Celebrating Violence

On the morning of May 2^nd, 2011, I awoke to my usual routine. It was a holiday here in South Africa- we were celebrating Worker’s Day so the schools were closed and consequently I had no where to go, but I woke up at 5 am as per usual to do my morning devotion and workout. After I had finished I flipped on the TV to SABC 2 to watch the Morning Live broadcast, and then proceeded to do other chores while remotely listening to the news in the background. And then I heard it- Osama bin Laden has been killed. I stopped everything and sat down, glued to the TV screen for almost the complete 2 hours of the broadcast, as the news of Osama bin Laden was the biggest story they had, although the information was still minimal. He was killed in a mansion outside of a major city in Pakistan by US Seals- shot in the head. That was it, but even in those few words, the news was still HUGE.

I went up to the Dean’s house to spend time with Muano and Divhani for the day since I had no other plans, and I told them the news. Bin Laden has been killed- he was the mastermind behind the September 11^th attacks on the United States. They remembered, in fact they remember where they were when they heard the news about September 11^th, just as I do and every US citizen that I know. They remember watching the towers crashing on the TV, over and over again, same as me. Since the Deanery has dish, they are able to pick up more than the four channels available on my TV, and one of them includes CNN. For about an hour we sat and watched CNN- it was still night time in the United States, but already the news was spreading like wildfire. We heard the same details over and over again- Osama bin Laden, dead, mansion, Pakistan, US Seals, head shot.

You would think that watching the US broadcast of the death of Osama bin Laden would make my chest puff up as I feel proud to be an American. But I didn’t feel pride, or happiness, or even relief at the news that I saw. People were celebrating his death in the streets of NYC and Washington- university students were yelling and rolling the quads on campuses all over the country. Yes, Osama bin Laden was the leader of Al-Qaeda and was responsible for the death of thousands of people, not only in the United States but across the world, but why are we celebrating like it’s the Fourth of July? I felt torn while watching these celebrations, because while I was still trying to soak in the news and figure out how I felt about it, I saw people my age happy and jumping down the streets of Washington.

I realize that was not the only reaction. There was also a man who brought a picture of his son, who had lost his life in the war against terrorism, to the White House not to celebrate but rather to be a part of the history that he had helped create. However, the majority of the broadcast that I saw spoke of the celebration for the great victory that the USA had achieved on this momentous day. And that sickened me.

Reverend Mark S. Hanson presented, in my opinion, one of the best reactions to Osama bin Laden’s death- which helped me to feel confident in my lack of celebration with seemingly the rest of the USA. In his address to the ELCA, found here, he said: “The death of Osama bin Laden is an occasion for solemn remembrance. We remember the lives of all whose deaths resulted from his choosing hatred and violence… We pray for our neighbors, even those who are our enemies… Most of all, in these 50 days of celebrating Christ’s resurrection, joy finds its fullest and deepest expression not over a human death but in God’s promise to unite all things in heaven and on earth, to reconcile the human family and to bring God’s reign of peace.”

The death of any human should not be celebrated, no matter how much pain he or she has caused us. Osama bin Laden unfortunately chose the path of hatred and violence, and with what did we return? Hatred and violence. How are we any better than him, and who are we to judge? As a country we spent these past 9 years hating this one man, and returning his violence with more violence- finally we have our sweet revenge. We thought it would feel good, but it has not and will not bring the peace which we seek. The only way we will find peace is through God- not war, not death, not hatred, and not violence. We killed the man who killed us, how much longer will this vicious cycle continue?

~Heather Anne Nelson