What About Compassion For The Victim’s Families?
The families of the victims of the 1988 terrorist bombing of Pan Am flight 103 watched in disbelief and horror as the monster responsible for the attack was just released from a Scottish prison on “compassionate grounds.” Scottish Justice Kenny Macaskill freed Abdel Baset al-Megrahi, who was serving a life sentence, because he reportedly has terminal prostate cancer and was no longer deemed a threat to society. According to Scottish law, a political prisoner can be granted a compassionate release in cases of terminal illness and be allowed to return to die in his home country.
What about compassion for the victim’s families? How morally askew are we that we can muster up any compassion for a monster who destroyed the lives of 270 innocent victims in one fell swoop? Where is the outrage over this? Yes, I understand that President Obama has spoken out against the release- but I believe that the international community had the power to prevent this, but simply chose not to.
Showing compassion for terrorists, and making elaborate arguments that “they are victims too” seems to be the new trend in some political circles. Perhaps this “empathy” is demonstrated to show others how emotionally evolved they are. But in my view, those who commit terrorist acts are deserved of nothing- whether they have a terminal illness or not.
Think about all the mothers, fathers, brothers, and sisters who mourn the lives of their loved ones every day. What an unbelievable slap in the face in must have been to watch this evil monster walk off a plane and receive a hero’s welcome in his homeland after committing an act of unbelievable ill. And as for his “terminal cancer”- I was expecting to see him rolled off the plane in a stretcher. Rather, I saw a man proudly saunter off the plane like a rock star, as he smiled broadly and greeted all of his fans. Revolting.
How could the Scottish government have enabled the occurrence of such a profound injustice? What kind of message is this sending out to our enemies who continually plot ways to terrorize and ultimately destroy us? How many more terrorist attacks will we have to endure before we are willing to be morally definitive and call out evil for what it is- evil?
My thoughts and prayers are with the victim’s families and friends at this time.
January 30th, 2010 at 5:03 pm
Well said, and good for you for saying it. Where is the concern, when do these evolved folks spare a thought for the civil liberties and human rights of Nicholas Berg or Daniel Pearl, or any of the huge numbers of family members and victims themselves, who must live with the wanton cruelty of terrorists viciousness for the rest of their lives. Indeed, it seems at times like the elites of Western societies have lost their healthy moral instincts. The creed of forgiveness, an idea that certainly has merit in some cases, has been embraced instead to an automatic and absurd degree that, instead of being truly spiritual, makes it meaningless. People of true depth understand that some crimes only God can forgive.
March 11th, 2010 at 10:32 am
Well said, and good for you for saying it. Where is the concern, when do these evolved folks spare a thought for the civil liberties and human rights of Nicholas Berg or Daniel Pearl, or any of the huge numbers of family members and victims themselves, who must live with the wanton cruelty of terrorists viciousness for the rest of their lives. Indeed, it seems at times like the elites of Western societies have lost their healthy moral instincts. Thr creed of forgiveness, an idea that certainly has merit in some cases, has been embraced instead to an automatic and absurd degree that, instead of being truly spiritual, makes it meaningless. People of true depth understand that some crimes only Gor can forgive.;