I came to my head office today on the train via London (always fun) .
It's usually pretty speedy and BS5 morphs into Paddington in about 90 minutes but today that leg of the journey took three and a half hours owing to all trains within a sniff of Paddington being held on a red signal for 90 minutes.
This happened at Slough. There was not much to look at out of the window (or on the train really) so I read my new book and chilled out. It was quite fun to sit there and observe people getting excited and changing plans. I read a wadge of pages in my Oliver Cromwell biography and remained calm. And scoffed my sarnies!
As I was on the train the news came through about the Lockerbie bomber gaining compassionate release. I think this is the right decision and is decent (and dare I say it) Christian. The chap who made the decision made a decent statement to justify his choice and it was couched in humanitarianism. I know the Americans are largely aghast but I think the humanity should cut through that.
Here endeth a post that has seen rare seriousness on Blog BS5!
10 comments:
I agree with you about it being a very decent and right decision. Christian though, or just morally the right thing to do regardless of religion?
( Word verification is chibus. I wonder if that sort has ears?)
I was shocked that he was released, but when I heard his reasoning, the humanity of it, makes more of a statement against terrorism than I have ever heard.
Just very hard to hear this if I was a relative, I don't think I would be able to detach from the horror of my loss.
I agree with you about the decision.
The man is responsible for over 270 deaths...and he served 8 years!
He should have been slowly tortured for that length of time.
He doesn't deserve the right to die with his family, holding hands and praying. He deserves to die screaming with fear and agony.
Unfortunately a prison cell is the most inhumane legal option we have in this country...and we've just let him go home for a party...
I'm sure if someone brutally murdered your families, you'd be hard pressed to dig deep into your 'Christian' morality and forgive those who'd harmed them...
I think the guy should have been executed on the spot. Then all the pain and anguish these families are suffering now, would've had the chance to fade over time...
Absolutely wrong decision...
If you don't like that statement...forgive me.
Gotta agree with Suburbia. It’s a humanitarian decision and nowt to do with all that imaginary pals nonsense. Indeed it is a more moral decision if it comes out of humanitarianism than a belief in the supernatural.
Walsharoo, of course if something like Lockerbie had happened to a loved one of mine I would want the most appalling punishments visited on the perpetrator. But that is the difference between personal justice and state justice. The former is rooted in notions of vengeance; the latter is rooted in more dispassionate logic. A society run on notions of personal vengeance would descend into chaos. An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind.
In any case the evidence against him really is pretty circumstantial. And even if he is guilty, what about those that helped him? Given the nature of Libyan society, one has to assume he was ordered to do this by senior leaders – but there seems to be no interest in pursuing them.
Well here's some debate!
Walshy: first of all there's never any need to use the word 'forgive' in your comments here - we both know they are all made with integrity and that's pretty smart by me.
Yer-man is an A-rab and they are mostly a bit suspect anyhow.
Still, I think it was correct to let him out,albeit of a faith based or humanitarian basis. Also, if someone blew my brother up, I'd feel pretty pissed off, especially if they blew him up with his smart new laptop.
that last line was an attempt at humour...
We're all entitled to an opinion...but you're all wrong.
WRONG!
Wrrrrroooooooooooooooong! Hahahahaha...
Off to get my I Phone 3Gs 16 Gig today!
Indeed would be most alarming if my shiny laptop got sent to the other side also. Glad you're a wingman on that. Or not-wing-man depending on if they fall off.
'Yer-man is an A-rab and they are mostly a bit suspect anyhow'
Where did you learn to talk in such smooth diplomat-ese, eh?
would like to know more about your new iphone please- I have one and would like to know whether upgrading is a good idea... anyway I digress.
My comment is- I agree with you about the release and what D'ang says. Vengeance may feel good at the time but is the road to no-where in the end. If he is guilty he will be held to account by a much more robust justice system we could have ever have on this earth.
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