The Laughing Wolf

I Must Beg To Differ

In this column, the Fatherly Curmudgeon takes to task those -- like me -- who qualified comments in regards the death of the Pope. While he, as always, makes some very good points, I think he missed one. Consider that some of us may have refused to disrespect a good and complex man by reducing him to a one-dimensional cardboard cutout.

I acknowledged my disagreements with him as a way of acknowledging that he was a complex and dynamic man who deserves praise and full consideration, a consideration not possible in a short paragraph or three. Indeed, books will be deservedly written and will fail to do the topic justice.

Yes, we should speak well of the dead, but it is a mark of contempt to reduce them to a caricature in the process. The dead deserve better.

That said, I will acknowledge that most of the media coverage I have been avoiding does not seem to be doing this, but rather attacking and tearing down while pretending to say good things. On that score, I find Father Curmudgeon's word and position very well taken.

LW