Sunday night, when I first heard the news that we had killed Osama Bin Laden, I didn't feel much of anything. Actually, I turned the TV off, not waiting for the President's announcement, and went to bed. The next morning, as I did my daily scan of the news, I was surprised at people's reaction to the news - specifically, the reports of spontaneous celebrations over the death of America's #1 enemy. The more I thought about it, the more uncomfortable I became. I WANTED to be happy that this terrorist mastermind was no longer a threat, but I was unable to reconcile my feelings of "good riddance" with the displays of celebration and jubilation I saw all around me. A co-worker asked: Bin Laden is EVIL, why is it wrong to celebrate the death of a truly evil person?
I don't have an answer to that, except to say I don't think so - I don't think we should celebrate the death of any person, evil or not. While reading copious amounts about this issue, I came across this post and wish to share a few excerpts (but recommend reading the whole post).
The author begins by posing this question: "Those of you who are celebrating--could you just pause for a moment and consider: What message are you sending the world?"
She continues:
"Celebrating" the killing of any member of our species--for example, by chanting USA! USA! and singing The Star Spangled Banner outside the White House or jubilantly demonstrating in the streets--is a violation of human dignity. Regardless of the perceived degree of "good" or "evil" in any of us, we are all, each of us, human. To celebrate the killing of a life, any life, is a failure to honor life's inherent sanctity.
The death of Osama Bin Laden gives us an opportunity to ask ourselves: What kind of nation and what kind of species do we want to be? Do we want to become a species that honors life? Do we want to become a species that embodies peace? If that is what we want, then why not start now to examine our own hearts and actions, and begin to consciously evolve in that direction? We could start by not celebrating the killing of another.
The article concludes with this thought: "The bottom line is that we cannot even begin to have peace until we stop the cycle of jubilation over acts of violence.
So isn't it time to ask: Who will stop the cycle? If not us, who? If not you and I, who will it be?"
So if I desire peace, I will not celebrate acts of violence, however justified the world may think it is.
