Justice and death
So now we've "delivered justice". So says Mr. Bush, and of course, if it's not obvious, we will repeat the word "terrorist" a half dozen times to convince you. What we will assuridly not do is mention the others who were killed, except maybe Mr. Zarqawi's "spiritual advisor", except to call them "associates". Well, then, they had it coming, didn't they?
And we will be grateful that this happened at a good time to distract everyone from those Marines, who really are just bad apples, so we can punish them in secret. And, of course, not only will it serve to continue to distract folks from the fact that they're being spied on, it will serve as yet another subject on which everyone must agree. We can be a little less afraid, now that he's gone, only not really, because our base state must be fear. If we're not afraid, of Terrorists, of being told we're Not Patriotic, of THEM, we might start demanding answers, and of course, that would only help the Enemy.
Except that whoever comes next, and sadly, someone almost certainly will, will now have a martyr to swear by and rally to. You would think that a man who claims to follow a 2000-year-old martyr would understand this.
We didn't bring justice to Iraq, and I fear noone will for a very long time. We brought more deaths. Death doesn't reconcile and it doesn't repent. It just is. It comes to every last one of us, some sooner, some later. Sometimes it's peaceful, and other times it's filled with pain. And none of that has to do with the goodness of the person involved. Infants die of disease, malnutrition, and even abuse. Murderers die in their beds surrounded by grandchildren. Sometimes the wicked flourish as the bay tree and the just man is persecuted. Sometimes the wicked are wicked because they were kept in a pressure cooker until they exploded.
And sometimes the just man is someone who sits down with the wickedness he has done and repents. The rabbis teach that the gateways of repentence and prayer are always open. The Christians teach that Paul was walking to Damascus when he was struck by the wrong he had done. In our own lifetime, some of the strongest attempts to bring Israelis and Palestinians to peace were attempted by "ex-terrorists" on both sides. We've lost the opportunity for anyone there to repent. We've lost the opportunity to show in the sunlight why this person was wrong in what he did. We've lost the opportunity to show the world that justice is not death.
Only, maybe, if we repent, we can find that opportunity again.
And we will be grateful that this happened at a good time to distract everyone from those Marines, who really are just bad apples, so we can punish them in secret. And, of course, not only will it serve to continue to distract folks from the fact that they're being spied on, it will serve as yet another subject on which everyone must agree. We can be a little less afraid, now that he's gone, only not really, because our base state must be fear. If we're not afraid, of Terrorists, of being told we're Not Patriotic, of THEM, we might start demanding answers, and of course, that would only help the Enemy.
Except that whoever comes next, and sadly, someone almost certainly will, will now have a martyr to swear by and rally to. You would think that a man who claims to follow a 2000-year-old martyr would understand this.
We didn't bring justice to Iraq, and I fear noone will for a very long time. We brought more deaths. Death doesn't reconcile and it doesn't repent. It just is. It comes to every last one of us, some sooner, some later. Sometimes it's peaceful, and other times it's filled with pain. And none of that has to do with the goodness of the person involved. Infants die of disease, malnutrition, and even abuse. Murderers die in their beds surrounded by grandchildren. Sometimes the wicked flourish as the bay tree and the just man is persecuted. Sometimes the wicked are wicked because they were kept in a pressure cooker until they exploded.
And sometimes the just man is someone who sits down with the wickedness he has done and repents. The rabbis teach that the gateways of repentence and prayer are always open. The Christians teach that Paul was walking to Damascus when he was struck by the wrong he had done. In our own lifetime, some of the strongest attempts to bring Israelis and Palestinians to peace were attempted by "ex-terrorists" on both sides. We've lost the opportunity for anyone there to repent. We've lost the opportunity to show in the sunlight why this person was wrong in what he did. We've lost the opportunity to show the world that justice is not death.
Only, maybe, if we repent, we can find that opportunity again.
posted by Plain Foolish | 6:58 AM
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