“Joyfully celebrating the killing of a killer who joyfully celebrated killing carries an irony that I hope will not be lost on us. Are we learning anything, or simply spinning harder in the cycle of violence?” -Brian McLaren on the death of Osama bin Laden
It is not ‘wrong’ to celebrate the death of a person committed to practicing evil wherever and however possible. That death is ideologically significant, and that significance reaches beyond national borders and into moral borders. I don’t care which side you’re on; when your house is being attacked, you defend your house. But today I stand in solidarity with the citizens of this country—and a global population beyond—and I am confident that we are in the house of “Good”. And in our struggle for good, we have just had a solid strike against our attacker, both literally and symbolically. People celebrating today are celebrating that one small victory in a sea of powerlessness. If you are a person putting all of your efforts into attacking your own housemates for being ‘overly celebratory’ about the death of a man, open your damn eyes. It is not a celebration of violence or murder, it is a celebration of triumph over fear and helplessness. It is a celebration of Good ideas winning over Evil ones. We are in this house together, we fight our battles together, and we win or lose together. Whatever qualms you have with your housemates, save them for tomorrow. If you don’t feel like celebrating, fine. But using this situation as an opportunity to criticize your fellow citizens’ behavior is uncalled for and makes it seem as though you are just looking for excuses to be divisive. In closing, I very deliberately choose *not* to say something malicious to you, though I very well could find something *if* that’s what I were looking to do. I’d simply like to point out the fact that we are all…on.the.same.side.
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