Catchy title, eh? I only wish I had thought of it but it comes from a blog called Waiting For Godot to Leave written by Kevin O'Brian. You might remember him from some EWTN show or other. Two things bring this idea of the pornography of sentiment to mind. The first is me pushing an ancient Volkswagen back into a garage after it had conked out after only a block. The owner of said vehicle was looking at me with great concern and sympathy while i pushed the dead bug back to the garage. Her concern did not extend to opening the garage door, however. I had to stop pushing and do that myself. You see the utter disconnect between feeling and action?
The other thing I have been reading about is this ice bucket challenge and the various protests against it by animal rights activists. Apparently the fact that ALS research might harm Pamela Anderson's little furry friends is of more significance that the fact that this is funding embryonic stem cell research. Furry critters trump dead babies any day. I once called this the "cute and furry syndrome" but I like the "pornography of sentiment" much better. Thanks.
Just like the outrage over the seal cull -- unlike the lack of protests vis-a-vis slugs.
ReplyDeleteThis is a very serious and excellent post. I agree with it, but I disagree with Barona who says no one has protested the death of slugs. I have. One day from my bedroom window in Washington State I saw the most glorious slug crawl out of my compost pile. It was so huge I could see it from a distance, and it was colored like the rainbow. "What a beauty, I thought." I motioned my husband to the window to marvel with me and have the joy of seeing the glorious slug happily pulling himself along out of the compost pile (Yum, the compost not the slug.) My husband went to the sliding glass door, I thought he was going to take a closer look, but unknown to me he grabbed the salt in the kitchen. I got to the sliding glass door to marvel at the sight just as the slug began to melt. It was like he killed a baby kitten!
ReplyDeleteHowever, the fact that I can appreciate a lovely slug means that I can more forcefully disparage the horror of embryonic stem cell research, a useless and murderous activity. They are creating and destroying a tiny human being in such an experiment, and only adult stem cell research has brought about any cures. Perhaps in eternity they will recognize human life in such tiny stages of development as the real miracle that it is. They will look out their bedroom window, and marvel at the beauty of the tiny person, especially as he is made in the image of God, and in his flesh the tiny person is divinized, glorified and allowed to participate in the very Life of God Himself. Hope they make it that far. God bless you. Susan Fox www.christsfaithfulwitness.com