desperate situation. Whatever happens in this case -- and it is uncertain at the time of this writing -- it is clear that such matters are far more complex than any collection of sound bites. It is also a certainty that medical technology will continue to hand us these awful dilemmas. It’s important that we continue to educate ourselves, to hear from our tradition as well as our ethicists and to learn how to think about these things.

Three-year-old video clips! -- let's move on to the plight of Cuban transsexuals. It's important, insists Roberts, that we "to learn how to think about these things", the most important point being that Susan Sarandon will not be starring in an NBC mini-series in the role of Terri Schiavo.