Monday, May 2, 2011

Neither Mourning nor Rejocing

Today I didn't really know what to think of the historical death. One thought was that it gave our president a very good lead in the upcoming election. A thought, as a social service worker, that brought me some relief. I'm becoming much more moderate lately, but I do know that generally conservative government means budget cuts for my already struggling field. On a deeper level, I was very conflicted about how to feel about the situation, and all of the celebration seemed leave me feeling uneasy. I also felt as if the unity of celebration was a little refreshing, but the uneasiness came when I thought of the slightly barbaric nature of celebrating the death of any human being, even a "monster".

One of my friends used a King quote to very appropriately describe this historic event, "I mourn the loss of thousands of precious lives, but I will not rejoice in the death of one, not even an enemy. Returning hate for hate multiplies hate, adding deeper darkness to a night already devoid of stars. Darkness cannot drive out darkness: only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate: only love can do that."

I also found an NPR article on the subject entitled Is It Wrong to Celebrate Bin Laden's death and it describes all these emotions, just as King did, much more clearly and eloquently than I could do in my sloppy tangents. I encourage all to read it if they want a simple opinion on the matter. The last line is particularly moving. 

The last line of the article puts it perfectly -"If we have any feeling of victory or triumph in the case, it should be because we have succeeded in disabling him — not because he is dead."

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