Millions of Americans watched the tragic events of 9/11/01 unfold live on television. The horrific images were nothing short of paralyzing. Hours after the attacks, al Qaeda stepped forward to claim credit and its mastermind Osama Bin Laden secured his place as public enemy #1. In America, he became the very personification of evil.
Nearly a decade later, emotions continue to run high in light of Bin Laden’s death Sunday. For some the feelings were bittersweet; killing Bin Laden brings not one of the 9/11 victims back—but might it honor those victims in some way? For others the news brought feelings of joy and even a reason to party into the wee hours of Monday morning. Still others have reacted with a degree of sadness, quoting the likes of Martin Luther King Jr., Mark Twain, and Jesus Christ as a reminder that no one’s death—not even the death of a sworn enemy—is cause for jubilee.
Celebrating Bin Laden’s demise need not be considered “wrong.” Psychologically, the news brought for many a catharsis, defined by www.dictionary.com as the “discharge of pent-up emotions so as to result in the alleviation of symptoms.” Thus, feelings of relief, happiness, and even joy at the death of Bin Laden, although not the most “politically correct” response, are perfectly natural given the circumstances. They are, in actuality, a part of the healing process we all must work through.
Closure is a term that’s been thrown around a lot the last couple of days, as in “Bin Laden’s death should help Americans find closure.” This implies that we can now put the life-altering traumatic events of 9/11 behind us once and for all. Complete closure, of course, is unlikely to happen within our life times (nor should it).
On the other hand, acceptance might be within the realm of possibility for many people. If the catharsis spawned by Bin Laden’s demise helps Americans reach a greater level of acceptance, then we as a nation might become that much more healed. And it’s through healing that our collective thought processes might evolve to a point in which the condemnation of fighting violence with violence can become a more viable response.
In the meantime, don’t fall into the trap that you should feel a certain way about the historic events of this week. Unlike the heroes and villains of September 11th, feelings are neither good nor bad. Instead, they are the natural barometer of how we’re doing at making sense of the sometimes chaotic world in which we live.
I did breath a sigh of relief knowing that a mass murderer had been brought to justice. I can understand how people can feel conflicted about being joyful over this, but your reminder that feelings are neither good or bad was an excellent point. We need to allow ourselves to feel these things but not judge them as right or wrong.
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