(December 3, 2014 at 6:39 pm)DeistPaladin Wrote:(December 3, 2014 at 6:14 pm)Bad Wolf Wrote: Tragedy is a bit of a strong word isn't it? I don't know what he was like but you don't really get the impression that he was a very nice man, at least, not from this photo.
Technically, "tragedy" does not require that the person who either suffers from or causes the bad events was nice or innocent. Quite the contrary, actually. The very word means it was caused by human failing.
For example, if someone walks outside and is struck by lightning (due to an random event of nature, not some punishment by any god) and dies, that is NOT a tragedy. There was no human action which caused the bad event and there was no way the man could possibly have foreseen the consequences to walking outside at that moment. Some people might call it "a tragedy" that but that is a misuse of the word.
"Tragedy" is where the bad event was avoidable and caused by human factors. If someone walks outside while drunk, gets in a car and kills himself when he drives it off a cliff because of his intoxication, that IS a tragedy. Similarly, if he were to kill someone else because of his actions, driving while drunk, that would also be a "tragedy".
Michael Brown, whatever you may think of him personally, did not need to die that day. Therefore, his death was a "tragedy" in the proper use of the word. The only debate is who's fault you think it was. Was it his human failings or the police officer's or both?
Oh well there you go then. I got confused cause nobody really makes that distinction. Whenever i've heard the word used, it's always just meant: something really bad.
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"If my good friend Doctor Gasparri speaks badly of my mother, he can expect to get punched.....You cannot provoke. You cannot insult the faith of others. You cannot make fun of the faith of others. There is a limit." - Pope Francis on freedom of speech
'You can have all the faith you want in spirits, and the afterlife, and heaven and hell, but when it comes to this world, don't be an idiot. Cause you can tell me you put your faith in God to put you through the day, but when it comes time to cross the road, I know you look both ways.' - Dr House
“Young earth creationism is essentially the position that all of modern science, 90% of living scientists and 98% of living biologists, all major university biology departments, every major science journal, the American Academy of Sciences, and every major science organization in the world, are all wrong regarding the origins and development of life….but one particular tribe of uneducated, bronze aged, goat herders got it exactly right.” - Chuck Easttom
"If my good friend Doctor Gasparri speaks badly of my mother, he can expect to get punched.....You cannot provoke. You cannot insult the faith of others. You cannot make fun of the faith of others. There is a limit." - Pope Francis on freedom of speech