It is probably true that Scotland would not have released Abdelbaset Ali al Megrah Megrahi if it had no Christian past. I am uncertain as whether the decision implies that any prisoner near death should be set free. It may take a long time for Scotland to work out of its system lingering impressions that it has a dark Calvinist past--at least I think it's a more plausible way of looking at it than thinking that the Justice Secretary is trying to root out lingering and longstanding Pictish and Celtic ways. Can one argue that this "mercy" will not go unpunished? Anyway, because of my Scottish roots, I find it interesting.
Lockerbie victim's father defends 'Christian' Scotland after release
ENI-09-0698
By Trevor Grundy
Edinburgh, 1 September (ENI)--The father of one of the victims of the 1988 air disaster over southern Scotland has praised the Scottish government for acting in a Christian way by releasing from prison the Libyan man known throughout the world as the Lockerbie bomber.
"My country, Scotland, is Christian and I believe that the Scottish Justice Secretary Mr Kenny MacAskill's decision to release the Lockerbie bomber chimed with the Christian principle of attempting to extend love and mercy, even to one's presumed enemies," Dr Jim Swire was quoted as saying in the Scottish daily newspaper, The Herald on 25 August.
The medical practitioner's daughter, Flora Swire, was one of the passengers aboard the doomed Pan Am flight 103 on 21 December 1988.
Abdelbaset Ali al Megrah Megrahi was the only person convicted for the
December 1988 bombing of Pan Am Flight 103, which killed 270 people in
the air and on the ground, in the Scottish town of Lockerbie. He was
sentenced to life in prison in 2001.
On the release Swire said, "It is a tough doctrine to embrace if you believe the man to have been guilty but easier for those of us who suspect the verdict was wrong. The Church of Scotland has publicly supported Megrahi's return to his family, whether guilty or not."
He added: "By a humbler standard, I cannot understand how forcing Megrahi to die in prison when there was provision to extend him mercy could make anyone feel better. Since when have two wrongs made a right?"
The condition of Megrahi, who has terminal prostate cancer, has deteriorated rapidly since his release, news agencies quoted a senior Libyan official saying on 1 September.
Swire strongly criticised the head of the FBI in the United States, Robert Mueller, who had attacked as a "mockery of the rule of law" the decision of the Scottish Government, which is run by the pro-independence Scottish National Party, to release Megrahi on compassionate grounds.
"The United States has no provision in its justice system for compassion for those found guilty" said Swire, in an article headlined "FBI chief cannot grasp the Christian ethos".
Swire said, "As a result it must be difficult for the head of the FBI, Robert Mueller, to understand that Kenny MacAskill, the Scottish justice secretary, was acting in keeping with an established precedent under Scots law to sanction release when the death of a prisoner is imminent."
In an interview with the Roman Catholic weekly magazine The Tablet on 29 August, Swire declared, "I am a Christian. So I would hope that, even if I was convinced that Megrahi was guilty, my Christian compassion and forgiveness would extend to wanting to see him die with his family around him in Libya. But I am convinced Megrahi is innocent."
Key figures in the Catholic Church in Scotland supported the Scottish government's decision to release and return to Libya the convicted bomber.
The archbishop of Glasgow, Mario Conti, said, "I personally, and many others in the Catholic community, admired the decision to release Abdelbaset al Megrahi on grounds of compassion which is, after all, one of the principles inscribed on the mace of the Scottish Parliament by which Scotland's Government should operate. The showing of mercy in any situation is not a sign of weakness. Indeed in this situation, with the pressures and circumstances of the case, it seemed to me a sign of manifest strength."
The Rev. David Fergusson, an ordained minister in the Church of Scotland and a professor of divinity at the University of Edinburgh, told Ecumenical News International, "I have no argument about compassion, but I do think that the way the government of Scotland handled this could have been better." He added, "Many people believe that the manner in which it was done gave the impression of an acquittal rather than a release. It might have been the wrong course of action but was obviously a very tight call for the minister [of justice]. The tumultuous reception he received in Libya should have been anticipated." [Reprinted with permission.]
On the release Swire said, "It is a tough doctrine to embrace if you believe the man to have been guilty but easier for those of us who suspect the verdict was wrong. The Church of Scotland has publicly supported Megrahi's return to his family, whether guilty or not."
He added: "By a humbler standard, I cannot understand how forcing Megrahi to die in prison when there was provision to extend him mercy could make anyone feel better. Since when have two wrongs made a right?"
The condition of Megrahi, who has terminal prostate cancer, has deteriorated rapidly since his release, news agencies quoted a senior Libyan official saying on 1 September.
Swire strongly criticised the head of the FBI in the United States, Robert Mueller, who had attacked as a "mockery of the rule of law" the decision of the Scottish Government, which is run by the pro-independence Scottish National Party, to release Megrahi on compassionate grounds.
"The United States has no provision in its justice system for compassion for those found guilty" said Swire, in an article headlined "FBI chief cannot grasp the Christian ethos".
Swire said, "As a result it must be difficult for the head of the FBI, Robert Mueller, to understand that Kenny MacAskill, the Scottish justice secretary, was acting in keeping with an established precedent under Scots law to sanction release when the death of a prisoner is imminent."
In an interview with the Roman Catholic weekly magazine The Tablet on 29 August, Swire declared, "I am a Christian. So I would hope that, even if I was convinced that Megrahi was guilty, my Christian compassion and forgiveness would extend to wanting to see him die with his family around him in Libya. But I am convinced Megrahi is innocent."
Key figures in the Catholic Church in Scotland supported the Scottish government's decision to release and return to Libya the convicted bomber.
The archbishop of Glasgow, Mario Conti, said, "I personally, and many others in the Catholic community, admired the decision to release Abdelbaset al Megrahi on grounds of compassion which is, after all, one of the principles inscribed on the mace of the Scottish Parliament by which Scotland's Government should operate. The showing of mercy in any situation is not a sign of weakness. Indeed in this situation, with the pressures and circumstances of the case, it seemed to me a sign of manifest strength."
The Rev. David Fergusson, an ordained minister in the Church of Scotland and a professor of divinity at the University of Edinburgh, told Ecumenical News International, "I have no argument about compassion, but I do think that the way the government of Scotland handled this could have been better." He added, "Many people believe that the manner in which it was done gave the impression of an acquittal rather than a release. It might have been the wrong course of action but was obviously a very tight call for the minister [of justice]. The tumultuous reception he received in Libya should have been anticipated." [Reprinted with permission.]
Call me a cynic, but I find the appeal to the mace of the Scottish Parliament, and the word "compassion" written thereon, grimly amusing. If it's written on a symbol of the legislature that was invented a decade ago, then it's a principle according to which we ought to order our lives. Best not to think about things that might have been written on other media longer ago than that, back in the dark Calvinist past, or in the dark Catholic past before it, or in the dark Orthodox (i.e., pre-East/West split) past before that, or (shudder) back in the days of Moses.
And by the way, there are three more words written on the mace: wisdom, justice and integrity. Best not to think about how the Scottish government's decision accords with those three qualities.
Posted by: RL | September 01, 2009 at 03:38 PM
How can Libya "demand" the release of a convicted terrorist?
Posted by: Technology Slice | September 01, 2009 at 06:16 PM
I didn't realize that it was a Christian principle to free a convicted prisoner to avoid the embarrassment of a public investigation into his poor prosecution and to secure a lucrative oil development deal. What book of the Bible is that from again?
Posted by: Ethan C. | September 01, 2009 at 06:38 PM
For clarification: I'm not saying that releasing someone like Megrahi could not be a proper Christian action. However, as I understand it, there is rather a lot of evidence that in this case the decision was not undertaken for Christian reasons, but rather for reasons of real politik and avoiding embarrassment.
Posted by: Ethan C. | September 01, 2009 at 06:45 PM
>It may take a long time for Scotland to work out of its system lingering impressions that it has a dark Calvinist past
Sorry, that was a glorious Calvinist past..
Posted by: David Gray. | September 01, 2009 at 07:13 PM
I think this episode was highly educational for those foolish US citizens who value the opinion of our 'friends' on the other side of the Atlantic.
'Realpolitik' has always been the case in Europe and the UK, except it has too often been the realpolitik of fools such as Chamberlain's 'Peace in our time.' We have bailed your worthless asses out on numerous occasions and watched your Vichey governments and Quisling governments disgrace themselves by cozying up to thugs and murderers - just as your current government seems to be doing.
I think it's time for a return to Isolationism. Protected by the Atlantic and the Pacific, we can probably afford to just let the jihadists have you people.
Next time there is genocide on your doorstep in the Balkans or you otherwise get your tits in a wringer, please call someone else. We won't be interested.
Posted by: George Hanshaw, USA | September 01, 2009 at 09:38 PM
Well, let’s face it…they let him go free through some secret favor or something…this is politics not Disneyland. “Compassion”, please!!! Give us smart folks a big break!!!
Posted by: jeffkramerak | September 02, 2009 at 01:42 PM
Sure, we Americans don't get Scotland's Christianity-but then, neither do most Scots. Only about 12% of Scots attend any church (Kirk of Scotland, Catholic, Episcopal, Methodist, WeeFree, etc.) on any given Sunday. If the Scots themselves can't be bothered to "get Scotland's Christianity", why should anybody else?
Posted by: brad evans | September 02, 2009 at 04:26 PM