Comment: Remember the dead and their families – but forget the evil

I want to remember the people who died. The youngsters enjoying a night out – many of them attending their first grown-up concert. The excitement of getting ready at home or with friends, choosing, abandoning and then reselecting their favourite outfits, carefully applying makeup and styling their hair, while desperately trying to look older than their years. And then heading for the venue with that tingling sense of anticipation that comes when you’re young and expecting a fun time with your mates, an evening to remember and recall later, even when your musical taste has matured and you’ve moved on to other acts, other artists, other genres. I want to remember those who never came home, those for whom that evening was their last on earth; those who didn’t live long enough to fall in love, to see the world, to achieve their potential or to make their mark. Those who were too young to die.

I want to remember the families ripped apart last night. The parents who will remember babies in arms, unsteady toddlers, inquisitive children and then, suddenly, brooding teenagers on the cusp of maturity. For them, life will never be the same, and the questions will pour in an unceasing torrent. Questions without answers. What could we have done to prevent this? Why did we let them go? Why our community, our child, our lives? For each family, a huge gap has been rent in the fabric of their being, one that can never be repaired, and nobody who loved these youngsters will ever fully recover from the loss. Normal families, normal lives. Until last night.

I want to remember the emergency services personnel. It takes a certain kind of courage to go against the flow and rush into the heart of a disaster when everyone else is running away. None of those who attended knew whether they were stepping into further danger when they gathered their equipment and raced to help, but they did it without thought for their own safety. Police, ambulance personnel and volunteers poured in to help. Those uniformed officers, too often vilified when trying to keep the peace, turned into heroes when the call came, and offered a shield against harm and a path to safety through the turmoil.

I want to remember the people of Manchester who opened their doors to strangers and volunteered comfort and support when and where it was most needed. The offers of accommodation to those displaced by the atrocity flooded in as soon as the details became known, and the community spirit of the city, never far from the surface, rose up and shone through its blackest night.

I don’t want to think of the scum who did this. I’m glad they died; I hope they were blown to smithereens and can neither be identified nor given any sort of burial rites. Targeting children, and doing so in the name of religion, is the most cowardly act imaginable. No religion requires such barbarity and all should vocally condemn such evil. And if, as is being suggested, the finger is pointed towards Islam, then a united and forceful condemnation is required from the community, and a concerted effort to identify, vilify and expose any others whose interpretation of their faith is so abhorrent. Preaching hatred and supporting radicalisation is nothing short of treason and such betrayal deserves the strongest punishment and a complete forfeit of human rights.

The increase in attacks around Europe over the past couple of years may instil fear, but more than anything else, it demonstrates the strength and resilience of the human spirit. Acts of bravery shine far more brightly than the acts of evil perpetrated by cowards clothed in anonymity. Kindness, courage and compassion come to the fore after every savage attack, and neighbourly love is increased, not diminished, when we face a common enemy. We appreciate the fragility of human life and care more for one another when we band together against the forces of darkness. From the horror of last night, a new unity will arise, with a determination to protect all that is good about the way of life that this evil scum sought to destroy through his despicable, repugnant and cowardly massacre of innocents.

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