As Terri Schiavo lay slowly dying, I'm struck by how, amongst all the punditry and debating about this story, no one to my knowledge has brought up the fact that we, as a culture, have a love/hate relationship with death itself. We fear it, yet are fascinated by it at the same time. You know, there's a cliché in the media, and I'm sure you've all heard it before that, "if it bleeds, it leads". Sure, one can argue that it's an important case that deserves the attention it's getting, but let's cut through the bullshit. We're a God-fearing Christian nation of looky-loos who just can't get enough of the grim reaper's work. We want our apocalypse and we want it now! And all the better, if we get to watch it on the tee vee. Whether it's to see someone whither away and die like some slow-motion lethally injected death row inmate, or to watch the carnage and aftermath of the most recent school shooting, we can't get enough of death. After all, who doesn't love watching a police chase live on the news, because maybe we'll actually get to see somebody bite the dust. Cool! We love to participate vicariously as jurors and pundits in whatever murder trial-of-the-week happens to be on the news. We love murder stories, crime scene investigations, serial killers, terrorists, war, and all manner of death and destruction because it makes life less boring. We wait patiently for the end of the world. From the safety of our homes, we can participate and fantasize about the most horrific things, and experience them knowing that it isn't happening to us. Hitchcock knew this well and manipulated us for it. And so does our media, so you can't blame them for what's going on, as they're just a reflection of who we are as human beings; a mirror of the dark side of our own collective soul. After all, they do have to sell that soap to pay the bills.

Of course, Christian fundamentalists are the experts on death and destruction, and really, isn't that why they truly love God. After all, He kills more people everyday than the worst and most vile criminals man has ever produced, so they must get off on it. Look at the apocalyptic literature so popular these days. The synopsis: Billions and billions of people will suffer and die from the most horrible things you can possibly imagine. And Christians can't wait for it to happen. Because, like the tee vee viewer, they'll be spared. But they'll get a front row seat to the carnage. It'll be like the coolest movie ever. So, it's ironic then that so many Christian fundamentalists would jump into the Schiavo fray to try and keep her artificially alive, when if God had his way, she'd have died years ago. After all, it's man's interference that's kept her alive for so long. Why shouldn't she be allowed to go to the Lord. Why be afraid of her dying. Surely, if Heaven exists, then death's not so bad. But then, irony never was a Christian trait. Christianity doesn't rhyme with insanity for nothing, you know.

Much has been written about the hypocrisy and shamelessness of these so-called Christians, and their scumbag representatives in government using this tragic case for their own gain, so I'm not going to reiterate them here. However, if you want a good dose of reality and find out how deep the psychosis goes, then check out these articles:

No Life Support for You!
Tom DeLay Pulled the Plug on Dad
Persistent Legislative State

Meanwhile, I'll be watching television, and channel surfing the apocalypse. Should be a good show.

Oh, and happy fucking Easter.