Live Streaming an Execution and Our Relationship with Death

The Pentagon announced that it was going to live stream the execution of the Fort Hood shooter that killed 13 people in 2009.

I commented on this on a Facebook post on 10/10 criticizing the announcement writing the following:

“Live streaming an execution is the epitome of dehumanization. It is the exaltation of empire. Rome made public spectacle of executions. Because empire makes everyone and everything disposable.

“Live streaming an execution not only dehumanizes the person being executed, it dehumanizes everyone who watches as well. They no longer see a person, but are entertained. They feel the heat of anger. They demand blood. Live streaming an execution is the antithesis of Christlikeness.

“If we needed any additional evidence that the US is not a Christian nation, live streaming a public execution is just the latest piece of evidence.”

And then I watched.

I watched as people made comments. And I watched as the comments all started to sound similar in two opposing ways. I watched some condemn the announcement and planned execution being live streamed as unethical and immoral. And I watched some make a comparison to the murder of Charlie Kirk and that if you don’t like it, don’t watch it. I don’t really get this argument since the circumstances are not the same and I doubt the people making this argument really want to equate the Fort Hood shooter with Charlie Kirk. But that’s beside the point.

I’m not going to address these arguments because what I’ve come to understand is that this is no longer about the live streaming of a state-sponsored execution. It’s now about identity, just like so many of our so-called political and religious debates. When it comes to identity, humans make a decision on what they believe and then find the rationalization to support it. It wouldn’t matter if I had the most correct argument in all of history. For someone whose identity is wrapped up in an argument, they will find what they need to either dismiss what is being argued against their position or find what ever “evidence” they need to find to support their belief. Their capacity to even listen is limited to protecting their identity and spotting attacks on their identity.

We now live in an echo chamber when it comes to most things. It feels as if we are in alternative universes and realities. Many of us speak English, but we don’t speak the same language. We use the same words, but we mean different things. We may even be citizens of the same country, but we don’t see the other people as valued citizens. We see them as enemies and threats. How long do we think that can last before it collapses?

Here’s something I don’t understand. The human relationship with death. Death is a natural part of life. I’m not talking about the biology of death. I’m talking about our human identity relationship with death. And that’s not even a good way to describe it. It seems to me we have been attempting to alter death into just another issue to be debated. Or another thing that can be used for us and against others. Does that make sense? I’ve heard too many arguments in recent years that use God in this way too. We’ve made ourselves the center of the argument and everything else exists to protect us and fight against our perceived enemies. Nothing is off limits when it comes to this apparently.

Do we really think we can use death to our own advantage, as if we can control it? Are we that crazy? Does humanity see death in the same way it sees money or time? Because humanity doesn’t have a healthy relationship with either of those either.

Does our unhealthy relationship with death stem from the fear of our own mortality? Is death easier to deal with when it is someone else’s “problem” rather than our own?

I don’t think the vast majority of the population really understands death. I don’t know that anyone can unless they have their own encounter with death.

I had an encounter with death when I was 14. I spent 11 days in the hospital with intense pain. It’s that experience that has clouded my judgement when it comes to the pain scale that medical professionals ask you about when you are in for an appointment. This doesn’t make me some kind of expert on death. It just offers me a perspective that I’m not sure I can gain any other way.

Here’s what I’ve come to understand about death. People won’t talk about their own death unless they have had a personal encounter with death. When you encounter death, death is not longer something spooky and fearful. It’s different. I wonder if most people see death as this ambiguous thing out there that will eventually get them like the boogie man.

But death is far different than any of that, if we stop to actually relate with it. Death serves more than just a biological purpose. Death is unavoidable. And because it is unavoidable, it is patient. While we think we can distract ourselves from death, death waits for its time laughing at our efforts for the foolishness that they are. And death gets in our face and speaks to us and tells us in no uncertain terms that we are not in control. And we don’t like that message. Because as much as we are afraid of death, the underlying fear is actually about that – not being in control. Death reminds us that we are not God. And death gives us a gift too – how we understand time. Time is limited for each of us. And each moment is a gift.

So while we have this “conversation” about live streaming a government execution, I want to encourage us to move past the talking points to the deeper issue of our relationship with death. I think that would change the conversation in healthier ways. But I won’t hold my breath on that.

Making the conversation just another fight in the ongoing ideological battle means that we will continue to refuse to learn the lesson that death offers us. And it’s an important lesson for living.

Why do we have to turn everything into just another identity battle? Do we really think we can win this battle? And if we did, then what? I don’t suspect we would live in peace. Just as humanity is afraid of death and not being in control, I suspect that humanity is just as afraid of peace as well. We’re afraid of the boredom that we think peace would create. But that’s just our unhealthy relationship and understanding of peace.