Death is never a reason to celebrate

May 2, 2011, and March 19, 2014, were very similar days for me.

Bookending the beginning and end of my undergraduate career at IU, both days brought about the deaths of prominent and malevolent figures in American culture.
And neither death brought me solace.

Osama bin Laden’s death in 2011 and the death of Westboro Baptist Church leader and founder Fred Phelps last week could both be reasonably seen as occasions to commemorate the end of one individual’s reign of perverse terror.

I don’t need to remind you bin Laden was the mastermind behind terrorist attacks across the world, most notably the attacks on the World Trade Center in 2001.
Phelps founded his small, independent church in Topeka, Kan., whose members are known for picketing funerals of American soldiers and anyone who’s ever been seen publicly with a homosexual.

And though the world is a better place without these men, death is never something to celebrate.

The night bin Laden was killed, I saw images on television of people rejoicing outside the White House, singing inharmonious renditions of songs with merriment and
elation.

It was discombobulating, both because I disagreed with such celebration and because I felt guilty for not being happy like those I saw on CNN.

Bin Laden is clearly the more prominent figure, despite the notoriety and infamy Phelps and his church have gained in the last two decades or so. Bin Laden has also inflicted more pain on people than the Westboro Baptist Church will ever have the manpower to do.

But we can’t lower ourselves to the level of the Westboro Baptist Church members and cheer at the news of someone’s passing.

Despite Phelps and his followers’ refusal to grant other people the same respect, we cannot show joy at this man’s passing. When Westboro protested pop singer Lorde’s concert in Kansas City, Mo., a group of rival protestors shared my sentiment.

A man and woman held up a sign that read “Sorry for your loss” to the church members.

Though turning the other cheek is never an easy thing to do — and certainly not something I can say I’m skilled at — this is the response we need to have towards the Westboro Baptist Church going forward. Hate cannot be obliterated with hate.

We’re no better than the hateful men who have died if we waste our breath cheering for their passing.

I’m not asking you to mourn or grieve.

I’m just asking you to consider leaving your hate behind, lest you embody the emotion you claim to condemn.

wdmcdona@indiana.edu
@thedevilwearsdm