The late Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., hoped he would “one day live in a nation where (his children) will not be judged by the color of their skin, but the content of their character.” How people treat the dead says a lot about who they are.  Consider the following two examples.  In each case, a sovereign government planned and executed the killing of an individual who was considered a threat.

The first occurred on May 1, 2011, when a team of Navy SEALs took out Osama bin Laden, nearly 10 years after he masterminded the terrorist attack resulting in the death of approximately 3,000 Americans.  The mission took months to plan.  Each step was considered and reconsidered both to increase the odds of success and minimize collateral damage.  With one exception.  At the risk to members of the assault force, they were instructed to remove bin Laden’s body in order to give it a proper Islamic burial.

According to emails obtained by the Associated Press through a Freedom of Information Act request, the public affairs officer on the USS Carl Vinson reported the following on the morning of May 2, 2011.

Traditional procedures for Islamic burial was followed. The deceased’s body was washed (ablution) then placed in a white sheet. The body was placed in a weighted bag. A military officer read prepared religious remarks, which were translated into Arabic by a native speaker. After the words were complete, the body was placed on a prepared flat board, tipped up, whereupon the deceased’s body slid into the sea.

Contrast that with the planning and execution of the murder of Washington Post writer and American resident Jamal Khashoggi on October 2, 2018.  As was the case with bin Laden, Khashoggi’s death was meticulously arranged.  Based on the details already available, only a fool would think otherwise.  There is one very important difference.  Khashoggi’s death can only be described as Islam on Islam killing.  And the perpetrators, including the members of the royal family which sanctioned Khashoggi’s homicide, demonstrated who they were, not so much by the assassination itself, but by their total disregard for and violation of Islamic law in the treatment of a fellow citizen following his death.

Which brings me to this morning’s news.  From the Associated Press:

HUIXTLA, Mexico (AP) — Still more than 1,000 miles from their goal of reaching the United States, a caravan of Central American migrants briefly halted its arduous journey Tuesday to mourn a fellow traveler killed in a road accident.

I ask you, who should Americans fear the most?  Refugees from persecution and violence who demonstrate humanity in the face of threats that their children may be taken from them because they seek a better life for themselves and their families?  Or autocrats who show no respect for their own laws, holy laws no less?  Which group would you open your home to?

For what it’s worth.
Dr. ESP