I'm disgusted with America. I'm disgusted because as Americans we claim to uphold values like forgiveness and grace. We say we are impartial protectors of our land and our people. We claim to be on the side of righteousness. Today we have acted like foolish children, today we have contradicted our words with our actions. Actions are eternalized and words are easily forgotten. From the things I have observed today, I cannot do otherwise but conclude that we are not what we say we are. We aren't convinced truly that we are equal to every people and individual on the planet; for some reason we believe that when someone has wronged us, we are allowed the grace of god to do whatever the hell we want in response. I see this, and it makes my hopes of a brighter future wilt like dried out flowers and fade like memories. I cant see things changing if we, and here I include myself, if we do not change the way we think. A disaster occurs that kills thousands and we give a newscast over it, we putt around the oh so familiar sympathies and then we go on our way. Last time I still checked, Haiti was still devastated, and Japan was still in danger of nuclear fallout. In my school, we tried to support the relief efforts- out of thousands of people, we raised four hundred dollars. That's not even a dime to each person. Yet, we justify our current resentments with the words "A lot of people died, and I'm just being sympathetic to their memory."
Recently, Osama bin Laden was killed. Today was the first many of the people in my community had heard of this. They shouted in their revelry, glad that such a darkness had been lifted from this world. I enjoyed the knowledge that I could rest assured that at the very least, no die by this man's hands. It is never a happy moment when the soul of a human being is taken by the hands of another. This event is one not to be taken too lightly, regardless of the circumstance. Mahatma Ghandi once said, "An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind." I have seen how blind vengeance makes people. I have seen the darkness pouring forth from any-man's soul. Are we really happy about this? Am I the only one who would rather accept that this evil has passed and be done with it? Do we have to make such a scene? All day, a voice in my head has been worriedly asking me: "Do these people realize that they have done the same thing to this man that they have been so upset about?" I believe a far better example could have been set by my fellow countrymen. We could have twittered quietly and solemnly to ourselves as we sipped or morning coffee on the way to school or work and breathed a collective sigh of relief. We could have observed a moment of silence for all the destruction caused by this man's life. We could have showed other nations what to do when they are faced with a duty to do something evil. Show them how to remain bold and virtuous in the face of calamity, but we didn't.
Instead, this morning the radio stations played live airing of everyone's dirty laundry. Everyone had to call them and say something snide or clever. Even the people who claimed before to be forgiving, to turn the other cheek as it says in their holy book. All of these people were ugly today.It bothers me that these people who are "right with god" ascribe to values and credos that they discard when something unusual or unfortunate happens to them. Today I have seen the values of America. Today, I have witnessed people, other human beings just like me who heard of death and not once were saddened to think: "Maybe this man was plagued. Maybe in his soul he already resided in hell. Did they once pray for the forgiveness they offer to all? Did they once stop celebrating long enough to ask their solemn forgiving god to extend his eternal graces toward the man that perhaps needed it the most. Not that I could see. I witnessed celebrations because this man was believed to be in hell. I fear that he wont be alone for long. Today I have witnessed some of the most terrible things I believe I will ever witness.
Don't get me wrong. I am more at peace because he is dead. He caused the death of many, many people. I do not condemn the soldiers who killed this man. I thank them. Tonight I can sleep and believe that maybe it will be safer to be an American in the world. But this kind of disgusting antic playing before my very eyes makes me wonder how righteous these people are, these people who say they are good, say that they forgive, say that they want the whole world to make up and shake hands and love one another. These are not the same people, or at least, they have adorned themselves in a drastically different manner. Today, they are just like the man they killed, and he lives on in them.
