Osama Bin Laden, A Chapter Closes

This day after the announced that Bin Laden has been killed, I felt it appropriate to reflect on this historic event.

First let me say, I will not mourn the dead of this man, but, I will never celebrate the taking of a human life, no matter how evil the soul attached to that life.  Celebrating the taking of human life is the purview of; the ignorant, unaware of the profound effect that event can have on a moral soul…  the morally or spiritually numb, locked into the narrowly defined moralities of religion…  or the immoral, who relish in such detestable activity.  Unless you have experience directly the taking of another human life, and I hope you never have to experience such an atrocity, you cannot and will not understand the toll extracted from the just soul for such actions.  I have such experiences, and even I did not understand, at the time, the intense effect they would ultimately have on my life.  Given similar circumstances, I would do it again without hesitation.  However, I will never again rejoice in the taking of a human life, no matter how deserving the individual.

I remember vividly the events of September 11, 2001.  I awoke at my normal 6:30 AM, padded out to the kitchen for my morning coffee, and turned on the TV to get my morning news update.  As I stood there looking at the burning WTC Tower on the screen, desperately grasping to understand the picture was viewing, I almost dropped my cup of coffee as I moved to set it on a nearby table.  Just as stock was beginning to wear off, and my mind was beginning to grasp the meaning of what it was witnessing, my horror re-emerged as I watched a second plane slammed into the second tower.  As much as my mind wanted my body to freeze on that couch in utter terror, I rose to get dress for work knowing that we had personnel all around the country who were going to need assistance from the home office to weather this event.  At work, we set up a TV in main conference room to get updates throughout the day.  It was there that I witnessed the event that I had suspected would be coming as I watched the earlier coverage from home.  First one, then the second tower of the World Trade Center came crashing to earth.  It was at work that I learned that all air traffic into and out of the United States was being grounded, and U.S. airspace close to all traffic.  GREAT, one more worry to add to a growing list.  My wife’s parents were flying back from a trip to Europe, and we had no way to check in with them.  Yeah, GREAT!!  It was three days before we learned that their flight had been diverted to Gander, Newfoundland, and they were safe, if not somewhat scared and confused.

Well, as days progressed, things began to normalize, as much as can be expected considering the environment at the time.  We checked in with all our employees and made arrangements for their safety and upkeep.  For, you see, on any given day of the week, we could have dozens of people flying around the country and staying on hotel away from home, with air traffic shut down, many of these people were stranded in places far from home.  Thankful, that the needs of my people were addressed, I turned my attention to those who were not so fortunate.  While it took time to get the an accurate count, there is one thing I am grateful for, given the large numbers of individuals working in and close to the WTC, the loss of life, while still unacceptable, was rather small given the potential.  I will always remain sorrowful for the lives lost on that day, let us not forgot all the lives wantonly ended in the name of God, and religious zealously.  And, let us not forget the thousands of U.S. Troops who have given their lives in the last 9 years, in the defense of and search for justice the American people and victims of the 9/11 atrocities.

But, we also should not forget that the events of this weekend change nothing.  Yes, we got one important figurehead, financier, and organizer of terror, but, as long as there are zealots, religious or otherwise, willing to carry out the terrorist acts of these people, these events will not stop.  And remember, there are zealots and fanatics in all religious beliefs.  Whether they perpetrate acts of violence and terror, or merely insight it among their flock, with their rhetoric and vitriolic bile, they are a danger to society at large, and should not be taken lightly.  Those on the radical fringes of your belief systems are just as dangerous, as those on the fringes of belief system with which you disagree.  All must be condemned and diligently discouraged, if are ever to evolve beyond our current selves.

So, while I am thankful that one less fanatic exists today to insight others to violence, I will not celebrate his passing, as there too many others waiting to take his place.  I’ll will try to remain diligent in my choice to speak out these individuals wherever I encounter them.

Your comments or questions are always welcome.