A Thought Experiment.

[An interview with an American bishop, early 2008.]

"Frankly, it's simple," the bishop said, shaking his head.

"The fact is, we are engaged in a kind of spiritual triage here. There's no point wasting time and energy on the hopeless cases. And, bluntly, they are hopeless: Schwarzenegger, Pelosi, Giuliani, Kerry, and the host of those like them. We can talk to them till we're blue in the face but they'll never listen. So why bother even reaching out privately? We have better uses for the stamp money.

As to denying communion, come on. They'll find the star-struck, or malcontents like Drinan and the Paulist Center or, more sadly, not a few bishops willing to cozy up to them and give them aid, comfort or at least a photo op.

At some point, you have to cut your losses, write them off and focus your resources on those who can be saved. That's what we're doing."

My question is this: How is the mindset in the above hypothetical any different from what we are effectively seeing on the ground today?