A Complicated Mix of Emotions

I have a weird mix of emotions about today.  I'm happy, and I'm afraid, and I'm a little sad, and very proud.  

I think that the world is a better place today than it was yesterday, when Bin Laden was alive and well.  Hate is poison, and poison spreads.  So that's the happy part of me.  But do I think for one minute that the fact that we finally got him is really going to change very much?  Nope, not really.  Had we caught him sooner, perhaps it would have been more impactful.  But at this point in the game, so many splinter groups have already grown and flourished, they have become major threats in and of themselves.  Bin Laden kind of went out of style, from what I can tell.  The world has moved on from a single leader running all of the radical terrorist sects.  And that's the part of me that is afraid.  What are we in for?  It scares me to think about what we may have ignited, justified and necessary as it was?

That being said, though, I think it's good for the rest of the world, and especially good for the American people to bring closure to September 11 and to finally see justice served. I feel happy and proud for those who lost their loved ones in the attacks on 9/11.  I can't even wrap my mind around how they must have felt, day in and day out, knowing that the mastermind of the attack was still walking around as a free man, living, breathing and apparently plotting other attacks? 

I am innately uncomfortable with celebrating death, anyone's death.  On a human level, I don't think it's right.  The Daily News this morning ran a full front page story proclaiming "Rot in Hell".  Don't get me wrong.  I understand the feelings out there, and I don't disagree.  But I do think that embracing hatred like that brings you just a little bit closer to those same terrorists who act out of hate.  Hate is hate, whether you are an American, a Saudi, a Muslim or a Christian. 


Anyway, just some thoughts as I start to process.  I think it's safe to say that this is a pretty important day in the history of our country, of the world, of peace and unity.