It's Not "Just" to Be Killed Like This

Submitted by Joe Spivack (United States), Apr 7, 2011 at 09:23

Dan, I follow and support your work and agree with 99% of this post. However, the use of the word "just" in the following sentence is jarring and makes the post less persuasive than it could be.

"This, it bears observing, was just five more dead than in September 2010, when nineteen were killed as Jones only threatened to burn the Koran."

I get the point: the act of burning is not even a shred of a pretext for the heinous acts committed by perpetrators who would find a reason to do them no matter what. But writing "just" reduces the victims to ciphers. Making the same point more gently would enhance the overall impact.

To be persuasive, we should remember that each one who died lost 100% of his or her remaining life. "Just" has nothing to do with that. It is certainly not "just" for them to die in this way.

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