Sojourners Magazine’s Deafening Silence
March 24, 2005
Posted by Dan Edelen in : Counterculture, In the News Feedback : 12 comments
In light of one of the most critical issues of our day, in a decision that all Christians should be concerned with, this is what Jim Wallis and Sojourner’s Magazine—a magazine that bills itself as concerned with justice issues for those who have no voice— has to say about the starvation death of a brain-damaged woman in Florida:
Ironically, just today Sojourners put up a post on their main page discussing end of life issues (although it requires a free registration to their mailing list in order to read it.) Nothing in the article directly refers to Terri Schiavo, but does discuss the issue of “Persistent Vegetative State.” Sadly, the article does not seem to take any one position, entertaining all options.
Although the date on the post is 3/24/05, it was not there yesterday when I posted. And still, their search engine reveals no article hits on “Schiavo.” That nothing was published in the past about previous starvation/dehydration attempts against Terri still speaks volumes.
You’d think that Jim Wallis’s new post, “Human Life is a Gift from God,” would address the Schiavo case, but it’s actually an anti-capital punishment commentary. Wallis chooses to plead for leniency for criminals (with the rationale that some might actually not be), but chooses to make no commentary on the gift of life that is being cruelly taken from Terri Schiavo.
However, in what must be the most craven quote (and choice of quote to highlight) I’ve seen about the Schiavo case, the online version of Sojourners has this listed as their Quote of the Week:
The case is full of great ironies. A large part of Terri’s hospice costs are paid by Medicaid, a program that the administration and conservatives in Congress would sharply reduce. Some of her other expenses have been covered by the million-dollar proceeds of a malpractice suit - the kind of suit that President Bush has fought to scale back.
—NPR commentator Daniel Schorr
I don’t even know how to respond to Schorr or Sojourners in their decision to cast this as their “Quote of the Week.” It seems so bereft of morality, so ignorant of the humanity of Terri, as to defy comment.
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