On Osama

I have to admit that when I turned on the TV the other night and saw that Osama bin Laden had been killed, I felt relief.  Bin Laden was not a good man, he killed people indiscriminate of race, creed, age and gender.  He sought power and legacy through terror and I believe that the world is a better place with him no longer in it.  If my belief towards this end wavered, it was immediately cemented when I read the report that he used his wife as a human shield when the shooting started. Yes, I was relieved.

Along with the relief I also find cynicism.  Cynicism as I watch American's celebrating this "victory" over terrorism in the streets. Is this victory?  It feels remarkably like watching President Bush declare victory almost exactly eight years ago on the deck of the USS Abraham Lincoln; it feels false.


I know that violence is a reality in the world that we live in and that thousands of people volunteer to carry out the violent tasks that safeguard the life that I live and the world that I live it in.  For this I am grateful. Violence may sometimes be unavoidable, but to gloat over the death of an old man?  To dance triumphantly over the bloodied body of an old man, regardless of how evil, strikes me as disturbing and barbarous. 

No doubt, I'd feel differently had I been in New York in September of 2001.  If I had I lost a sister, father, cousin or friend in those attacks I would want justice and beyond that, I would probably want revenge.  I would probably hope that with justice and revenge would come closure, an end to the sadness and loss.  If my life has taught me anything it would be that nothing but time can heal such sadness, that justice and revenge are just that and nothing more.  I can't comment on how people grieve, how they cope with senseless and life shattering violence but I will say that I feel uneasy when I see this celebration of bloodshed, no matter how evil the blood shed.