I'd like to make an observation about the George Zimmerman case. I'm going to preface my observation by stating that I studiously avoided coverage of the trial.

I have read a number of conservative commentaries on the affair. They denounce the media, governor, prosecutors, and judge. They stick up for Zimmerman, claiming that he acted in self-defense. They draw attention to Martin's rap sheet.

However, in the midst of all that, they usually include a caveat: they hasten to add that Martin's death was "tragic."

I'd like to consider that for a moment. In one sense I agree. Hypothetically speaking, his death was tragic because we can imagine better outcomes. What if he had lived long enough to turn his life around?

Christianity is a redemptive religion, so we celebrate redemptive story endings. And even secular filmmakers like redemptive story endings.

Measured by that counterfactual, his death was tragic. But, of course, there are other counterfactual outcomes that go in the opposite direction. And, if anything, these may be more probable.

We tend to think it's tragic that someone dies at 17. His death was "untimely." "Premature." A life cut short. Think of all the lost opportunities. He had his whole life ahead of him. But whether or not that's tragic depends in part on what the decedent would have done with those opportunities.

What if Tamerlan Tsarnaev had died at 17? Would that be tragic? Well, it might seem tragic at the time. But if we knew where his life was headed, that would not be tragic.

Likewise, if a suicide bomber accidentally detonates the device before reaching his destination, thereby killing himself instead of the target, is that tragic? It's tragic that he was talked into becoming a suicide bomber. It's tragic that he wasted his life on an evil mission. But there's an obvious sense in which his death is a good thing.

What if Martin was going from bad to worse? What if he was on a familiar trajectory of escalating violence? What if he was a murderer waiting to happen?

Under that scenario, there's an obvious sense in which his death was not a tragedy. Rather, his death forestalled real tragedy in the making. If, sooner or later, he was going to kill one or more innocent men, women, and/or children, then Zimmerman's bullet prevented a tragedy. If a junior hoodlum is on the cusp of becoming a truly dangerous thug, then the fact that he died at 17 rather than 30 is a relief. Think of all the prospective victims who were spared his life of crime.

Now you might say that's speculative. True. But, then, calling his death "tragic" is no less speculative, for we don't know how the alternative ending.