The Dalai Lama’s aides clarified his statements on Osama bin Laden’s death and said the Buddhist leader believes bin Laden deserves “compassion.”

On May 3, 2011, the Dalai Lama, leader of Tibetan Buddhism, said that while Buddhism, like most Western religions, calls for forgiveness, “Forgiveness doesn’t mean forget what happened. … If something is serious and it is necessary to take countermeasures, you have to take countermeasures.”

Read a May 4, 2011, essay in Scientific American, “Does Revenge Serve an Evolutionary Purpose?” A psychologist who studies human behavior explains the complex desire for vengeance in the context of bin Laden’s death.

John Yoo, a law professor at the University of California, Berkeley, who served in the Justice Department from 2001-03, writes in The Wall Street Journal that the successful raid vindicates the Bush administration’s interrogation policies.

A May 3, 2011, blog post rounds up news stories and religious reaction surrounding the torture issue.

Read an editorial in the May 23, 2011, edition of America magazine, the national weekly produced by the Jesuits, that questions whether the bin Laden operation means the U.S. is resorting too frequently to “extrajudicial” killings.

U.S. Rep. Buck McKeon, a Republican, represents California’s 25th District and is an LDS church member.

U.S. Rep. Raul Labrador, a Republican, represents Idaho’s 1st District and is an LDS church member.

U.S. Sen. Jeff Flake, a Republican, represents Arizona and is a member of the LDS church.