Be Gone, bin Laden

photo courtesy of Michael Yon

It is rarely appropriate to rejoice an individual's death. To lose a positively contributing member of society is lamentable, always, but inevitable. And when a rotten person dies, it may end the suffering of others, but that they have lost the opportunity to turn themselves to light before their death is a tragedy.

Osama bin Laden, however, was a pitch black stain on the world. He did more to damage the reputation of Islam than did any other believer, but, more and worse, he cast a shadow over the entire institution of religious devotion. It is because of the supremely evil actions of people like him that the secular world grimaces at the determinedly devout. How often do we hear that religion has been a greater cause of human suffering than anything else in our history? We have mosters like bin Laden to thank for that.

I am devout. I am not Muslim, I am Christian, but I respect profoundly the intrinsically peaceful and selfless tenets of Islam that mirror the best of what Christianity has to offer. Bin Laden perverted the religious fervor of many Muslims, and twisted love into hate. He built a fortress of corruption upon a deeply tainted perspective of man's relationship to God. Surely by his actions he became a servant of the Destroyer. He was evil more for those lives he broke than those he helped end.

We should all lift our heads in a unified satisfaction that his life has been ended at the hands of his enemies, and that he has no more power to personally contribute to the abominations of this world. Now, finally, he will meet his God, whose name he so so abused with his time upon the Earth.