EDITORIAL: Speaking ill of the dead

There’s a tendency to concoct lies and speak glowingly about people who have just died. A lot of unnecessary exaggeration - if the dead were to resurrect, they wouldn’t recognise the person being referred to.Even the famous Latin phrase “de mortuis nil nisi bonum”, which roughly translates to "of the dead nothing but good is to be said", doesn’t mean we must stretch the truth about those we are mourning. Rather, it suggests that we cherry-pick the good side of the deceased - but it must be true.If you’ve always deemed your neighbour to be awful, don’t lie in your eulogy that she was a wonderful being. Rather keep quiet than lie. In fact, David Mills, a US editor of a Catholic magazine, suggested: “We must sometimes speak ill of the dead to make sure they’re not remembered wrongly”.A fair point, but perhaps a big ask in African tradition. Last year when several suspected robbers were killed by police in Okahandja during a deadly exchange of fire, the nation mourned in unison. While there were pockets of “they got what they deserved”, the overwhelming reactions were sympathetic and humane in tone.But no one called the robbers saints, as that would have been hyperbolic. The dead themselves would not have accepted that tag, for they knew they were anything but virtuous. Truth must be spoken for its own sake. And where the truth is unflattering, silence is the wisest substitute. Let’s not create superhumans posthumously.

EDITORIAL: Speaking ill of the dead

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Namibian Sun 2025-04-03

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EDITORIAL: Speaking ill of the dead

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Namibian Sun 2025-04-03

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