The death of Bin Laden and the birth of change

I remember where I was the day the planes crashed into the Twin Towers in New York City; I was four months pregnant with Oz and was getting ready for work, watching the news when clips of the first plane had hit were being replayed.

I sat, watching in total disbelief at what I was seeing then ran to get Big Daddy to tell him what had happened. He thought I was kidding or seeing something that couldn't possibly be true but when we both sat watching the clips, and the second plane flew towards the second tower and the news casters were in disbelief of what they were seeing, I felt completely sick to my stomach knowing I was watching live a planeload of people crash to their deaths.

I couldn't tear myself away from the news that day and I watched, like most of the world, the great Twin Towers fall.

I remember sobbing, clutching my stomach and apologizing to my unborn baby for bringing him into this world where such evil people existed.

Last night, when I saw the twitter feeds that Osama Bin Laden was dead, I felt a rush of elation and shock and satisfaction knowing that he was finally dead.

"His demise should be welcomed by those who believe in peace and justice."
US President Barack Obama

Since the announcement from US President Barack Obama, I have seen two extreme types of reactions: those who are overjoyed that Bin Laden is dead and those who are horrified that people could celebrate his death.

I'm somewhere in the middle, which for me is an unusual reaction in itself as I am somewhat of an extremely opinionated person, but I see this situation as so much more than the demise of Bin Laden.

My authentic self can't joyfully celebrate someone's death although I am truly not sad that he is dead. There are certain people this world is better off without and Bin Laden was one of them. Throughout history, there have been others who most people were happy that were no longer able to terrorize the world: Adolph Hitler, and Saddam Hussein are the first two who come to mind, but I don't remember there being such an uproar about Hussein's death from  Western civilization.

Did it make it better that Hussein was found cowering in a rabbit hole by US Soldiers and brought to trial for crimes against humanity where he was given the opportunity to call his trial an injustice and mock the system, eventually being sentenced to death anyway? Was that more humane? Should the government have tried to take Bin Laden into custody and risked having more people killed, or worse yet, having Bin Laden escape?

On the flip side of the extreme celebrating, I've been seeing tweets of: "An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind" Ghandi. I've also had friends on Facebook post how wrong it is that people are happy Bin Laden is dead.

I get that position, I really do because I have always believed in justice and fairness and know that to take joy in someone else's pain is wrong on a moral and spiritual level but I also remember the cheering from the extremists when the Twin Towers fell and how awful that made me feel, to know that someone could take joy in other people's suffering.

So I choose to look at this situation this way: the world is on the precipice of a great change, one I believe will ultimately be in the way we live our lives and view the world as a whole, one of great peace and blissful contentment, one where our children will be the change that we have always wanted to see.

Bin Laden's death was instrumental in that shift in the universe and how the world will change. The generations coming up now truly have the ability to bring about world peace and anyone who knows me or has followed this blog knows I'm not about spewing corny bullshit.

Am I celebrating the death of an evil man? No. I am celebrating the birth of change and the possibilities of calm in our chaotic world.

t.