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Monday, May 2, 2011

A better way

I have so many thoughts going through  my mind.

Osama Bin Laden is dead.
Some people are dancing in the streets. I'm sure that on the other side of the ocean, there are people plotting how to get back at the evil Americans that have killed their leader. And I feel heartsick.

I posted this on facebook:
"They" kill "us", so "we" kill "them". And it never stops. There HAS to be a better way - I just don't know what it is. And THAT is what makes me the most sad. I want and need to know there is some way to accomplish peace, and I don't, and it makes my heart hurt.
Some responses were in agreement.
One said that even Christ removed certain people(s) from the Earth. (When did Christ EVER do that? I admit its been a while since I've read the Bible, but really? Christ said "turn the other cheek", which I also have a problem with... but I think I like that better than the whole "Go get 'em!" mentality.)

As a teenager, I once sat down with my dad and told him that the way he treated my brother was wrong. I'm not sure exactly how I said it... Something along the lines of violence is just wrong. His reply was something about how it was his job to protect his children, and Jeff was a bully. I remember the confusion I felt then. It was his job. He couldn't just stand by and let Zack get hurt because violence was wrong. Still, I believed there HAD to be a better way, even if I didn't know what it was.

Two weeks after Larry and I got married, we went on a vacation with my family. In the van, my youngest brother Justin wanted to sit next to me. Larry demanded I could only sit next to him. Justin (who was eight at the time) got upset and grabbed me around the neck. Larry punched him.

I freaked out. I was SO angry at Larry. My dad tried to talk to me and tell me that I should be grateful because Larry was just trying to protect me. I wasn't grateful. I was upset, but again felt the same confusion. What else could he do?

And now, the US Marines have killed a mass murderer. People are telling me its a good thing, because "some things just need a killin'." THERE HAS TO BE A BETTER WAY!

I don't know what it is. I don't know what would be better. Maybe killing Osama is the only way, but I refuse to believe that. Someone has to stop it. Someone has to do something different. If its not going to be them, then it has to be us. And if we say, "there is no other way", then we'll never find the other way. We'll never find the way out. We'll just keep perpetuating this awful cycle of killing, and war, and sadness, and pain.

If the choices are "to kill or be killed," I guess I choose to be killed. I always have, and I probably always will. Which is one of the reasons I'm grateful there are soldiers out there willing to fight, because I wouldn't do it. Couldn't do it.

So, now, I guess, I'll go about my life. I won't stop searching for something better. I won't pretend that I'm happy or even okay with killing, even if it is necessary. And maybe one day, we as a global people will stop trying to control the rest of the world. Maybe we'll all find a better way.

4 comments:

  1. I think it's interesting that you are the only person I have seen voice this opinion on facebook, that there maybe is a "better way." I don't think that it was morally wrong to kill Osama bin Laden (because he killed thousands of innocent people and would do it again), but it didn't seem like good news either. I think any loss of life is sad, even Osama bin Laden. I think it's sad that fundamentalist religion indoctrinated him and so many others in childhood to believe that what they were doing was "right."

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  2. If you look at it in terms of stopping the terrorism before he masterminds another attack, I say get rid of him. One evil man eliminated before he slaughters thousands of innocents again. In my opinion, it had to be done. I'm not rejoicing and singing patriotic songs over it, but it certainly does give some closure for the hunt for Bin Laden. Al Quida needs to get the message that we're not going keep bending over and taking it in the ass so they can keep up the bullying.

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  3. I agree, completely.

    I see a lot of people posting this on facebook:
    "I 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

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  4. I both agree and disagree, but I think Macha said it best in her quote from MLK. Far better, in my opinion, if Osama could have been captured and brought to the bar of justice (real justice, NOT a military tribunal at Guantanamo) for his horrendous crimes. He was as evil as Hitler, Stalin and Mao, albeit on a somewhat smaller scale than any of those three. Hitler murdered millions to "purify" the Aryan race, and Osama killed thousands to wage jihad on behalf of the Saudi-supported Wahhabist version of Islam.

    Unfortunately, given the obvious complicity and/or incompetence of the government, military and intelligence services of (our ally?) Pakistan, a capture operation would have been MUCH more risky to the lives of our own special forces team than the "kill" operation that was approved by President Obama.

    Yes, there has to be a better way. But so long as the leaders of nations such as Pakistan pretend to oppose terrorists such as Osama, and at the same time (wittingly or stupidly) protect them and their followers from being discovered, our leaders face a dilemma: kill the terrorist leader when you have the chance, or let him/her inspire even more followers to commit even more destruction in the name of their bloody cause while awaiting the next opportunity.

    Boris

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