Psychological Blood Letting
The big news over the past 48 hours has been the death of His Royal Highness Price Philip, Duke of Edinburgh at the age of 99. It can not be said that Prince Philip was a striking violet by any means. Nor can it be argued that some of the comments that have since been labeled as “quirky” or “not quite thought out” are in actuality, offensive and in some cases even racist.
However, we are all human beings and we (hopefully) mean something to at least someone in this world. There is no doubt that the Prince had a family which held him in very high esteem and loved him. Does that mean we all have to love him, no of course not. Does that mean we have to use the death of a human being as an excuse to release pent up bile, political agendas and downright rudeness? Certainly not! I find it interesting, if not a bit disheartening, that many people feel that their opinions are so essential for the zeitgeist that the need to state it in the most abjectly self serving and rude methods.
To call out a dead person, to criticise the system of government, to get cheap laughs and even to project on to a person attitudes and personality traits which are un known to the person doing the projection? These could all be seen as being no to dissimilar to what the Prince was being accused of. The tone perhaps even more politically incorrect that those by the Prince himself. This need to psychologically, blood and bile let may seem a release and even well deserved. However, I remind you that Prince Philip was first, foremost and primarily a human being entitled to the same dignity and respect as we all hope for ourselves. Before you decide to let rip all of you antiestablishment rhetoric, bear this in mind there is a time and a place for everything even spirited debate and discord, a funeral is never that place or time.
