Perhaps you have heard, perhaps not, perhaps it is not even on your radar, but Jacintha Saldanha committed suicide last week. If you don't know, Ms. Saldanha was the nurse who took the hoax phone call from the Australian DJ's who were pretending to be part of the royal family to get information about the Duchess of Cambridge, Kate Middleton. This tragedy has created a debate on the appropriateness of this "prank" phone calls, which while predictable, misses the mark.
While not knowing the circumstances of Ms. Saldanha's life, or the pressures she might have felt following the hoax, the DJ's actions while questionable and perhaps objectionable is not the real problem, we are. You and I, the people who listen to these shows or who have created a cult of celebrity. The radio has become a forum of bad taste and objectionable behavior, gone are the days were you just turned on the radio to find out the news or listen to music. Now the radio is a platform for all sorts of reprehensible behavior from talk shows that seek to destroy political figures, to sports talk that spew venom against players, to music stations that create ridiculous contests.
Yet, while the radio, in its desire for ratings and niches, has sunk to the lowest common denominator, we as a society continue an insatiable desire to know more than we have a right to about others. From royal watchers, who spend their days documenting the activities of the royal family, British that is, to the paparazzi who hound stars, athletes and public officials seeking to get "the" photo. Why in the world do we need to know about these people? Why in the world do we actually buy the mags that cater to such behavior, or watch things like TMZ on tv or visit the websites that serve no other purpose but to cater to our infatuation with celebrity?
Sitting in the car dealership waiting room as my car was serviced, I watched the talking heads on the Today Show pontificate on the behavior of the DJ's and how despicable it was to make the prank phone call. In the very next segment, the very next segment mind you, they had an update on Duchess of Cambridge medical condition, including pictures of her leaving the hospital. Then they proceeded to show pictures of a baby of some celebrity, mind you the baby was literally a new born, like right out of the womb. Why do we need this information?
Why is it we do not see the connection here? When will we realize that our desires and our wants, or that we we believe we have a right to, can have disastrous impacts on the lives of others? Just because we have the "right" to know about the life of another, does not necessary mean we should. Just because there is a freedom of press or speech does not mean we need to abuse it.
As Christians, we have agreed to a covenant with God, a covenant in which we have agreed to limit ourselves. That is the essential part of the covenant, God agrees to love us and care for us and we agree to live by a different standard. Yes, we have the right to do certain things, but we choose to limit ourselves. Look at the excesses of the world, do we really need to understand why we should limit ourselves?
The response of this tragic suicide is the need for all of us to look in the mirror, no matter how painful it might be, and think of our own behavior that feeds to the sickness in our world.
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