Osama, fan fic and assorted nonsense

[cyranothe2nd]

1. Cannot believe that we are actually debating about whether we should see a picture of Osama's dead body. First off, it makes me sick that we are celebrating the death of another human being. One of my earliest memories of TV is of watching the news when John Wayne Gacy was put to death. The reporter was interviewing people out in from of the

Comments

[rpeate]

I hope you don't confuse "relief" or "gladness" with "rejoicing". I am very glad that many persons are dead. That is not "rejoicing".

[cyranothe2nd]

Pete--I mean the people partying in the streets, etc. Also, "gladness" and "rejoice" are synonyms...

[rpeate]

To rejoice usually has a more celebratory connotation than to feel the quiet satisfaction of gladness.

[cyranothe2nd]

Dammit, I hate replying from my email. I don't mean feelings of relief. I feel that too. I just feel really adverse to people having parties and being all like, "Yee-haw! Killed that bastard dead!"

IDK, I'm not glad that he's dead. Or maybe a little guilty part of me is. But I try to struggle against that and to remember that the man was a father and husband too and that he thought he was making a political statement...Not trying to justify what he did (AT ALL) but I don't like that part of me that is happy someone else is dead, you know?

[bill_sheehan]

I think the words you're looking for are "contemptible ghouls".

Killing Bin Laden was justifiable. Exultation over his death is not.

[cyranothe2nd]

I'm not so sure his killing was justified. I would have preferred him to stand trial. But I've read reports that he was reaching for a weapon and I certainly don't blame the SEAL team for shooting him. I have strong feelings over State sanctioned execution.

[rpeate]

To kill someone already in custody, who is no longer a threat to Society, is Sadism.

To kill someone when there is no other choice to prevent future harm is sometimes necessary, unfortunately. It is unfortunate, but it is true.

As someone else noted, the raid on bin Laden took place at night; the SEALS were wearing goggles, and for all they knew, bin Laden was armed. They had no choice but to shoot him without endangering themselves--I understand that. But I am saddened by the loss of information, and I am saddened by the opportunity to show American justice versus al qaeda's.

But again, one can still be glad someone is dead under such circumstances, weighing all the factors. I am glad Hitler and Stalin are dead. (I wish those men who tried to kill Hitler had succeeded.) I am glad Mao is dead. But these are cases of tyrants beyond arrest and imprisonment. In such cases, only murder will do. Caligula, for another example.

What we need is a world in which there are better options than murder.

[cyranothe2nd]

What we need is a world in which there are better options than murder.

Agreed so hard.