I love hockey. I hate the fighting.
Okay, that's not completely true. I don't actually mind the fighting all that much. I understand why they do it, my brother taught me about it at the first Nashville Predators game I attended. It's about keeping people in check. If you cross the line with one of my teammates, I'm going to kick your ass. If the energy of the game shifts to the other side, a little physical aggression can allow a team to take it back. I certainly prefer that they don't fight, but I don't lose sleep over it when they do.
What turns my stomach is the people in the stands cheering them on.
I feel the same about the celebration over the murder of Osama bin Laden.
All of this just makes me cry. I understand why we did it. I can even see that he had it coming, in a there-are-always-consequences-for-our actions sort of way. He did some things that caused tremendous amounts of pain here in the United States of America and the same multiplied endlessly in other parts of the world. He needed to be stopped. I'm even grateful he can't hurt people any more.
I love this country. I love this country. I love this country. I do. I deeply love this country.
We just can't celebrate.
When you celebrate murder, some part of your humanity is being oppressed by your fear.
You might as well hold your machine guns high up in the air and praise God, which is what horrified me the most in the post 9/11 news coverage. Same. Same. Same. This entire situation - the war, the oil, the whole response to terrorism - caused far too much damage to relationships, property, and life for us to celebrate.
When you celebrate murder, some part of your humanity is being oppressed by your fear.
You might as well hold your machine guns high up in the air and praise God, which is what horrified me the most in the post 9/11 news coverage. Same. Same. Same. This entire situation - the war, the oil, the whole response to terrorism - caused far too much damage to relationships, property, and life for us to celebrate.
I am grateful he's dead. We just can't celebrate.
We are not champions. We are murderers of murderers... and many other innocent people, including American soldiers. We've stopped a man who did many awful things but we are not winners.
I will leave you with this:
There is a power in love that our world has not discovered yet. Jesus discovered it centuries ago. Mahatma Gandhi of India discovered it a few years ago, but most men and most women never discover it. For they believe in hitting for hitting; they believe in an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth; they believe in hating for hating; but Jesus comes to us and says, "This isn’t the way." - Martin Luther King Jr.Yes, rub your eyes and read it again. I just pulled some Jesus on you, via Martin Luther King, Jr. Yes, I did.
Peace, people. We have to choose it... for ourselves, within ourselves, with ourselves. It is only then that we will be able to bring peace forward into the world.
I totally get what you are trying to say here. I would consider myself a peace and love type gal... and I don't think I'm going to go out running down the streets celebrating but there are some times in life where things just feel right. Not only was he an evil man with evil intentions... there was no stopping him. He was not going to stop doing bad things to innocent people.
ReplyDeleteYes I would prefer talking to fighting, forgiveness to punishing but what do you do when it keeps happening? When there are no other cheeks to turn? Sometimes evil is just evil and needs to be stopped. The analogy of putting down a rabid animal comes to mind...
You're not disagreeing with Christy here. TLH. (And neither am I, I should say.) It's the jubilation that turns her stomach (and mine, I should add).
ReplyDeleteright on.
ReplyDeleteI agree, Christy. He needed to go, but at the same time, the cost was sufficiently high that we should all reflect a bit rather than pumping our fists and celebrating...
ReplyDeleteI think the same. Who am I, if I have a conscience, if I am a REAL patriot, to reflect on this event in any way other than by looking down at the blood on my own hands, as an American citizen. How many people around this beautiful world think about my own beautiful country and wonder how they're ever going to stop us?
ReplyDeleteAnd in addition to failing in the basic claim of being more evolved and civilized, what would be the most effective way to incite further violence? Probably by dancing in the streets, parading credit for the death of an incomprehensibly radical group's leader.
ReplyDeleteBeautiful. The jubilation really turned my stomach because I cannot celebrate death. Period. Yet I'm not mourning the death of someone who clearly needed to be caught and punished. I feel solemn and reflective...thankful for and appreciative of our troops...and sad for the families of those lost in horrific terrorist acts. Yes, you can feel all of that simultaneously.
ReplyDeleteI am having the same struggle with watching people celebrate the death of a human being, a very evil spirited, hateful human being but a human being non-the-less.
ReplyDeleteAlso, I am a hockey loving feminist who often struggles with the fighting in hockey (especially since I have two hockey obsessed young boys) and I love your explanation of its role in the game. Awesome post! You have a new follower :)
I wasn't sure how my emotions would compare to others last night when I was so upset about this. I continue to be disheartened by the response, but deeply moved by the community that we obviously have cultivated for ourselves. I am grateful for every single one of these comments and to those who have shared this post. In twelve hours it already had more views than any of my previous most read posts.
ReplyDeleteI believe with every cell in my body that this can be shifted. We have the passion, wisdom, and community to share our need for peace with those around us. Seriously, thank you.
This is beautiful, thank you!
ReplyDeleteI felt the same way last night. We don't need to revel in it. There are no winners here.
ReplyDeleteI agree that we are supposed to Love our neighbors as ourselves, and God tells us that Love is the greatest commandment. I like to think I am a pretty religious person, but even God says in Proverbs that an evil mans life will be snuffed out, and in another book of the bible that "that which you reap so shall you sew." An eye-for-an-eye isn't the principal here, the man was a sick excuse for a human being, a sociopath..there was no taking him alive! I certainly won't be running in the streets shouting my excitment like some, but I would be lying if the news of his death didn't bring a bit of a smile to my face. The God I serve is an awsome God, and the Navy SEALs were his anwser to OBL's deathy reign. I know this means a lot of things, and least of all that the war(s) are over, but it means there's an end in sight and as a Marine Corps wife, sister-in-law, and daughter-in-law that's worth a lot to me and my family!!!
ReplyDeleteA politician who is low on popularity as of now just so happens to make the call to kill the terrorist we've been hunting for for years. Who knows, he was near one of our military bases for some time now. And they don't want to show any pictures or videos because it's too "graphic." Oh no, save our eyes, we wouldn't be able to find anything far worse on the internet, not at all. Let me see some actual evidence from someone who isn't a paid government official, and I'll believe he's dead.
ReplyDeleteWhile I appreciate a good conspiracy theory just as much as the next girl, I personally think this whole thing is a bit too much of a fiasco for President Obama to orchestrate just to keep the job. Massive objections at every turn, truly pathetic public participation in the very system that we're trying to inflict upon the rest of the world, and now this? Between you and me, I would have already gone all Palin on the Presidency by now.
ReplyDeleteAnonymous, I celebrate your creativity and oh so predictable cloak of anonymity, and hope that you'll take time out from both to VOTE every time you get a chance. I hope that you are putting your time and dollars behind candidates that you believe in, and will possibly even consider running for office yourself if no such person exists. I hope more than anything that you'll be at least part of the solution and you see, these are the very things that make a difference. And this thing you did here in middle of the night, in the comments section of my blog... not so much.
This post is about not celebrating in the streets. Your attempt to distract has been denied.
@Sara Sartin - It sounds like you made a good choice for yourself and your country by not "running in the streets shouting my excitment like some...".
ReplyDeleteChristy, really well said.
ReplyDeleteAnonymous (2), if you have a need to see the bullet-riddled body of a deceased terrorist to the extent that you would also make it unnecessarily available to all of our children, it's easy to see how you missed the point of the blog.
Good luck.
Christy, you have completly articulated my thoughts exactly. I also want to add that I hope they don't release pictures of this event. I think that the country has seen enough of this carnage, and the only ones whom wish to see these macabre pictures are those whom would use them to incite yet more hatred and fear. This all sings of Roman arena spectacles and the cheering bloodlust of the crowds....it makes my soul sick.
ReplyDelete