If we close our eyes to the continuing existence of poverty in our nation, we are vulnerable to the accusation of spiritual blindness and moral insensitivity."

The Catholic writers said they "deplore the moral insensitivity to the plight of Mr. Rushdie and an ecumenical zeal that would appear to support repression."

Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan said at the time that Mr. Reagan displayed "a measure of moral insensitivity that we must not permit in our Presidency."

A Key to Social Change "These incidents involved European-American students who saw the issue of racial harassment as one of moral insensitivity," Mr. Glover said.

On the other hand, the technocratic triumphalism trumpeted by the Administration and the news media displays both an arrogance of power and a moral insensitivity that is all too reminiscent of the Vietnam era.