"Celebrating" Death

It might seem almost sadistic or obnoxious to even discuss such a topic. How can one even think of “celebrating" death? For the most part, the logic is "One does not have a right to take away, what one did not create." It follows, therefrom, that death must only be grieved. But we have different situations which call for celebration. For instance, when a soldier of a country takes the lives of the soldiers of his enemy country, it is often, if not

 Justice

There is within all of us a sense of “justice delivered” when a murderer is punished in some reciprocal manner. Sometimes, I have even read in the newspapers, the next of kin expressing satisfaction on a “closure” and on seeing justice done. So, to this goal, death may be “celebrated” as a way of bringing a feeling of justice to the victim’s next of kin. It could assist them to continue with their life; the life, which was disrupted by the perpetrator of the crime.

Compensation

Alison Des Forges from Human Rights Watch said in her writings of Rwanda, “Justice is not going to erase the memory of the crimes, but it will provide people with some level of closure. At least they’ll know it has been dealt with, it has been talked about, someone has been held responsible and perhaps even, ideally, the victim has received some form of compensation... It is very important that the truth be known, that the people who were killed be remembered and that their killers be acknowledged.”

Social defense

From another point of view, I look at capital punishment and celebration of the ensuing death, in some ways as selective bactericide. We, human beings living in a modern society define which bacteria are good for the health of human beings and which are not. We then carry our scientific research and finds systematic ways of killing these selected bacteria to protect the human body. Are all bacteria living things? Yes! Do we have a right to kill what we did not create? No. May be. Yes. When a new drug or technique or medical procedure is discovered for killing some of these unwanted bacteria, we do celebrate, don’t we. Let us ask ourselves - Is that not reason for celebration? We are celebrating the victory of human beings over undesirable or harmful bacteria and thereby protecting the human race. We even go the extent of giving some of these scientists, awards, recognition etc. when they find a drug for “tough” bacteria.

The question is what if these undesirable living things are human beings? By the same token, as previously discussed, we should take definite steps, to scientifically and professionally discover methods to isolate these “bacteria” and decimate them, in the interest of protecting the human race. Often times, the bacteria do not get to vote on this issue!

 Not Revenge or Hatred

I think it was Mahatma Gandhi who once said “If we all take an eye for an eye, the whole world will soon be blind”. Very true! Taking the life of a murderer will not bring back the victim to life. In that respect, I think all mature persons would agree.

However, if the death is intentional, planned and to achieve an objective other than revenge, and not a result of hatred, it could qualify for a celebration.

So, can we celebrate death? It depends!