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What I Realized When Jerry Falwell Died
14 years ago
Commission info here: http://www.furaffinity.net/journal/7685884/
Journal starts below this line:
Journal starts below this line:
Because it's still applicable today.
When a villain dies, it is not justice, but the result of human mortality. When a murderer is executed by the State holding him or her accountable for said crimes, it is not justice, but vengeance. Justice--TRUE justice--is what yields the greatest, most positive benefit for all.
When someone who you feel has committed atrocities finally passes, to celebrate that person's death shows callousness and a lack of compassion or a desire to understand. Actions that are quantifiably harmful are what should be despised--not the people behind such actions. Take a look at yourself; take a look at how complex, how multi-faceted you are. The life you've lived thus far, the lives you've touched for good or for ill, the choices you've made, the beliefs you've held in the past versus the beliefs you hold now. Everything about you that makes you uniquely you, analyze it, and understand how it all comes together to embody the whole that is You. Now, you understand and respect the same complex, multi-faceted nature in others close to you, do you not? You've seen yourself and others you know grow and develop and become better than you all were in the past, have you not? You therefore, I expect, can understand this potential in ALL human beings, no matter what mistakes any given person has made in his or her own life.
And I ask you, with this in mind, what would be better: A swift death in the name of "justice" of one who has wronged you and your in-group, or for that same individual to better themselves and seek redemption? Would it not be more beneficial for any person to develop to a point of positive contributions, to become well enough that one could act with quantifiably helpful results, instead of hurtful ones? What's done is done, and some mistakes can never be fully righted, but are you so bent on personifying evil that you want another complex, multi-faceted human being like yourself to be reduced to a single mindset and exceedingly limiting set of emotions so you can point your finger at this person and call him or her "BAD"? Is ANY human life REALLY that simplistic?
I hear a lot of talk about the families of victims finally having closure and peace, but such emotions are not reliant on external circumstances; they are reliant on internal maturity, on the ability to forgive, to find compassion, and to seek TRUE justice as I described above. True closure should come from finding a solution to a problem that infringes on the least amount of rights for everyone involved as possible while still achieving an outcome more positive than the status quo and that simultaneously rectifies to the best of the ability of everyone the wrong that had been committed. It's not an easy task, by any means, but nothing worth doing, having, or experiencing in life ever really is.
In short (tl;dr version:), hate the sin, not the sinner. A person can change and be better, but an action or idea is what it is. If you celebrate, celebrate that no more harm can come from him now, but do not celebrate that twisted and immature idea of vengeance which you mislabel as "justice." Peace.
When a villain dies, it is not justice, but the result of human mortality. When a murderer is executed by the State holding him or her accountable for said crimes, it is not justice, but vengeance. Justice--TRUE justice--is what yields the greatest, most positive benefit for all.
When someone who you feel has committed atrocities finally passes, to celebrate that person's death shows callousness and a lack of compassion or a desire to understand. Actions that are quantifiably harmful are what should be despised--not the people behind such actions. Take a look at yourself; take a look at how complex, how multi-faceted you are. The life you've lived thus far, the lives you've touched for good or for ill, the choices you've made, the beliefs you've held in the past versus the beliefs you hold now. Everything about you that makes you uniquely you, analyze it, and understand how it all comes together to embody the whole that is You. Now, you understand and respect the same complex, multi-faceted nature in others close to you, do you not? You've seen yourself and others you know grow and develop and become better than you all were in the past, have you not? You therefore, I expect, can understand this potential in ALL human beings, no matter what mistakes any given person has made in his or her own life.
And I ask you, with this in mind, what would be better: A swift death in the name of "justice" of one who has wronged you and your in-group, or for that same individual to better themselves and seek redemption? Would it not be more beneficial for any person to develop to a point of positive contributions, to become well enough that one could act with quantifiably helpful results, instead of hurtful ones? What's done is done, and some mistakes can never be fully righted, but are you so bent on personifying evil that you want another complex, multi-faceted human being like yourself to be reduced to a single mindset and exceedingly limiting set of emotions so you can point your finger at this person and call him or her "BAD"? Is ANY human life REALLY that simplistic?
I hear a lot of talk about the families of victims finally having closure and peace, but such emotions are not reliant on external circumstances; they are reliant on internal maturity, on the ability to forgive, to find compassion, and to seek TRUE justice as I described above. True closure should come from finding a solution to a problem that infringes on the least amount of rights for everyone involved as possible while still achieving an outcome more positive than the status quo and that simultaneously rectifies to the best of the ability of everyone the wrong that had been committed. It's not an easy task, by any means, but nothing worth doing, having, or experiencing in life ever really is.
In short (tl;dr version:), hate the sin, not the sinner. A person can change and be better, but an action or idea is what it is. If you celebrate, celebrate that no more harm can come from him now, but do not celebrate that twisted and immature idea of vengeance which you mislabel as "justice." Peace.
Malcolm's "You Oughtta Know" Artists:
That is why we need Speakers of the Dead, people who find out the truth of the lives of others, who tell them at funerals. Not 'This was a bad man', or 'This was a good man', for neither is accurate, as we are all flawed, all balanced, all merely mortal men. Sing not an eulogy denouncing their sins or reveling in their virtues, but speak instead the story of their life, how they lived, why they were the way they were, who and how and when and where and why they became what they became until they died.