I have never agreed with John Donne that "any man's death diminishes me".
I am in no sense diminished by the death of Osama bin Laden. Rather the reverse. My life - and, more importantly, those of my children and grand-child - will be made more secure by his death.
But, as a "piece of the continent", I do feel diminished by the triumphalism which has followed his assassination by the US.
It is not clear to me that he has been brought to justice. He may have got his just deserts; but that is not the same thing at all. And I think that the deliberate obsfucation of the two concepts is wrong.
So, too, are the overt celebrations of his death. They are understandable, especially amongst New Yorkers and those who lost family and friends in the attacks. But they are wrong.
What diminishes us, because we are "involved in mankind", is the sense of pleasure we take in any man's death.
Yes, even bin Laden's.
Today's listening: People's Persons, Simple Shapes. I missed them in Wilde's on Easter Sunday because I was watching the Sox, and I'm not sure that was the right decision. (That's high praise!)
I am in no sense diminished by the death of Osama bin Laden. Rather the reverse. My life - and, more importantly, those of my children and grand-child - will be made more secure by his death.
But, as a "piece of the continent", I do feel diminished by the triumphalism which has followed his assassination by the US.
It is not clear to me that he has been brought to justice. He may have got his just deserts; but that is not the same thing at all. And I think that the deliberate obsfucation of the two concepts is wrong.
So, too, are the overt celebrations of his death. They are understandable, especially amongst New Yorkers and those who lost family and friends in the attacks. But they are wrong.
What diminishes us, because we are "involved in mankind", is the sense of pleasure we take in any man's death.
Yes, even bin Laden's.
Today's listening: People's Persons, Simple Shapes. I missed them in Wilde's on Easter Sunday because I was watching the Sox, and I'm not sure that was the right decision. (That's high praise!)
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