As many cheer, I watch. As many gather and sing, I watch. As I see posts such as “rot in hell” and others similar, I watch. As many others run to join them all in the celebration, I watch.
I can not bring myself to cheer for the death of one man, no matter how evil. I'm not sure why I can't. One man, that I have never met, that has commanded such unspeakable acts, and yet I can not cheer for his death. When I posted my feelings this morning, the reaction was surprising to me. Replies suggesting that I am not patriotic, I had to quickly defend myself. I am proud to be an American. I support the troops. This man needed to be stopped, but he is merely a symbol of evil. He is not THE evil. Apparently, that is good enough for most. “An eye for an eye” one post read. “Not even close” was all I could think. No act of revenge could ever make things right.
I'm sad. I'm sad that any American would cheer for the death of any man. I'm sad that his death has made him even more of a hero in the eyes of his followers. I'm sad that the death of this man will not bring an end to terrorism. I'm sad that there are 100's of others just like him willing to take up his cause and 1000's more willing to carry out the orders. I'm sad that this will certainly bring more attacks to American soil. I'm sad that so many lives have been lost already. I'm sad that we will certainly be grieving over more American deaths. I'm sad that the death of this one man won't bring true closure to anyone. I'm sad that anyone ever thought it would.
If you are interested in reading more, I found this blog sums things up well at the end: http://bit.ly/lBFUFU
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