May 1st and Mixed Feelings

"You must be so happy."
My English teacher looked me in the eyes, searching. My confusion must have been apparent, and my English teacher repeated, "You must be so happy, the Americans have killed Bin Laden."
Not exactly how I expected to start out  my Monday morning.
I don't wish to be too heavily critical on the US, which I love and is my home, but Sundays events had a powerful effect on me. I'm still not quite sure how I feel about the whole thing, but shall attempt to work out my own feelings in writing.
Anxious to see the news, I rushed home and flipped on the TV, all channels bearing the same news of the Americans' defeat of Enemy No. 1. Images of celebrating Americans filled the screen, waving flags and banners and crudely drawn signs. I was horrified and heartbroken by what I was seeing. People celebrating the death of a man? Given, he was not a very nice man- murderer of thousands of innocents and a symbol of radical hate in the West. The things he did were truly terrible, and my heart aches for all those all over the world who's families have been ripped apart by this hatred. All the same, I believe his death is a time for quiet reflection and determination to bring peace to the world, not a time for celebration. Peace will never be won with gunfire, but through people willing to love and care for eachother desipe divisions of geography, race, religion, class, or anything. I think this quote by Martin Luther King Jr. ( one of my favorite historical figures, renound pacifist, civil rights activist, and pastor) really sums it up "I will mourn the loss of thousands of precious lives, but I will not rejoice in the death of one, not even an enemy."
I watched, shocked, as statuses and tweets popped up all over the web bearing lines like "proud to be an american" "heck yeah america!" and "party time!!" . I'm a strong believer in Jesus' belief in loving your enemies (Matt 5:44) and these proud and sometimes hateful lines deeply shocked and hurt me. When Jesus said to love your enemy, I'm pretty sure He meant to not celebrate when they are killed.
Images of celebrating Americans continue to bombard the media, and while I realize this is not an accurate representation of the masses, it's still pretty hard to swallow over here.
 I just want to take this opportunity to urge everyone to step back and evaluate our reactions to this, and to rededicate ourselves to the pursuit of peace through humanitarian efforts, and most of all, loving our fellow humans passionately and unconditionally. I would also like to encourage us all to reflect on the horrific events of 9/11 and resolve ourselves to pursue peace and justice, not violence and revenge.
This is a bit heavier than my standard "yummy pizza" type posts, but its an issue that's been weighing really heavily on my heart lately, and as an American living over seas I wanted to voice my perspective and urge us to come together as a country, united in quiet reflection of this event, inspired to push for peace and love our human neighbors.