Arafat Dead

[Nym90]

It's one thing to look forward to what the world will be like after someone's death and to be happy about that.  It's certainly true that things can probably only get better now that Arafat is out of power and that certainly is a good thing.  There's absolutely nothing wrong about being happy about the changes that will occur as a result of Arafat's death.

However, it's another thing to actually be happy about the death itself.  If we start to celebrate death and to be happy at the thought of someone going to hell, the separation will grow ever fuzzier between us and the Palestinian children seen cheering after 9/11 that everyone decried so harshly (and no, I'm not equating Arafat's death with the deaths on 9/11, for anyone who wants to make that comment).

Should we mourn the death?  No, absolutely not, not unless you want to.  Respect certainly doesn't have to be shown when respect is not due.  You don't even have to stop hating someone after they've died, although it would be good for your blood pressure.  However, a death should not be something to be celebrated.

That said, flame away.  I know that most will disagree and will likely call me a terrorist sympathizer.

I agree completely. Death is always a bad thing in my opinion. Good things can come of it, but death in and of itself is never good.

[Nym90]

Gabu- I don't call you a terrorist sympathizer but I respectfully disagree that a death can never be celebrated. I think that good people can rationally celebrate a death when it might mean better things, e.x.: the death of Hitler. This should actually be phrased as, celebrating the thing that comes from a death.

Understand that the reason Arafat was such a disastrous leader is that he effectively snuffed out the hopes of his own people, whom he was supposed to be leading, choosing to take a hard line at his best opportunity in 35 years. After the 1993 Oslo agreements, he denounced terrorism, but he allowed suicide bombings by radical Islamic groups to derail the peace process. Then, he recieved a miraculous second chance at Camp David in 2000. However, instead of committing to a deal that would have saved 1,000s of lives, he was unable to see past his own suspicion or even to negoatiate seriously.

CARL- I also respectfully disagree. Chirac believes he is acting in France's interest. Although this may be contested, it would be by fewer people than would say that Bush's foreign policy has hurt America's interests around the world. Both men share the same penchant for unilateral action and lack of qualms about allying with authoritarian regimes when convenient.

And that's what's wrong with our foreign policy; we have to support democracy EVERYWHERE and dictatorship NOWHERE. If our foreign policy was more consistent and less hypocritical, we'd be much better liked and thus have a lot more financial and troop support when we do want to establish democracy.

[Nym90]

If you have so much hate in your heart that it chases someone beyond the grave, then you need to examine yourself.

Yes, I agree completely. Like I said, death is bad, though certainly good can come of it, but death in and of itself is not good.

And yes, hating dead people is pretty nonsensical.