M ost editors see-saw on this issue, depending on the circumstances. Either approach, however, retains the modern veil over death. I confess to having done so frequently. Oddly enough, even obituaries in print frequently avoid mention of how the person died. Journalists, even those in the Christian Science tradition, are among the curious who spread our fingers for a peek.
Some editors keep the crack barely open for one squinting eye.
Others spread the fingers wide but retain the right to clamp them shut again when reality gets too threatening. N uland contends knowledge of how we die will help humans make choices about going through the door all must inevitably enter. He seeks to dispell our self-deception and disillusionment regarding death. Nuland, one might say, asks us to take our hands from our face and stop peeking at sanitized and disguised death. Exposure and understanding is our best tool.