Comments on Obsolete: By their works they shall be judged.

I still think about Muadh...I'm not a relative...

2015-05-10T23:00:35.172+01:00

I still think about Muadh...I'm not a relative and I didn't know him personally but I can't imagine what he must have felt from the moment he was captured to his horrific death. I haven't seen the video but I have seen images of his immolation and it's left me questioning my faith and humanity. I hope he's resting in peace and I hope we can one day bring his murderers to justice and perhaps give them as much grief as they have to all their victims.

I don't disagree with anything you've said...

2015-02-08T21:44:23.028+00:00

I don't disagree with anything you've said, and I think if we were talking about the murder of someone recorded by a lone killer or killers, rather than a terrorist group, it would be a different story entirely. Then I could say yes, watching this has the potential to make you complicit in their crime. We're in different territory though when the very aim of these videos, beyond sating the bloodlust and depravity of some of their supporters, is to sow fear and hatred. Yes, the victim has been degraded and destroyed, but there is the possibility some good may still come from confronting the ideology which lies behind the wickedness shown. At least, in my view.

It's impressive that you've written so hon...

2015-02-08T19:11:18.653+00:00

It's impressive that you've written so honestly about such a difficult subject, but I'm not sure that I agree. Surely the fact that these grisly executions have been turned into videos adds a third dimension of injustice to them. We can see the victims' bodies being degraded and destroyed - they do not have the privacy and dignity in death which is surely everybody's right.

If I ever did watch one of these videos, it would probably be the twentieth or thirtieth Youtube (or whatever) video of the day. I would probably be very shocked and upset, before I clicked on the trailer for the next Jurassic Park and forgot all about it. This is not the most sensitive way for death to be represented. The state shouldn't ban these videos, but they should still be beyond the pale.