Osama bin Laden's Death

Late Monday night I joined much of the rest of the world in hearing the shocking news: Osama bin Laden was dead.  That news brought a wide variety of responses.

Crowds gathered in New York City to celebrate.  People proclaimed that justice had been served.  Some voices were disappointed that bin Laden had been buried at sea with dignity (since many 9/11 victims did not get a proper burial).  I heard voices angry that he had not been captured alive and brought to trial.  Other people insisted that bin Laden had died in 2001 (or 2002) and this was all just one vast conspiracy.

Amid all those responses, I simply felt a sense of relief.  The man behind so many terrorist acts would not plan another. 

I cannot bring myself to join in the celebration.  As a man of faith, I will not rejoice in the death of any man or woman.  Jesus ministry consisted of love and forgiveness, not of death and getting even.   As Jesus proclaimed,

“But to you who are listening I say: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, ²⁸ bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you. ²⁹ If someone slaps you on one cheek, turn to them the other also.”  Luke 6:27-28

In our broken and sinful world, there are times when we are forced to make hard choices.  We like for the world to be black and white, good and evil.  The reality is that the world is much more complex.  There are times when we are forced to choose between two very bad options.  In such cases we work to choose the one that is ‘less bad.’ 

It’s like a woman who faces abuse from her husband.  The Bible is clear that divorce is wrong and hurtful.  Forcing the woman to stay in the relationship and continue to face the abuse is wrong and hurtful.  This isn’t a choice between good and evil.  It’s a choice between two very bad options.  Either choice will bring pain.  Most would agree that divorce is the better of the two bad options in this case.

For me, bin Laden’s death falls into this same category.  The God who created each and every one of us does not rejoice in death.  We proclaim that the Holy Spirit seeks ALL people (even people who have done as many evil things as bin Laden), working to bring them to faith.  Killing is never ‘good.’ 

On the other hand, bin Laden continued to work to plan death and destruction.  I believe that his death will keep many innocent people alive.   We will never achieve ‘victory’ over terrorists as long as there are people in this world filled with hate, but in the death of bin Laden one of the leaders of the movement has been removed from power.  I pray that the movement will lose some steam without him.

Faced with a choice between the death of bin Laden and the future deaths of many people due to bin Laden’s planning, I have to agree with many that his death will save lives.  I do not rejoice that we have ‘gotten even.’  I do not celebrate that one of God’s creations lies dead on the bottom of the ocean.  Hard choices had to be made. 

I now do what I’ve been doing for the past 10 years.  I continue to pray for peace.