That reaction didn't come until much later in the day when I was exposed to countless jokes, "boot up his ass" type Facebook posts, and scenes of celebrating (read: rioting) in the streets from New York City to State College, PA and beyond. I do not presume to question the reactions of those who lost loved ones on September 11, or the families of soldiers killed in Iraq and Afghanistan. But I suspect that those people were largely absent from the festivities, and while they may have felt that a sort of justice had been served, Bin Laden's death did nothing to bring back those who died before.
The fact remains that killing Bin Laden does nothing to dampen the spirit of Muslim extremists. In fact, he is now a martyr for their cause and they will probably believe that he is enjoying all the benefits of martyrdom in the afterlife. A far more fitting punishment would have been forcing him to live through the mercy of the United States and die a sick old man tried and found guilty of crimes against humanity.
I do not know what happened last night, if there was a choice between life and death, but I do know that how we react to this event is an indication of the state of our society. I believe we would do well to treat it with solemnity and circumspection otherwise we become what he and his followers believe us to be.
EXACTLY! I found the scenes of partying in the streets to be rather morbid and off-putting. Don't get me wrong, the guy deserved to die, but at the basic level, that's still somebody's dad. All I could think while watching the news was "Oh great, now here's another chance for all the foreigners to say 'look at those asshole Americans.'"
ReplyDeleteI think it's great that America caught Bin Laden and served justice to those who were killed, (if that in fact did give them a sense of justice) but to those who say this will weaken the terrorists, I say "really?" If Obama were to be assassinated tomorrow, do you really think that it would weaken America? Not really - because as important as he is, he's just ONE PERSON in a cast of thousands. In fact, all it would do is give fodder to the politicians to fuel our fire of hatred and spur our backing of whatever political retaliation they come up with. I'm reminded of the episode of Family Guy where Lois runs for office and gives up using reasonable arguments. She finall just stands at the pulpit saying phrases like "9/11" and "terrorists" to responses of thundering cheers. :)
Word. I'm totally disgusted.
ReplyDeleteMy initial thought was that I was uncomfortable about being happy that someone (anyone) was dead. After that thought I knew if I was alive during WW II I would have been at least relieved to know Hitler was dead. In the end, I think by quietly killying and burying him they minimized his followers ability to make him a matyr.
ReplyDeleteI did not hear any of the jokes but we are in a time with a lack of civility for people who don't agree with us so I can only imagine what it would be like for someone who is hated.
I agree this doesn't change much but it seems to show strength without being arrogant.
It just really made me think about when we watch historical movies or tv and we see people watching a lynching or we see romans watching slaves being killed in the colosseum and I think that I would never enjoy that sort of thing. And now I know that I don't, even if he was a horrible person who did terrible things. I find no joy in someone else's death and I cannot comprehend anyone else doing so.
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