Negotiate? Over murder?

This is from the St. Petersburg Times:

In other news Monday, Bishop Robert N. Lynch, head of the Diocese of St. Petersburg, issued a statement urging the two sides in the Schiavo case to come together to negotiate one last time to resolve their differences.

"I beg and pray that both sides might step back a little and allow some mediation in these final hours," Lynch said.

Mediation of what? Over what? "Well, how about if we delay her starvation until after Easter?"

The Florida bishops as a body were a little less stupid:

Also Monday, Florida's bishops issued a plea that Terri Schiavo "continues to receive all treatments and care that will be of benefit to her.''

It's obvious these guys haven't a clue of what's going on. Mediation happens over fender benders and financial matters. One does not mediate over life and death. (Imagine this conversation between Roosevelt and Hitler: R: "How about only 3 million Jews?" H: "No, no. You see, I need them all to disappear.") Death has a certain finality about it that is not mediatable.

Food is not "treatment." (We don't say, "Let's go to McDonald's and get some treatment," or, "I don't have much time. Let's stop at a fast-treatment joint.") It's the stuff of everyday life. Last I checked, food is "of benefit" to all living beings.

No wonder abortion remains rampant in this country. And no wonder euthanasia will soon follow -- at least legally. It's already done without fanfare on a regular basis. When bishops speak as ridiculously as this, moral death will overtake us all.