Bin Laden

I am a mean spirit. I saw this Facebook status and had to make a ridiculous comment.


My comment?


And to add some context, this was after observing several statements by this digi-friend condemning the U.S. and any relief that came from Osama Bin Laden's death. So you can understand why I was frankly surprised by their status today.

I completely agree that celebrating a death is inappropriate, even of a person whose actions and intentions have been arguably evil.

"Now, they were sorry to take up arms against [their enemies], because they did not delight in the shedding of blood; yea, and this was not all—they were sorry to be the means of sending so many of their brethren out of this world into an eternal world, unprepared to meet their God." ~Alma 48:23

I did not live in the U.S. during the September 11th attacks -- I saw them on t.v. from thousands of miles away. I did not live through the horror of anthrax threats either. I do not completely understand what my homeland suffered, but I experience the consequences of those attacks daily. Unfortunately, the whole world has.

I view Bin Laden's death as a type of closure for the country, and a symbol that our nation through diligence, persistence, and coordinated intelligence has emerged victorious. Efforts and sacrifices of so many to combat terror have not been in vain.

Was this vengeance? I hope not.

Do I rejoice? No.

Did I breathe a sigh of relief? Yes.

One more leader of a radical ideology that hates me because of my beliefs, nationality, race or whatever it may be, is gone. Bin Laden and his followers have demonstrated through actions of terror that they have no intention of peaceful resolution of differences. And through all this, I hope that we remember that as he was to us, we should never be to anyone else.