Pumping our fists in victory or celebrating in the streets is probably not the best Christian response to anyone’s death, even the death of a dangerous and violent enemy. The world can be relieved that a leader as evil as Bin Laden can no longer plot the death of innocents. We can be grateful that his cynical manipulation and distortion of Islam into a message of division and hate is finally ended. Even if we sharply dissented from the moral logic or wisdom of the failed wars in Iraq and Afghanistan of the last decade, we can be glad that a mass murderer has been stopped and brought to justice. And we can be hopeful that the face of the Arab world might now become the young nonviolent activists for democracy rather than a self-righteous smirk of a self-promoting video character who tells us he is going to kill our children if we don’t submit to his hateful agenda.
But the book of Proverbs clearly warns us to “not rejoice when your enemies fall.” And, in the hardest words of the gospel, Jesus tells us to “love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.” Neither of those texts have been very popular pulpit texts during the years since 9/11. So as people of faith, we don’t celebrate the death of other human beings, regardless of how twisted or evil they have become. See the rest here.
I could not have said it better Jim Wallis, I could not have said it better.
2 comments:
I honestly felt so, so sad when I heard about his death. I kept imagining him standing before a Holy God...
I felt even worse when I logged into facebook the next morning. I felt sick. I'm really glad to read this because so many people that I love and respect were reacting in a way that, frankly, surprised me.
It never feels good when anyone dies but especially an unsaved soul. I have prayed for the man in the past especially during the intial days of 9/11. It's evil we are fighting not God's creation.
Jill Hays<><
Post a Comment