Burying Bin Laden

Yesterday, I thought it was insensitive of all the liberals I know to scold everyone for rejoicing in a major victory in a war. I know they don't approve of the war at all, but scolding everyone is in poor taste, especially since there are families of thousands of people who had a lot of sorrow because of the plots of this man, and many more who have had scares because of plots related to him and other terrorists.

Today it was less grating to hear the "Hey, don't dance on his grave" things that popped up everywhere. Today it was more appropriate.

Today I read about what they did with bin Laden's body, and also read several interviews with family members of those who died on 9/11 who were irate about it. They wanted to SEE his body. Several quotes revealed people who were (and are) clearly being consumed with anger.

Is spitting on someone's grave worse than dancing on it?

Anyway, I was really really glad about how the government and the armed forces handled the body.  The did not turn it into a sideshow. They didn't parade it through the nation for people to vilify. They didn't make it a point of anger or rage or spectacle.

They buried it respectfully according to the customs and religion of the man they had killed.

And that was the right thing to do.

For one thing, it keeps us, as a nation, safer.  If we parade the body through America, that does nothing for our righteousness and it gives other people in the world good cause to rally against us, instead of with us, against evil. If we leave it with his own people, though, they have a martyr they can show off, and a grave that becomes a shrine where pilgrims come. It becomes a rallying point, physically--a place that people can visit and remember and meet likeminded souls.

For another, it shows some dignity. If we are out purely to defend ourselves (not for revenge), then it is important to act like that, to treat cultures and souls with respect, and to not let our actions be controlled by sensationalism, cruelty, or anger.  We defend ourselves. We should not delight in bloodshed.

Am I glad he's gone? Yes. Am I glad he got a decent, human burial according to his own customs? Absolutely.  Do I feel sorry for him? Deeply.

He's got a lot of angry people to face on the other side, including the woman he used as a shield, the 3000 who died in the twin towers. And probably even his own God.