In the aftermath of Osama bin Laden's death

~Us and Them~

This is the first in a series of blogs that have written on the death of Osama Bin Laden and the effect that his death might have on the west, the global jihad and the rest of the world.

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The news of Osama Bin Laden's death has dominated the headlines over the past few days, spurring a wave of mindless celebration that spread across the United States and across the world. On Sunday night, thousands of people joined the crowds outside the White House, waving their flags and chanting "USA, USA," whilst praying for positive confirmation that this man had been killed.

Has society really reached the point where it is actively encouraged to celebrate murder? This man wasn't even given the chance to have a fair trial and we stand by and rejoice his death.

It can be argued that he was the face of evil and that he deserved it - but surely this is exactly the same justification that goes through a terrorist's mind moments before blowing up a building.

At the end of the day it doesn't matter how evil a man is perceived to be, he is still a man and should be treated as one. This unalienable Right of equality is one of the pillars of western society, yet we incessantly alienate people from this right with our 'us' and 'them' mentality.

We think it's different because 'they' (the terrorists) kill people in the name of god or the greater good and therefore they have no basic human rights like the right to a fair trial. Newsflash! America and the west kill people in the name of god and the greater good too. If i remember correctly, in 2003 George Bush claimed that he was "told by God to invade Iraq and attack Osama bin Laden's stronghold in Afghanistan as part of a divine mission to bring peace to the Middle East, security for Israel, and a state for the Palestinians." In addition to this you could argue that all of the measures that we take to protect the international society are measures for the greater good and yes, in protecting the international society, we do kill innocent people in the process - just like 'they' do.

I am not saying that Osama Bin Laden should not have payed for any crimes he may have committed, I am simply saying that he deserves a trial and has a right to one just as much as much as we do.

Killing a man and rejoicing his death does not restore justice to the world, it just makes us hypocrites. Ultimately this "us" and "them" mentality that we live our lives behind has caused us, as a society, to live in the path of ignorance and hypocrisy. This war on terror is a war of justice, and if we don't play by the rules then we may as well call ourselves the terrorists because there is no longer a distinction.

Great Minds Differ

"A 'No' uttered from the deepest conviction is better than a 'Yes' merely uttered to please, or worse, to avoid trouble."~ Ghandi

As society pushes us deeper into the confines of social and legal acceptance, political correctness grows from a mere expression of equality into a fully-fledged tug of war between right and wrong.

We find ourselves segregated by a line created, not by our ignorance to equality, but by our reluctance to express our natural diversity. We have created a black and white world where we are seen as a sinner if we express a suppressed belief, say the socially unacceptable opinion or even just make an unfortunate choice in words.

But this social divide: the line of segregation that we are all so scared of. Is this really caused by us expressing ourselves in a way which is politically incorrect?

I think this line is made stronger by the fact that we have to be politically correct. We have to agree with the ‘good and proper’ opinion. We have to go so absurdly out of our way, so as not to offend minorities, that we have stereotyped prominent minorities as victims, ignorant to the fact that each one of us is a minority because we are all unique. Society has segregated us by implying that some are different, despite the fact that it is the one thing that unites us.

This political ‘correctness’ is not closing the divide, its creating one.

We are never going to live in a perfect world, for good reason too, but freedom of thought, expression and identity - these things that make us unique. Why are we regulating them?

Nelson Mandela was not ‘politically correct’ at the time when he fought the apartheid. He was imprisoned for 27 years before his beliefs were truly accepted.
Crossing this line and saying the socially unacceptable opinion allows us to evolve for the good. We should embrace that.

We have the right to free speech, and despite the paradox that this right is set out in statute, we should take the initiative to use it. Take the initiative to speak our minds instead of being sheep to the minds of the hierarchy.

Some say that great minds think alike, but I beg to differ. And I cherish that privilege because it makes me human.