Why I Do Care About Terry Schiavo - A Response
Why I Don't Care About Terry Schiavo
I consider this article rather insensitive. Yes, I agree that we should not allow our emotions to be manipulated by the media. Yes, I agree that the American media are making a sick, depraved circus of Terry's situation, like they do with just about everything else. And yes, it's no secret that I consider George W Bush and Co. to be a group of thoroughly evil human beings. It doesn't surprise me in the least that that government and its theocratic fascist constituency are exploiting Terry's situation to further their own political agenda, which they seem to be able to do with virtually any incident that occurs these days.
There's a difference though, between pointing out that people should most definitely not be exploiting Terry's situation for their own gain, and expressing indifference to Terry's suffering in itself. The fact that there are ghouls in the world who would use the plight of a starving, semi-comatose woman to further their own ends does not in any way deligitimise said woman's anguish. I don't believe, for the record, that Terry is or would be completely oblivious right now...I think she would be in a tremendous amount of fear, confusion, and pain. I don't want to wallow in those things for the sake of wallowing in them, but I do feel for this woman.
I don't think it's pandering to anybody for me to empathise with her, or that it's allowing myself to be led by the media. I simply feel concern for her and desire a positive end to her suffering, in whatever form that can come. I also would like the media circus to end as much as anyone, but I know sadly that it won't.
The other thing a lot of people need to consider is that given what life on this planet is going to be like for the next ten years or so I suspect, Terry will most likely be better off if she does die. I don't believe the world's going to be destroyed in the same sense that the Christian fundamentalists do...but I do believe that the current period corresponds with what virtually every culture on the planet has at one time or another predicted as being the end of society as we know it. That doesn't mean things aren't going to go on in some form...I think they will...but it's going to get a lot worse before it gets better. Terry should be allowed to go in peace.
I consider this article rather insensitive. Yes, I agree that we should not allow our emotions to be manipulated by the media. Yes, I agree that the American media are making a sick, depraved circus of Terry's situation, like they do with just about everything else. And yes, it's no secret that I consider George W Bush and Co. to be a group of thoroughly evil human beings. It doesn't surprise me in the least that that government and its theocratic fascist constituency are exploiting Terry's situation to further their own political agenda, which they seem to be able to do with virtually any incident that occurs these days.
There's a difference though, between pointing out that people should most definitely not be exploiting Terry's situation for their own gain, and expressing indifference to Terry's suffering in itself. The fact that there are ghouls in the world who would use the plight of a starving, semi-comatose woman to further their own ends does not in any way deligitimise said woman's anguish. I don't believe, for the record, that Terry is or would be completely oblivious right now...I think she would be in a tremendous amount of fear, confusion, and pain. I don't want to wallow in those things for the sake of wallowing in them, but I do feel for this woman.
I don't think it's pandering to anybody for me to empathise with her, or that it's allowing myself to be led by the media. I simply feel concern for her and desire a positive end to her suffering, in whatever form that can come. I also would like the media circus to end as much as anyone, but I know sadly that it won't.
The other thing a lot of people need to consider is that given what life on this planet is going to be like for the next ten years or so I suspect, Terry will most likely be better off if she does die. I don't believe the world's going to be destroyed in the same sense that the Christian fundamentalists do...but I do believe that the current period corresponds with what virtually every culture on the planet has at one time or another predicted as being the end of society as we know it. That doesn't mean things aren't going to go on in some form...I think they will...but it's going to get a lot worse before it gets better. Terry should be allowed to go in peace.
posted by Petrus at 2:11 PM
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