The Death of Osama bin Laden...

Anima eius et animae omnium fidelium defunctorum per Dei misericordiam requiescant in pace.

The above is from the Roman Catholic burial service. It is based in Isiah 57, 1-2:

The righteous perish, and no one ponders it in his heart; devout men are taken away, and no one understands that the righteous are taken away to be spared from evil. Those who walk uprightly enter into peace; they find rest as they lie in death.

Obama bin Laden did not walk uprightly. He did not belong to the righteous, he was not devout in any civilized sense, and he embraced evil wholeheartedly.

Hence let us understand that there is evil in the world, that evil always fails because at the end of the day, good will prevail. It is of utmost importance that we never forget that in order for evil to prevail, all it requires is that good men allow it. We do not do enough in our policies, in our education, in our culture, in our daily lives, in ourselves to stop evil in its tracks: we are merely human, frail and corruptible, weak and easily distracted. But there are times when we rally and do the right thing at the right time for the right reasons.

My deepest and heart-felt thanks for those whose service to the ideals of the civilized world made it possible to fight this evil and help to end it. These are the true heroes, the righteous and devout, those who walk upright for they are fighting the right fight. Evil is still out there, evil will disappear only when the hearts of men are not clouded by their baser interests and that enlightenment, in one form or another, brings peace to us all, allow us to transcend temptation and not be led to evil.

Until then, lock and load. Keep your ammunition dry, your batteries charged, water clean and the rations healthy. Keep you spirits on the goal, your mind on the situation and above all, love those you do love with all your heart and body.

Keep the faith. It was a good day when Osama bin Laden died. It aggrieves me to say that, I deeply wish that he hadn't done what he did, that his twisted path had been a righteous one. It was not, and his personal evil, at least, has ceased.

That is all.