We are people. The killing of people thrills us because
we relate to the victims. Even if we hate people, it is only because the
familiarity bred contempt.
Suffering and death are what it is to be mortal, but not
human. We suffer because things are wrong. We die when they are more wrong than
we can bear.
A tragic death saddens us more than the actual demise:
the end of life is simply the end of hope. A heroic death inspires us: the
sacrifice of the hero is glorious. A gruesome death disgusts us. A peaceful
death is what we expect and submissively hope for.
Death of itself is what it is whether tragic or heroic,
gruesome or peaceful. The corpses are bodies rendered soulless whether left mangled or pristine.
Death by disease, accident, animal attack, disaster or
old age is our mortality ground in the gears of the mechanical universe. It is
sheer physics. Death by murder or war is our humanity assailed in a cosmic
struggle of good against evil. It is the spiritual expressing itself
physically.
The killing of people in our legends and fiction is most
dramatic when at the hands of people. The killer may be a fairy or a monster or
an alien or a robot, but the evil must be that of a person, human or otherwise.
Protagonists kill antagonists. The killing may be an act
of revenge. It may be good against evil. It may be evil against evil or evil
against morally ambiguous victims of opportunity. The context does make all the
difference spiritually. Death is what it is physically regardless.
Good does not kill people… except to thwart or punish
evil. Murder is not in the heart of the righteous. Killing is justified when
good against evil. The killing began as murder in the hearts of the wicked.
Justice demands we reap what we sow.
The murders and wars in history are what make history
most interesting. Our favorite movies are horror or adventure stories about
murders and wars. The killing of people at the hands of people is the common
and recurring theme. We are mortal and only human… and as human beings, we are
thrilled by our mortality.
Death really is not anything people should place any grand emphasis on. People make the difference in all things. They give context to all things. Period. It's the people!
ReplyDeleteTotally. Life is but potential and death merely cessation. WHAT is done and WHAT results are the important things.
DeleteVery well said, the evil must be of a person indeed. Physics is boring and uninspiring, good against evil is what makes murder and war interesting. It is the battle of fire vs ice that inspires us as human beings.
ReplyDeleteYes, and the heat of passion and the cold of demise are best expressed by the themes of life and death. They summarize EVERYTHING about our struggle for personal realization.
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