Repentance
Friday June 22, 2007
A reader writes: Can I urge you to consider removing that post about the naked couple dying. I read it somewhere else with curiosity. But I would suggest that your heading and the comments don't pass the Christian charity test....
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About Crunchy Con
Rod Dreher is an editorial columnist for the Dallas Morning News, and author of "Crunchy Cons" (Crown Forum), a nonfiction book about conservatives, most of them religious, whose faith and political convictions sometimes put them at odds with mainstream conservatives. The views expressed in this blog are his own.
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Among adults, I like blunt, brutally HONEST speech with respect to evil people (Islamofascists), or even folks such as politicians who betray our trust with consciously vile choices for personal gain.
There is never, however, a good reason to use speech that causes needless pain or ridicule to related but innocent parties (e.g., parents). Nor is immorality ever acceptable.
So, Rod, I applaud your move in this case.
I applaud your reader for his/her sensitivity on this.
I'm sure some good has come of your original post, though. I know I wouldn't have seen this news item other than here, for instance, and I'm certain I'm not the only one of your readers who has formed the habit of praying, "Eternal rest grant unto them, O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon them, and may they rest in peace," whenever I read about a tragic or violent death, particularly one, as your reader points out, that objectively speaking poses danger to the deceased's immortal soul.
On a related matter, has anyone ever heard of "the Darwin Awards?" It's a collection of deaths caused by weird or stupid mistakes (the couple falling to their deaths could very well wind up in their next book); I always found the idea of those somewhat disturbing.
God bless.
Well said. I'm embarrassed to say that I saw the headline and laughed, and didnt think it through as this reader has.
Neil Postman said that TV inherently trivializes events, and that there was no catastrophe so tragic that it couldn't be followed (at a respectful distance) by a commercial. That's the world we live in now. There is no way you or I could die, no matter how horrible, that couldn't become wowie-zowie internet fodder, and be forgotten ten minutes later.
I replied in the original with a sarcastic remark because I found the casual attitude towards two people dying in such an especially horrible way totally offensive. There were even some snide remarks about their sinfulness if I remember correctly, absurd and utterly offensive in the most intimate extent. Television most definately desensitizes us, but that is never an excuse. Thank you for responding to your readers Rod, it will not be forgotten.
I support the emailer and the removal of the posts. As for the sinfulness of the couple, I didn't see anything in the original article that indicated the couple's relationship to each other. (Maybe that was reveiled elsewhere, but I didn't see it.) It's not like married people never do "crazy" things. Just a thought.
Good point, naturalmom, though I think that reckless disregard for one's own safety is also morally problematic and worth offering a prayer for.
a true 'do unto others' moment.
Lord have mercy.
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