"A left-winged radical at heart"

This post is an extension of a conversation that was had on my Facebook wall. I had to remove it to keep things pleasant but I wanted to write about it here just so that people better understand what I meant when I posted on my wall that: "You're right, celebrating someone's death isn't the Christian thing to do. I'm not happy that I'm glad someone is dead. Its great that some of ya can live that Martin Luther King Jr quote but I know I can't"

The quote that prompted that was this:

"I mourn the loss of thousands of precious lives, but I will not rejoice in the death of one, not even an enemy. Returning hate for hate multiplies hate, adding deeper darkness to a night already devoid of stars. Darkness cannot drive out darkness: only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate: only love can do that" - Martin Luther King, Jr.

A number of my friends posted that quote from Dr. King and while I agree with the principle - that we can't fight hate with hate - I think that its far too idealistic and that Martin Luther King Jr meant a lot more about hatred then just us being mad at one son-of-a-bleep who inspired such hatred and evil in the world.

Let me be honest and to-the-point, I'm not happy that he's dead. I'm just happy that he can't go on leaving such destruction and death in his wake. I agree with the spirit of the quote - we can't fight hate with hate - but I don't honestly think that's what we're doing. The Canadian war in Afghanistan isn't about us hating Muslims, or even extremists. At least, that isn't my understanding of it. Its about putting a stop to the way awful way people are treated and the terrible way a country is run. I think its fair to say that the Extremists there hate us but I can safely say that I don't hate them. We're fighting hate with "get them to stop destroying lives, already!". I think that most Canadians don't really give a damn about extremists (of all stripes), I just think we want them to live their lives as peacefully as we live ours.

I think Afghanistan is a very interesting and beautiful country and I think the people that live there are even more so. I don't hate any of them! And I never hated bin Laden, my naive Canadian hope was that he would see the error of his ways and would decide on his own to stop hurting people! At least now he's no longer a threat.

I can't truly live that quote which is why I posted my comment in such a way. I'm not proud that I'm pleased he's no longer breathing but I know I'm not the only one who feels that way!

Facebook isn't a good place for strong opinions, in my opinion, so I took down my post. I think everyone has a right to their opinions (and you're all welcome to share them in the comment section here, if you choose) but I'm very aware of the variety of people who read my wall... I don't want them offended. It wasn't wise of me to bring up something so inflammatory there which is truly why I removed the post.

Thanks.