Is Seeing Believing?
- 05
- 11
- 11
I was walking on the treadmill and watching some insipid reality television when the news of Osama bin Laden’s death broke. I stayed up late that night in my sweaty gym clothes watching Barack Obama’s speech, hanging on his every word. I could not believe that after all these years, bin Laden was dead.
But I did believe it.
I heard that there were indeed photos taken of a deceased bin Laden and at first I couldn’t decide how I felt about said photos being made public. Part of me wanted to see them. Out of morbid curiosity. Out of a desire for an image to corroborate the surreal announcement of his passing.
When it was announced that the photos wouldn’t be released though, I found myself more than relieved. In that moment, I realized that I really didn’t want to see the gruesome depictions of the dead man. I felt, and strongly, that Obama had made the right call; That publishing the photos would only incite more hatred, trouble, and trauma.
It seems that many people do not agree with me. They want proof. They want to see that the man who terrorized our nation and so many others is in fact dead. And this leaves me wondering about the connection between seeing and believing? Do we need to see something to believe it?
I don’t think so. I think so much of belief has to do with faith. With trust. With instinct and intuition.
I believe that Osama is dead. And I am thankful that there aren’t images of his lifeless person being splashed across all my screens. That’s just me.
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How do you feel about Obama’s decision not to release photos of a deceased bin Laden? Are you able to believe something without seeing it? As a society, how dependent do you think we are on photographic evidence of historical happenings? How has bin Laden’s death affected you (if at all) in recent weeks?
Excellent post.
I am fully capable of believing the death without the photos – and I DO NOT want to see the photos.
Maybe my faith in news is linked to my religious faith – if I am prepared to believe that there is a God, does this mean that I require less proof of other things than someone who is atheist or agnostic in the strictest sense (i.e. that it is not possible to know either way)?
Bin Laden’s death hasn’t really affected me – but I’m not from the U.S. and did not lose a loved one on Sept 11, 2001. I don’t think airport security will lessen, and I will still worry about bombs in London every now and again, so really nothing has changed for me. But I do hope that those who have loved and lost (either on 11.09.01 or in the Middle East wars) find some closure in this event.
I didn’t want to see the pictures. I found the idea that people wanted to see them gross and sort of sad.
Plus, my question for all the people who can’t seem to believe he is dead without seeing the pictures, would you actually believe it then? Or would you believe they were just photoshopped and continue to believe the story was fabricated?
I do not need to see pictures to believe that he is dead. This would be an unbelieveable hoax to pull off, especially in this technological age.
Personally, I do not want to see those pictures, even if they are available!
No, I don’t need to see the photos. That would be horrific. Some may call me naive but I believe my government when it says bin Laden is dead. I believe that our military’s special operations forces are qualified to perform such an exacting mission. Yes, our society is extremely visual and expects photographic and/or tangible proof that an event took place. But most of our human history took place before the invention of photography and we don’t doubt Paul Revere made his famous ride.
Yes, the news last week affected me in a way I didn’t expect. Unlike the marking of the anniversary of 9/11, the news of bin Laden’s death took me back to the fear and panic of that day. The vulnerability we felt as a nation. The panic that Air Force One sat at the airport just down the road. The fear for my children’s safety. Not knowing for a few hours if my brother was working at his client’s office in the WTC. The heartbreaking news of my friend’s death. And finally, the undisputed knowledge that my divorce was the right course of action for me. It was a hell of a day.
I am 100% behind President Obama’s decision. No good would come from releasing a photo of a dead bin Laden. Imagine if a photo was released. The image of bin Laden would be splashed across our television screens by every major network and would be shown over and over and over and over and…
Our media has a tendency to overdo things. They focus on the bad, dissect it every which way, and ultimately generate depression, fear and, in some cases, hate.
Great post! I do not want to see the photos. People will say and believe whatever they want no matter how much evidence you have to the contrary. If the photos were released, people would just say it was not him, it was “staged”, etc….I am glad the photos are not out there for the world to see. We need less hate in this world. Not more. Releasing those photos would inspire more hatred.
I was also relieved there were no pictures. No need. And for a change, good sense (and common sense) prevailed.
As you say, we don’t always need to see to believe.
I echo BLW sentiment. I don’t think we always need to see to believe.
I definitely believe without seeing — and absolutely do not want to see photos of a dead Bin Laden (or a dead anyone).
Many people have argued the old “Hey, if you don’t want to see, then don’t look” nonsense — but we all know that if the photos were released, there would be no hiding from them. They would be on every computer screen and newscast, and tucked into magazines around the world. I would have to see it eventually — and I never, ever want to see that.
WOW – I had to think about replying to this thought provoking post. Firstly I want to say I agree wholeheartedly with President Obama’s decision not to release the pictures, I don’t need to see the pictures!
Like you Aidan I sat up late listening to news on this event and I felt so emotional about it and don’t get me wrong I in no way sympathize with bin laden. However, what it stirred was the emotions of that day. I am British and I don’t to get into a debate with anyone, but it did effect us as UK residents, because we believe that anything that happens in the US will eventually come to us, because we are allies,therefore our security level went on high alert.
That day also affected me because my cousin worked at the WTC and we had to wait hours for news about her (with me making every deal with God to spare her). I can only image the pain of the families that their loved ones did not return that night, because the pain I felt for those hours costumed me. Things for our family were different, she returned, but not without losing her boss and
colleagues.
I now live in NYC with my cousin and no I not interested in the pictures, I just believe that it is done. My hope now, is that for all the families who are still feeling such tremendous pain, and heartache that with this turn of events, they find some form of closure to soothe them.
I don’t believe that you have to see in order to believe!
I agree with you. And..really like your blog by the way – new to me.
I don’t want to see the pictures. But, as with all politics, some folks aren’t going to believe he is really dead – especially with the burial at see.
I believe his is dead..and I was overcome with emotion when I learned of the mission. It was a weird feeling. Relief for the families of the victims of 9/11 to some degree, proud of our military and my brother who has served this country for the past 25 years.
Thanks for your thoughtful post.
Seems that you’re not alone. No one here seems to want to see the pictures. To me, they wouldn’t ‘prove’ anything, because they could be faked. I do believe he’s dead, and I do not want to see the pictures. How morbid can we be? I don’t want to see pictures of Diana after her car crash either. I know that’s different, no one WANTED her dead, but there’s talk of releasing them, so it came to mind.
I didn’t need to see the pix but I was happy to hear the news. Call me bloodthirsty or vengeful but I hope that he died in pain and full of fear.
He was responsible for far more than 9/11. The USS Cole, the African Embassies, the Khobar Towers- it is a long list.
From my perspective those who want to see pictures as proof will find a million other reasons not to believe.
As a father I prefer that they aren’t released because I’d rather not be concerned about my children coming across them.
It was hard enough to talk about without that.
I wasn’t going to comment so long after the fact, but after thinking about it for a while, the only place I’ve felt comfortable expressing my feelings about it is in my kitchen with my husband. So you get to share in my opinions.
I didn’t actually hear about Bin Ladin’s death until Monday morning. We don’t tend to watch a whole lot of TV on Sundays, so my first awareness was a couple of friends on facebook posting that fake MLK jr. quote about never rejoicing in the death of an enemy and commenting about how sick it was that people were partying over it (one friend specifically told her roommate that she was going to throttle her if she heard “Ding, Dong! The Witch is Dead” one more time).
I, personally, was thrilled to hear the news. I wanted to go join the groups at Ground Zero and the Washington Mall. This was the end of an era. I know that the war isn’t over, but I feel like his death was symbolic in a lot of ways—that this is going to be a defining moment in a lot of “my” generation’s lives. We have officially killed the boogieman in the closet, destroyed the monster under the bed that has been haunting us for a decade now.
I don’t want to see the pictures. I am not presently happy in the death of a man; I am happy with the exorcism of a symbolic demon. I honestly think that he is as close to evil as many of us will ever see in our lifetimes; I feel no compunction with putting him on par with someone like Hitler—the only difference I see is lack of the opportunities that Hitler had. A large part of me doesn’t think he deserves to be seen as a man. I don’t want him humanized, which I don’t think I’d be able to avoid in myself if I saw the pictures. And then I’d feel guilt, which, to be perfectly honest, I don’t think I should have to feel right now. As long as it is still half a world away from me, just words, I can be happy with a symbolic triumph of good over evil.
I also don’t want to see others rejoice over the death of a man. Right now, I can tell myself that it isn’t bloodthirst that make us happy at this event. Many people would still be thrilled with the photos, and to some extent that worries me—then it would be a person whose death we rejoice in, which makes us less humane and more callous, and I don’t want that for humankind in general.