The Sin called Osama bin Laden

Exactly six years ago, on this very day, a man who perpetrated the worst violence on mankind in the name of religion was bombarded to death.  Osama bin Laden was a perverted idealist.  He wished to establish Islamic rule all over the world.  He killed all those who he considered to be the enemies of his dream.  Finally he died an exceptionally violent death that befitted him.

What was wrong with Osama bin Laden?  Well, almost everything.

First of all, his very dream of creating a utopia on the earth.  The history of mankind from it humble beginnings more than two or more million years ago is ample proof that a utopia is not possible on earth.  Every animal is marked by certain limitations.  Man is even more so.  Jealousy and greed, lust and sloth, hubris and anger… That’s an endless list.  The items on that list have only gained vigour as time passed.  In other words, man became worse and worse as generations went by.  The dream of a utopia is more impractical than bin Laden’s Arabian camel passing through the eye of a needle.

Second, the means he employed.  Violence was the only means he knew.  “Acquiring weapons for the defence of Muslims is a religious duty,” he said. He considered it his divine mission to acquire weapons and hand them over to his followers who were all misguided people, mostly impressionable young guys.  He advocated killing anyone who was perceived as the enemy.  He had absolutely no qualms about using innocent women and children as shields for his warriors.  Such cruelty will not be seen even among the deadliest beasts in the jungles. 

Third, his perversion. He married more number of women than he could count on his fingers.  He didn’t know his own children by name or even face.  He didn’t care for them anyway.  He was more interested in becoming the Messiah of the world.  But he was unwilling to probe hearts, his own as well as those of other creatures on the planet.  A heartless Messiah is the deadliest self-contradiction.  Dante would have confined him to the ninth circle of the Inferno.

Finally, his legacy. The legacy is so seductive that even his worst enemies have embraced it.  I won’t elaborate on this lest I become a traitor.