Truth Shall Not Return Void

That was a statement regarding the social conservatives stand on the Terri Schiavo matter in the comments yesterday.

I won't quibble with the concept, because I think it is a valid one. I think this mess has far surpassed diminishing returns, but that doesn't mean some benefits won't be reaped. It just means we probably could have done better spending the effort elsewhere.

My quibble is with the use of "truth" regarding the presentation of this case in the conservative, especially the socially conservative, blogosphere. I've read about this case on any number of blogs, but it wasn't until I transitioned away from the socially conservative pro-life sites that I heard facts instead of rhetoric and ideology.

It pisses me off! Truth seems to be lacking here. Instead I get innuendo and a lot of hypocrisy. People decrying that the medical experts need to spend 20 to 40 hours to properly judge her state are bringing forward video and audio from the Schindlers that last minutes and say it is conclusive proof. People committed to "limited government" are making vast expansions in power. People committed to the Bible and the Gospel are bearing false witness and lying by omission like nobody's business. I'm sick of people saying she isn't a vegetable when all the areas of her brain required for high function have dissolved.

I'm not saying the pro-lifers don't have a point. Life is worth defending, even Terri's life. The death she is facing is not a pleasant one. I will make no bones about either of those. But I'm saying that their righteous anger is, well, not quite so righteous as it appears. They have fought this down and dirty and I respect them less for it.

If you want to see it done right, then perhaps Donald Sensing, a methodist minister, is a good choice.

UPDATE: Here is thought. I suggest that Terri Shiavo's final days be rigorously and objectively documented in all their horrific glory for all posterity. Let people read how she died in explicit detail. If that doesn't change people's opinions about this sort of thing, nothing will. If she is going to die, let it be as a martyr.