He's dead, Jim

Forgive the flippant title. I could not resist.

Suspected Boston Marathon bomber Tamerlan Tsarnaev was buried recently in a Virginia cemetery. This is the end (?) of one of the nastier aftereffects of the Marathon bombing.

In a move that made this writer recall Joseph of Arimathea, Martha Mullen made arrangements to have the body buried properly.

Now Tsarnev is NOT Jesus Christ. Christ would have vehemently denounced Tsarnev's actions. The murder of innocents is not Christian, Islamic or in the tenets of any other major belief system.

Cambridge and Massachusetts officials feared that their graveyards would be the site of vandalism and demonstrations. This is understandable. While there are variations, Islamic law and custom prefers that the body be buried as soon as possible in the earth. Apparently there was no family money to return to body to Russia and Russian authorities stated the body could not be brought back.

But, the ugly scenes that played out concerning Tsarnev's burial played into terrorists' hands. People around the world saw how we reacted to the idea of his final resting place being on American soil. I am sure that right now, Tsarnev's story is being used to “show” that Americans are not God-fearing and respectful of others.

Yes, they are wrong. But I do thank Mullen and the people she reached out to have done this country a great service.

Now we can put the issue to rest. We can forget him, better still.