Peace and Justice

Last night Bug woke up about an hour after putting her down. She wanted to sleep in our bed instead. I brought her into our room and laid her down in the middle of the bed. She quickly fell alseep again but I was wide awake so I checked Facebook on my Blackberry where one friend posted,”Strange to see so much celebration over death.” I had no idea what she was talking about but the comments she received led me to understand that bin Laden had been killed. I then turned on the TV to see the celebrations for myself. And I have to say, I was conflicted also. Most would consider me your basic run-of-the-mill vegetarian pacifist. The truth is I become more pragmatic the longer I live on this planet. I rarely think war is the answer, I am opposed to nuclear proliferation, and I am pro-gun control. That said, I sometimes eat fish, kill flies when they get in the house, and believe that people have the right to defend themselves from physical attacks from others. And though for most of my life I have been against the death penalty as I believe that it goes against a human evolutionary path toward peace, the older I get I have begun to question if some criminals are so heinous that the only justice for their victims is indeed the extinguishing of the criminal from the living community. I believe we are all signed into a social contract with those that we share space with here on earth.

I can’t say I feel like joining the celebrations, but I do hope that the families of the victims of 9/11 feel a sense of justice. I hope that this brings some peace to all of us. That somehow, with justice served, we can collectively move on from this horror. Personally, 9/11 symbolized a loss of innocence. Having come of age during the long span of relative peace under the Clinton administration I really was naive enough to believe the the emergence of the WWW would change the world; that the interconnectivity would create global peace because how could we hate those who we could see and communicate with so easily? We would learn to respect each other’s cultures and evolve toward more respect for all living creatures. The US would be a global peace-making country. But the politics following 9/11, the wars, the politics of fear and hatred have left me not even sure I am an American anymore. I truly sometimes don’t know if I recognize this country. Obama looked the country in the collective face and said he was going to bring bin Laden to justice. He has done that. It feels good to have a leader hold himself to his word. It does, for me, restore a little bit of my pride in this country not because someone has died but because someone finally gave those families the justice they deserved and hopefully a little bit of peace.

After watching a bit of the news I went back to bed, snuggled next to Nola’s curly head of hair listening to her breathe and being thankful that she is sleeping in peace and wishing that could be so for all children.

Peace be with you.