Defeat

“A thing is not necessarily true because a man dies for it.”
-Oscar Wilde

The reason I love the Doctor, is because even in the face of all things, he pities his enemies. He does not take pleasure in their downfall, but rather sorrow that things led to that state. Sorrow that he could not save them, at his own failures that led to their corruption and responsibility that another way could not be found towards redemption.

Today, a man, almost definitely an evil man, by the very actions he committed in whatever name or cause he followed, is dead. I see the jubilation, the profane cheering, the hand shaking of congratulatory masturbation.

And you know? I pity him, and the state of affairs that led to his death being necessity, but I take no pleasure in the knowledge of it. Mourn the people lost due to his actions, vilify him if you must, but accept that the cost of a life is almost always too high to pay.

But more than that, I pity ourselves. I feel the sorrow in what we have become. In the knowledge that we take enjoyment and pleasure from this, rather than relief and guilt in that things led down this path.

Maybe we couldn't have stopped affairs from leading to this further down the line, maybe sometimes tolerance, negotiation and faith aren't enough.

I am not deluded to think that we live in a perfect world where we can solve things ideally, but I cannot countenance or accept anything but sorrow at the end of this.

A man is dead, it was necessary. Accept that and learn from the history of our own mistakes. And strive never to need it to be the solution again.