In the all the media hoopla in the past 24 hours, I couldn't help but think about what it could mean. And here are a few of my thoughts, articulated in an article I read today in the quiet of my home, away from the radio, the constant crawl, and the networks:
"On a practical level, some people are concerned that such public displays of elation — similar to those following a sports victory or a political election — will create more animosity and even greater danger. "This closes a chapter, but the most sobering aspect of this is that this is not the end," Jack Cloonan, a former FBI special agent, told The Huffington Post. "The reasons they hate us have not subsided, and this could reinvigorate things.""
These are similar feelings I had 9 years ago, walking across Earlham's campus to my house- when we were dropping the first bombs on Afghanistan and Iraq. An unease, and a certain feeling that I didn't want any of this in my name. And I hope there are victims and their families who don't want this in their name.
Everyone processes these things differently, but I hope that our society isn't solely reflected by the cheering and the reveling. I hope that members of other countries- Muslim, Christian, and secular can see beyond what the media wants to show and see that there are those of us who are thinking twice, or even more about what the death of a leader - no matter how despised- means.
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