A somber post begins with the humor of an Internet meme. Me in a nutshell.
I’m not really one to editorialize, so I’ll skip detailing my personal reaction to Osama Bin Laden’s death and forgo analyzing what his departure from this world means for humanity, and I’ll spare you all my various opinions of and responses to everything that’s unfolded in the wake of May 1st’s announcement. Instead, I’ll just share a bit of wisdom everyone should keep in mind, courtesy of my friend’s Facebook page and a certain famous doctor and professor of peace and love:
“I will 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.” – Martin Luther King, Jr.
A Constant Visual Feast 
Great quote… but yea I’m glad we got him. I think the alternative (him being alive) was worst.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m not in mourning over Bin Laden’s death in the slightest, but I’m also not running out in the streets and celebrating either. That’s gross and barbaric, and I’m really disappointed to see that that’s the American response by a wide margin; I’d like to think we’re better than that. I’m relieved that Bin Laden’s gone, and I hope that this gives some closure to families and friends of the September 11th attacks, but the rejoicing that took place in the wake of the announcement is a sad reflection of where we are as a society.
As far as I am concerned no one seemed concerned when people throughout the Middle East danced with joy over the deaths of innocents in NYC. I won’t begrudge someone’s right to enjoy Bin Laden’s death.
I remember people being very outraged over 9/11’s death toll being celebrated myself, which is why I think people over here need to knock it off and quit taking pride in an accomplishment they had nothing to do with. Even if my memory is fuzzy, that doesn’t make the American response here right, which is what that quote speaks to. I expect more from my fellow citizens.
I meant in the international community, people here were certainly very upset.
But how does that matter? Americans did react with outrage, and now they’re engaging in the same behavior. It’s hypocritical at best, barbaric at worst.
You know why it matters? Because a individual who made this world a more fearful place to live is no longer here. Because at best the man was a murderous hypocrite and at worst a monster. Because the celebrating is actually about having a safer world and not one dead man.
I disagree completely. People are celebrating because we finally got even with Bin Laden, not because the world is now safer with him gone. Which it is, but America doesn’t care about that more than it cares about killing the person who killed us.
Well I won’t continue debating this with you. Most of the people I know are happy he’s gone because he represented a security risk.
I couldn’t speak for what you’ve seen.
I don’t know how I can make myself more clear here. Bin Laden’s death is certainly a good thing, and I’m happy he’s gone, but I’m ashamed of Americans throwing parties over the situation and leading chants of “USA, USA” as though they had anything to do with it. It’s disgusting and hypocritical and something we should be above.