I typically don't get involved in these discussions, or even post political posts. I try to stay away from controversial topics (I've seen the passion that quickly turns ugly first hand....)
But after seeing what I've seen today, I can't simply sit back and remain silent.
I'm disgusted that people are rejoicing over his death.
I know what an evil man he was. I know what he stood for. I know what he did to our country, and the pain and suffering that he has created in his own country and for his own people.
But he was still a man. He was a man with family, friends, and relationships. He was a man who didn't know Christ!
I realize that some of you are going to say that he deserves every punishment he gets. But let's think about this. This man is going to spend eternity in Hell. Maybe in our eyes, he deserves that. But we are only human. Didn't Christ come to save ALL of us? Not just me, or you, or the innocent people that have been tortured and killed because of this man. Didn't Christ come for bin Laden too?
I know that is a hard one to wrap my mind around. My human instinct wants to feel relief that he is dead. My human emotions say that he gets what he deserves in Hell. But that is NOT how Christ sees it. I know that Christ HATES sin. I know that he turns away from it, and I also know that He is just and will give bin Laden the punishment that he deserves, but that is not something for us to be rejoicing about.
Since when do Christians CELEBRATE the fact that someone is going to be tormented in Hell for the rest of eternity?! Since when do Christians CELEBRATE the fact that someone has died that is not a believer?
I know I most certainly DO NOT and WILL NOT celebrate. My heart aches when I see fellow Americans and Christians celebrate this man's death. Where is our love? Where is our compassion?
23 comments:
THANK YOU for posting this!! I am SO glad that you see it the same way I do! It has been absolutely frustrating me to no end that christians are celebrating this! We should NOT be rejoicing over anyone's death -- no matter what they have done.
I too thank you for this post. I'm too am glad I'm not alone.
I am truly horrified at the spectacle many Americans are making of this whole situation. It is especially difficult when I know several people who are expecting a severe backlash against Americans living in high-risk areas. Thank you for countering the incredibly disturbing displays elsewhere on the internet.
It makes me think of the news reports from 2001, showing people dancing in the streets in the Middle East, celebrating the fall of the World Trade Center and Pentagon. That was painful to watch...and now we're doing the same thing. (By "we", I don't include myself.) Bad idea! We're supposed to be so much better than them, but no, we're exactly the same as the terrorists and their sympathizers.
I wonder how the public (including Christians) would have reacted if Bin Ladin got saved and became a Christian?
17 Do not rejoice when your enemy falls,
And do not let your heart be glad when he stumbles;
18 Lest the LORD see it, and it displease Him,
And He turn away His wrath from him.
19 Do not fret because of evildoers,
Nor be envious of the wicked;
20 For there will be no prospect for the evil man;
The lamp of the wicked will be put out.
This passaged seemed approperiate today.
Thanks...I was feeling very much alone in having these same feelings. Especially agree with Steven...I just said the same thing to my husband (retired from the Navy).
I love Kim's scripture. It's funny, watching last night, my gut was like "Oh crap, What is coming our way now?"
I think the "celebrations" are a slap in the face.
I am glad that somebody, which happens to be Obama, did what was said they'd do. Bring Osama to justice. I would have liked to see him on trial, personally. I like that they put his body out to sea, so it can't become a shrine.
But I have to agree: We ALL sin and just because our little lies or covets or complaints didn't kill nearly 3,000 people on one plotted day, doesn't mean the grieve God's spirit any less. Believers all go to Heaven, it matters NOT HOW they get there. What matters to God are the ones NOT headed there. He wants EVERYONE to end up there. But may I just add, I would very much like my mansion NOT to next Osama's if he did manage to find Jesus. ;)
Great post!
I lived in NYC on September 11, 2001. A few short months before this I had been working at the World Trade Center. On the 107th floor of the North Tower...I turned down a job that would have placed me there...on that day.
And last night, I just watched the news & the celebrations with tears in my eyes. The joy of America at his death seemed so misdirected, so empty, so hollow. I knew people who lost their lives that day and wondered if they would want us celebrating his death. I like to think they would want us to pull together as a truly "United" States all of the time (not simply in times of trouble) and to learn about and practice compassion to one another as a rule...
As a Christian, I know that's what God wants...
I'm not celebrating a soul gone to hell but I do celebrate justice for my friend and anyone else who lost their life on 9-11 or during this battle.It's different when your loved ones are murdered. I've always been on the line of death row,until it was my loved ones murdered. Then it becomes a question of justice. JMO of course..grain of salt..
Lis,
Thank you for your opinion. I'm curious though- Does the justice help? It doesn't bring that loved one back. Will that sense of justice last or does it bring back all of the pain of the loss?
I'm honestly just asking without any judgment or opinion on the matter. I've not been on that side of the fence and I don't have those experiences to go from.
I would like to believe that people are celebrating the "freedom" we received from Al Qaeda via his death. I know that isn't how all people are celebrating. I for one am not sad he is dead, but I won't celebrate his death. I will celebrate the amazing men and women who defend our freedoms and have given us a reason to breath a little easier.
I am not sad he is dead. I did not celebrate, but honestly, how can you expect people not to be just a little overjoyed that the head of the snake that is evil is gone? I do pray for our soldiers and those who defend us. I am not a dance in the street person, but maybe this is the beginning of getting our men and women out of harm's way and home with their families.
"I mourn the loss of thousands of precious lives, but will not rejoice in the death of one, not even an enemy. Returning hate for hate multiplies hate, adding deeper darkness to a night already devoid of stars. Darkness cannot drive out darkness: only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate: only love can do that." -Martin Luther King, Jr.
My feelings are mixed. I'm grateful OBL will no longer be able to kill anyone else but I do not rejoice in his death. I would have liked to see him give himself up and tried before a jury. I also don't want to pretend that this means we're safe. A friend posted the link to this essay on her facebook page. As a Christian of the Catholic denomination (and also educated by many fine priests in the Jesuit order), I found it particularly gripping.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/rev-james-martin-sj/the-christian-response-to_1_b_856291.html
I have followed your blog for some time but have never commented before now. I just wanted to thank you for this post. Your words so fully expressed what has been on my heart since last night. Thank you again for having the courage to post it. God bless!
If he's really actually gone, then I say good riddance. He's reaping what he's sown which is an eternity away from God. I'm not gonna leap of tall buildings in a single bound waving my American (or Australian) flag shouting in exclamation! If he's gone, then good. (Hopefully its a small bit of closure for all the 9/11 families out there.)
Justice doesn't bring the person back..My thought is this, other lives will be saved because justice has been served. I'm not just speaking of Bin Laden here. My pastor was murdered along with two other innocent people and nobody slept knowing that killer was loose. At the trial he showed NO remorse. The jury listened as he joked about how he'd gotten off on good behavior from one state after serving time for attempted murder. He left that state and drove straight to ours with one thing on his mind. They watched him smirk as he jokingly described how the pastor had tried to protect the others and how good it felt to line them all up execution style and pull that trigger three times..Then he almost laughed at how his get away vehicle belonged to the pastor. I really can't blame the jury for giving this man the death penalty. Sadly I knew both families. I felt the grief for both families. I watched both families struggle to stay together. A church moving forward without a leader and parents trying to understand where they had gone wrong. It was heart wrenching, so I'm in no way condoning some the "celebrations" that went on yesterday over the loss of an evil life....but as someone who had a special friend in those towers and has seen the pain that murder causes, I can fully understand. I remember shouting when my pastor's killer was captured, again when he was convicted, and crying at the very thought that he was up for appeal again. Personally, the events of 9-11 cost my husband his job, we lost our home, our vehicles, our belongings, our dreams. My husband turned away from God. I was sexually assaulted by a pastor who said he would help us. Then physically injured by another pastor, which triggered years of abuse and caused severe brain damage. I then miscarried our son under all the financial stress as we tried and are still trying to pick up the pieces...so I'm sorry if I said anything out of line. It's an emotionally charged topic for me.
Lis, I don't think you said anything out of line at all. I was simply interested in hearing more about it.
We have been urged by a particular group of people to seek justice on Joshua's behalf (which we still believe there is no one to blame) and I just don't see the point. It won't bring him back, and it will just cause more heart ache.
However, in your case, I can see how justice would bring closure. Thank you so much for sharing your story with us. It sounds like you have been to hell and back.
Thanks. I have to watch myself. I'm terrible to speak from pure raw emotion rather than logic.
I understand your situation to an extent. My only child was born with double pneumonia due to medical neglect. I was high risk and he refused to induce making her 2 weeks late. Her heart stopped,lung collapsed,she was hearing impaired,not expected to walk or talk, but God had other plans with her. Two of mine never made it that far. But I, much like yourself, did not want to relive the horror of it all and did not seek justice in that case. Even though a lawyer clearly told me that it was medical neglect. Also my father n law & father were both in surgery on the same day,in the same hospital when my father n law's spleen was punctured & my father's lung was punctured. They both passed away 4 months apart from the complications, but again, we didn't want to relive it and seek any justice there either.
Yeah, life has a way, it just keeps coming!
You're welcome to follow my two blogs http://ashesnthewind.blogspot.com/ and http://scatteredpiecesofmymind.blogspot.com/
Blessings, Lis
Just a question to those of you who have chosen not to pursue medical malpractice suits. I completely understand why you don't want to relive the horrors that lead to your loved ones deaths. I can't help but wonder, however, if by making that sacrifice, you could potentially save other lives. If those doctors were sanctioned or punished for their mistreatment of your cases, then perhaps they wouldn't be available to make the same mistakes on other patients.
Again, I'm not judging and I understand why you don't want to, it's just something I'm curious about.
I'm probably opening a can of worms that I don't want to open again (especially since your username gives no information about who you are) but Shane and I don't feel there was any sort of malpractice involved in Joshua's case. According to the coroner's reports after investigation, we feel we have nothing to "fight." This will be the last I comment on this though. I don't want our story circulating again...
I was young and traumatized quite honestly. Barely 19 and it was the furthest thing from my mind.
As far as the dads..It wasn't my decision. My MIL chose not to and my dad and siblings disowned me so it was left up to them. I thought they were going to but then he died & I haven't heard from them since.
"I'm probably opening a can of worms that I don't want to open again"
I know way too much about opening cans of worms :P
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