On This Day by Alex Kearns

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Southern Views

On This Day

by Alex Kearns | 7, Add your Comment | May 2, 2011

I sit and read some of the thousands of comments that are posted on FaceBook, online forums and after each news item… and I cringe. I watch the televised scenes of jubilant rejoicing, flag-waving and back-slapping… and it all feels, somehow, primitive and wrong.

Today I simply feel pensive. Though the removal of Bin Laden is a blow for justice and a strike against the tyranny of terrorism, I find it difficult to celebrate for the day is also a reminder of unspeakable tragedy and loss. Instead of cheering, I just feel like finding a quiet place in which to pray for a world gone so terribly awry.

I suppose that I find the party atmosphere exhibited in some demonstrations a bit disconcerting. I would have hoped that the “end” of this horrific chapter in history would have been marked with somber dignity and reflection in deference to those who perished nearly 10 years ago, the over 5,000 men and women of our military who have died in service, the countless innocent causalities of “war” and the valiant soldiers who remain so vulnerable to harm.

That being said, I mean no criticism of those who choose this occasion to voice their relief and pleasure. But let us not use tragedy to victimize the blameless or make generalizations based upon a lack of knowledge. Some of the online comments about “Muslims” are appalling and I thank President Obama for his statement; “As we do, we must also reaffirm that the United States is not – and never will be – at war with Islam. I’ve made clear, just as President Bush did shortly after 9/11, that our war is not against Islam. Bin Laden was not a Muslim leader; he was a mass murderer of Muslims. Indeed, al Qaeda has slaughtered scores of Muslims in many countries, including our own. So his demise should be welcomed by all who believe in peace and human dignity.”

And I wonder if we have learned anything from 9/11, that still-incomprehensible act of cowardice, hatred and intolerance. There are those who, in their abysmal ignorance, condemn an entire religion; those who attack President Obama with ludicrous conspiracy theories based upon nothing more than his name and the color of his skin; those who practice the unholy art of hate-mongering via the media and internet. These people seek only their “fifteen minutes” of supposed fame by pouring gasoline on an already raging fire.

We should walk very carefully these days and examine our own hearts and motives. Although we must defend ourselves, we also have to guard against the drive to answer hatred with hatred, intolerance with intolerance and needless violence with needless violence. Rhetoric that serves only to inflame and divide us will weaken and undermine this nation as surely as a terrorist’s bullet.

Bin Laden is dead. That does not signal an end to terrorism here or abroad. If we cannot, or will not, deepen our knowledge, broaden our understanding and intensify our desire for peace this will prove to be a Pyrrhic Victory.

(Later this day: I read online articles and feel less alone in my thoughts. Mike Hayes, a campus minister at the University at Buffalo: “I don’t think that the celebrations in the streets were our finest moment as Americans, and reminded me much of the anger I felt at seeing Afghans dancing in the streets at the fall of the Towers on that dreaded day. We are called to forgiveness. And that is the only way that we can be truly free.”

Christine Korsgaard, a philosophy professor at Harvard University. “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.”

I see the images in the news – young people clutching their cans of beer and partying as if it’s New Years Eve in Times Square. Will this not fan the flames of retribution and hatred? And what of our collective sense of decency and humanity? If we are to walk the high road of morality, we cannot engage in ribald celebrations over yet more death. What is needed is decorum, respect…and grief that our hearts are being so hardened that we cannot see all of this for what it is – the unfolding tragedy of man’s hatred towards man.

###

Alex Kearns

Alex writes for a variety of national and international publications. A relative newcomer to the United States, she co-founded her town's first environmental organization (The St. Marys EarthKeepers, Inc.). In turns bemused, confused, entranced, frustrated and delighted, she enjoys unravelling the eternal enigma that is the Deep South.

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Mark Dohle

Governments do what they have to do; though I wish there were other ways to deal with this sort of thing. For any real change in how things are done, it will have to come from the bottom up. For instance, people not allowing themselves to be manipulated by the likes of Bin Laden. I fear that things could get worse for a while, for Bin Laden was a symbol for some and his loss will bring forth a great deal of rage and anger towards the US.

Muslim’s are not the enemy, fanatics are.

Justice and revenge are close, almost twins in how they work things out; perhaps in the end there is very little difference, so the cycle will continue.

Peace
Mark
Del Olds

To me, the celebrations of OBL’s death is a little unseemly. Brings to mind the celebration in parts of the world to the fall of the Twin Towers. We are better. We celebrate life, not death. That being written, I am reminded of a quote, “I take no pleasure in the death of any man, but I have enjoyed reading a few obituaries.” (Mark Twain?).
Alex Kearns

Yes, Del, that was the inimitable Mark Twain. I was horrified to stumble across a television show this evening called “Entertainment Tonight.” I watched, sickened, as they aired a segment called “America Celebrates” complete with beer-swilling revelers, youths mugging for the omnipresent cameras and mindless throngs chanting “USA! USA!” I cannot help but fear that with every scene of such “celebration” (all of which are being viewed globally) we are putting bullets in the guns of terrorists and demeaning ourselves.
- Monica Smith
  
  Bin Laden was a serial abuser. The victims of abuse cannot defend themselves because abusers aim to injure and self-defense, in risking more injury, plays into the abuser’s hands. That’s why we set up authorities to put a stop to abuse. Moreover, as I’ve noted before, when authority stands silent in the face of abuse, it becomes complicit.
  
  If you can’t relate to the domestic abuse frame, think of Bin Laden as a hostage taker. In effect, he’d taken to the whole world hostage to his repeatedly announced malevolent intent, as well as the demonstration. The Twin Towers were like that man in the wheel chair who was pushed off the Achille Lauro — an act designed to terrify the survivors. And cowardly.
  
  The problem with warring on terror isn’t just that terror is an amorphous experience that can’t be overcome; it’s that in focusing on the effect or consequence of an act, we overlook the agent. It’s like trying to deal with the image in a mirror, instead of the person. Think of one of those birds doing battle with its own image in the sideview mirror of a car. It’s self defeating. The “false attribution of agency” isn’t just a logical flaw, it renders us ineffective.
Cyndia Montgomery

Thank you for this. Now I feel less alone in my own thoughts about this. I’ll admit to my own “whoohooo!!” moment when I first heard the news, but then I saw pictures of Lady Liberty holding Bin Laden’s severed head on Facebook, and reading the maliciously gleeful reactions of friends & family, and became sad. I understand their reactions, but this isn’t the best of who we are as Americans. We need to be better than this.
http://www.jackdejarnette.org Jack deJarnette

Alex, thank you for a thoughtful and gracious piece. I agree with you completely. I heard Mayor Giuliani say something similar when he spoke from Ground Zero and mentioned his disquiet at the celebrations.

My heart is troubled, until we recognize the sacredness of every human life, we are doomed to continue to slaughter each other. Throughout History it has been so and tragiclly I’m not sure it will ever be better.
Alex Kearns

http://www.npr.org/2011/05/03/135948047/u-s-considers-whether-to-release-bin-laden-photos?ft=1&f=1001

I would think that graphic photographs would only serve to further inflame lunatics on all “sides.” Those who refuse to accept his death will not be convinced by any proof offered by the US and those who revel in such images will only feed their twisted appetites. Just my opinion…

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