First and foremost, we need to condemn the barbaric attack that took place earlier on today in Woolwich and pay our respects to the victim (now confirmed as soldier Lee Rigby) and his family. Nobody, no matter who they are, whether they’re a soldier or not, and no matter what they’ve done, should have their life taken in this way. No exceptions.
And I can say that with all honesty because I fully and completely believe that a life is a life, and that EVERY single human life is worth exactly the same. The problem is that most people claim they agree with this too, but time and again, it is proved that they don’t. Well this is the case for the British media at least who make it clear that the value of a life is based on who does the killing and who gets killed. If that weren’t the case, wouldn’t we still be talking about yesterday’s news – the British man who slit the throats of his two young children? Even though that murder had TWO victims, both of whom were under 11, it more or less went unnoticed. Now compare that reporting to that of today’s murder of a British soldier, committed by what now seems to be two Muslim men, and how it consumed the entire news network and will definitely be on the agenda for many, many days to come. I understand that this brutal killing was committed in broad daylight right next door to a primary school and for that reason it may be, in a way, more horrific than the murder of the children by their father – but let’s not pretend that’s the reason why it’s newsworthy.
