Restorative Justice, and the Death of Osama bin Laden

Disclaimer: I am well aware that this post may offend people. Sorry. However, I am not trying to come across as arrogant, unpatriotic, or "holier-than-thou." My intent of this post is to try and explain my opinion, which, for all intensive purposes, falls outside of the "norm," or, at least the norm that I have witnessed via the news, Facebook, the internet, etc. Enjoy it or not, I'm saying it.


I woke up this morning about 2 1/2 hours before class, frustrated with myself that I had yet to start my homework. Before I could even sit up, my roommate told me Osama bin Laden had been killed by U.S. forces sent at President Obama's discretion. Osama bin Laden, the face of evil, head honcho of al Qaeda, terrorist mastermind behind the 9/11 Attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, the world's most hated man—dead. Too shocked to believe what I had just heard, I left it at that for the moment and began my homework. Truth be told, it was extremely hard to focus on my assignment—a 2 page response to the play Electra that we had seen Friday evening. Of all my responses I have written for class yet, this one was probably my least favorite and most poorly written. I just couldn't write because it seemed so trivial and petty compared to the news I had just experienced. I don't use the word "experienced" lightly; I truly believe this news is something I will always remember, similar to how I felt on September 11th, 2001. Granted, I was 10 years old that day and unable to comprehend the severity and enormity of the event, but I at least knew it was a big deal. And this was a big deal as well, but for a number of reasons outside of the obvious, which I will not be explaining because they aren't quite that important to what I am trying to get at in this post.


I spent this school year living in an LLC, or Living Learning Community. Mine was entitled "Spirit of Nonviolence," so our main focus was discussing topics such as peace, justice, nonviolent thought and action, and spirituality. From living here, I grew a lot, and was able to experience many different types of nonviolent practices, ranging from the deeply religious and spiritual (we had a born again Christian and a Quaker in our hall), to the purely secular and humanist (one of my roommates was a proclaimed Atheist). One of the most important things my hall taught me, other than how to live in close quarters with so many varied folks, was the idea of restorative justice. Generally speaking, restorative justice is the idea that the offender should be rehabilitated into society, rather than severely punished for wrongdoings. It seeks to aid both victim and offender, and doesn't break things down into abstract legal concepts and principles. That's an extremely simplified explanation of the idea, so please don't think that that's all there is to it.


Why is this important?


There was a riot at Penn State University about Osama bin Laden's death. People were parading in the streets of New York City and Washington, D.C. There were demonstrations outside of the White House and the Pentagon. There were demonstrations on college campuses. My own beloved Colorado College had people launching fireworks into the snowy night sky. And for what? Celebration of the death of another human life. That's inhumane, if you ask me.


But, Sam, he's the man behind thousands of deaths! He's the man who cultivated fear through  brutal acts of terror and violence! He's evil! He's not even human!


Well, duh. I know he was despicable. I know he was a terrible detriment to society as a whole. If Hell exists, he's probably heading straight there, not passing "Go," not collecting $200. However, that does not excuse the fact that, as my friend Phoebe put it in her blog post about the situation (which you should all read here: http://saybye.tumblr.com/post/5138351549/thoughts-on-the-death-of-the-uss-most-wanted-and-the), that "almost everyone reacted like jubilant teenagers at the death/execution of someone." Though I did not witness any American reactions (other than of my friends here in the class) first hand because I am abroad, I have seen plenty of videos. Not a single one has had me cracking a smile or feeling proud. I have seen plenty of clever (and not-so-clever) Facebook status updates about the situation. Not a single one have I "liked," sans for the ones that were about how foolish some people are behaving. 


Growing up, we were always told that it was wrong to "fight fire with fire." That obviously has never sunk in with the U.S. government or U.S. armed forces. Yes, we were attacked first by covert terrorists that were extraordinarily radical, but we chose to flex America's testosterone-ridden bicep and invade half of the Middle East. Most of the people living there do not agree with al Qaeda and/or Osama bin Laden, and for us to forcefully derail their government systems in order to aggrandize our form of democracy was a completely bonkers reaction. We certainly fought fire with fire, though not in quite the same way. THE UN SAID TO GEORGE W. BUSH AND THE UNITED STATES MILITARY THAT WE COULD NOT INVADE FOREIGN SOIL. BUT WE DID. AND AT WHAT COST?


Vengeance. Nothing but bullshit vengeance that did nothing but harm innocent people and perpetuate violence, prejudice, hate, and propaganda. Will our country be any less Islamophobic? Will people suddenly want to spend vacations in the Middle East? Will the violence stop?


No, it won't. The general public proved that in its visceral reaction to the death of a symbol. A win in the name of justice and humanity? Maybe, in the sense that his fear tactics and mongering will finally be put to rest, but certainly not in the sense that humanity is saved. Until we can figure out a way to not react to violence with violence, this perpetual cycle of death and ignorance and hatred, we have not won.