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On the Death of Monsters
Jun. 8th, 2023 06:18 pmSo an ancient evangelical with a huge amount of fame, wealth, and power died today. He was 93. And in those 93 years, he was a force for oppression in the world, and the world is marginally better without him. But he had his followers, and many current evangelical assholes learned at his feet. His ideology smoulders on, like a tire fire.
(it was Pat Robinson, BTW, but this post isn't about him specifically)
There's been this debate on social media the last decade or so when one of these creeps dies. Basically, don't speak ill of the dead on one side, and now is the perfect time to speak ill of him, because he deserves it. I'm generally on the latter side of that debate. I'm not interested in demonizing such people - to my mind an accurate description of them makes that unnecessary; and I'm certainly not going to sugarcoat it.
The debate itself is settling itself towards the latter. You still get the former (don't speak ill) types, but they're mostly not on the left anymore, whereas ten years ago it was a lot more popular. Now it's just the monster's defenders that call for this. Remember, when someone progressive dies, they're the first to demonize, so maybe don't buy into their bad faith bullshit.
The other big thing I've noticed, especially when the person is a preacher or preacher-adjacent, is a hope that they'll "get their just desserts" in the afterlife, or at least see the error of their ways when confronting god. I don't believe that, because there is no evidence for an afterlife. When we're dead, we're dead. The closest I might come to this reasoning is that I hope they had doubts or regrets that haunted them in their last seconds when their life passed before their eyes. I doubt it though - I think that requires at least a bit of empathy and self-reflection, and that's not a mental skill they spent any time exercising.
But, you know, if imagining such a person is suffering in hell makes you feel better, have at it. If you want to dance on their grave while singing "ding dong the witch is dead", go for it. It communicates to others that what they did is unacceptable, and it's likely cathartic. I'm not convinced it's healthy though, but I get it.
Maybe donate to a cause they'd hate instead? As ways of celebrating a terrible person's demise goes, it's better than just gnashing your teeth over the harm they've done and will never pay for.
(it was Pat Robinson, BTW, but this post isn't about him specifically)
There's been this debate on social media the last decade or so when one of these creeps dies. Basically, don't speak ill of the dead on one side, and now is the perfect time to speak ill of him, because he deserves it. I'm generally on the latter side of that debate. I'm not interested in demonizing such people - to my mind an accurate description of them makes that unnecessary; and I'm certainly not going to sugarcoat it.
The debate itself is settling itself towards the latter. You still get the former (don't speak ill) types, but they're mostly not on the left anymore, whereas ten years ago it was a lot more popular. Now it's just the monster's defenders that call for this. Remember, when someone progressive dies, they're the first to demonize, so maybe don't buy into their bad faith bullshit.
The other big thing I've noticed, especially when the person is a preacher or preacher-adjacent, is a hope that they'll "get their just desserts" in the afterlife, or at least see the error of their ways when confronting god. I don't believe that, because there is no evidence for an afterlife. When we're dead, we're dead. The closest I might come to this reasoning is that I hope they had doubts or regrets that haunted them in their last seconds when their life passed before their eyes. I doubt it though - I think that requires at least a bit of empathy and self-reflection, and that's not a mental skill they spent any time exercising.
But, you know, if imagining such a person is suffering in hell makes you feel better, have at it. If you want to dance on their grave while singing "ding dong the witch is dead", go for it. It communicates to others that what they did is unacceptable, and it's likely cathartic. I'm not convinced it's healthy though, but I get it.
Maybe donate to a cause they'd hate instead? As ways of celebrating a terrible person's demise goes, it's better than just gnashing your teeth over the harm they've done and will never pay for.
