Thank you for being the voice of reason. God's blessings to everyone who mourns.

Thank you for this. It takes a prophet to stand against the flow of thoughtless jubilation to attempt to recall people to the image of God we were created to reflect rather than the image of destruction we are always tempted towards.

Was it necessary to destroy this life? I guess it seemed efficient (rather than trial and imprisonment), but History gives us no examples of a violent act doing anything but spawning more violence. Only love and relationship can transform animosity into enduring peace.

I mourn Bin Laden's success in stirring the worst expression of American might. I mourn the loss to the world of all the good that a person of his resources, intelligence, creativity and passion could have done with his life -- had not those abilities been subverted into destructive uses.

"A good day for America"? I'm not so sure about that.

I hope it is obvious that I meant Osama rather than Obama in the 7th paragraph from the bottom of my post.

I would be grateful if you would make the correction as I don't seem to have the capability.

I totally understand this view. However, we need to place it in a different context. This man will no longer be able to plan, finance, and aid the murder of innocent people. His death was a lesser evil than his continued existence. Yes, people will use him as a reason to kill innocents--but those same people would use other reasons if he hadn't been killed. So while ending of life is wrong, God does realize that there are times when it is the lesser of two evils. God did sanction capital punishment (and no, Jesus's protection of the prostitute did *not* repeal that!) and did sanction wars when the end result was making the world a better place by destroying some people- and God-defiling evil.

Bin Laden willingly chose to give up his humanity and his redemption, resisting all attempts at reconciliation and continued to perpetuate violence. Such a person, like a Hitler, Stalin, Tojo, Mao, etc., is, sadly, an evil that is better off destroyed. And he will face the Holy One in judgment and be called to task for his misdeeds. *That* is what we are celebrating!

I don't support the death penalty under any circumstance. I do understand that so many people are thankful that the gentleman "met his Maker." But the sight of people partying hard in front of the White House disturbs me. It's akin to dancing on one's grave. We should not stoop to the levels demonstrated by others. It is too bad that Mr. bin Laden took such a hateful path. He was obviously very intelligent, hard working and dedicated - too much so - to a faith that he unfortunately perverted. I look at his face - lose the beard and he would have been a very handsome man, with those eyes...

Well said.

Thank you for voicing my views on violence so eloquently. Not many in my life understand where I come from on that subject. So nice to know I am not some living out of reality.

It would be a lie to say that I'm not glad this threat has been erased, but I don't rejoice in the death of this soul.

The choices we make are often dictated by the circumstances that are thrust upon us. Justice and grace are not enemies -- they can co-exist.

I wonder what the early Christians though of Saul of Tarsus and if they would have rejoiced in his death. Loving a friend is easy, loving someone like ourselves can be done, but loving the hateful enemy can come only from God.

They tried to take ben laden alive..if you see any pics of him..he carried an ak47..there was a firefight.This will never end..there is always someone to take the leaders place.Ben Laden even hated his own people and wanted death to all christians.I don't even know if he knew what love meant

forgive me, I'm just a noob...wouldn't turning the other cheek in this situation be offering up the whole world as a sacrifice? Are we supposed to just watch it all go up in flames, while praying our hearts out? I think we have more options than that...

Bin Laden's message was one of separation and divisiveness. To celebrate his death is to honor his message. Thank you, Mark, for being a voice for peace. Bless all who celebrate his detah that they may find peace in peace.

Greetings in Christ, Mark,

I appreciated your comments and find kinship with many of them.

I would agree, to a point, with Barry Singh (above): you did use a touch of hyperbole that may have been over-the-top. Not all Christians have succumbed to the celebratory mindset. Having said that, I would add that far too many of us have not only gotten caught up in this behavior, we have muddled “God” and “Country” as being close to on in the same. Sad, indeed.

I thought you might like to read the letter to the editor of my local newspaper that I wrote yesterday. It was published today. The paper requires comments to be 300 words or less, so I had to keep it short... I quote:

Be Thankful, Not Celebratory

I, perhaps many of you as well, found the news that Osama Bin Laden had been killed to be very surprising…we finally got him after all these years.
During the initial news reports Sunday night, there was footage of hundreds of people in front of the White House, exuberantly celebrating Bin Laden’s death. That scene brought to mind the news reports and videos seen ten years prior of radical Muslims celebrating the destruction of the World Trade Centers immediately following those hateful acts. I was reminded how that decade-old coverage made my stomach turn in knots — that any group of people could find reason to celebrate the murderous death of thousands. This current celebratory atmosphere in our Nation’s capital brought with it a similar sense of disgust. There appeared to be little difference regarding the level of hate, manifest by the radical Muslims at that earlier time under the guise of celebration, and what was now occurring in front of our presidential home.
The fact that Osama Bin Laden can no longer lead his followers to hate and kill under the banner of Islam is certainly reason to be thankful. Thankfulness is a proper response, but not celebration. For when we respond in that manner, we act no differently than those we loathe. The video footage of some Americans joyfully lauding the death of Osama will serve no greater purpose than to incite others to commit further acts of violence against innocent people. Hate fosters hate.
Having lived in Kabul, Afghanistan, as a contractor for a year taught me that building relationships with a people we don’t know or understand can and will serve to temper the distrust, hate and violence. Celebrating the death of a mad man will not. As a Christian I find myself praying: Come, Lord Jesus, come.
Michael K Mills
FAA Operations Supervisor, Retired

Thank you, Mark. I am so grateful to be standing in such good company against the wave of nationalism and vengeance that has overtaken the country. May Peace be with you.

I agree with this post, as well as a number of the comments. (Though, Barry Singh, I totally do not get the point you are trying to make. I think it's going to take me 3 read throughs just to get it.)

I like what Michael Mills wrote about being thankful, but not celebratory. I too am glad that Bin Laden is no longer here to plot more killings. But I would have rather him taken alive and brought to the Hague and tried in front of the world.

I also ponder on what Mark wrote about that Bin Laden won, in that he has gotten the U.S. to respond to violence with violence, and divisiveness with more divisiveness. I would further put forth that Bin Laden won in other ways as well. (And I know that it will not make me popular either.) Bin Laden stated in more than one video that his goal was to BANKRUPT the United States, and to that end he succeeded. Let's compare our costs.

His attack on us:

$200,000 at the most in cost, 19 "soldiers" dead. Killed apx. 3,000 people. Brought world economy to a halt.

Our attacks on Al-Quida:

2 UNFUNDED wars to the cost of $1 Trillion dollars and rising!!! (Because its leaders didn't have the temerity to raise taxes in a time of war! FACT: George W. Bush is the ONLY leader in the entire written history of the course of human civilization to not only NOT raise taxes in a time of war, but to have tax cuts!) Iraq U.S. Soldier death toll (as of May 1, 2011), 4452, Afghanistan U.S. Soldier death toll 1566 2011). (Both numbers there do not include international troops). Number of wounded U.S. soldiers requiring some form of medical assistance FOR THE REST OF THEIR LIVES (which will further cost the U.S. money), 30,000+ and rising. Time for the U.S. to make budgetary, monetary and tax policy changes before it defaults on its debt: less than 3 months.

Even with Bin Laden's death, his plan still have brought the U.S. to its knees. Along with other factors (economic and trade policy), it is one reason China will overtake the U.S. economy in 2016. We will no longer be the world's "superpower." Just by simple cost comparison, Bin Laden won, even in death, and I didn't even through in the costs of further occupying two countries with "enduring" military bases, nor the human cost of civilian lives lost.


Another point I think people miss when reading this post, and comments I make on my facebook page is that when the argument is presented that war isn't the best response to terrorism (I'm a citizen of Ireland and we have centuries of history dealing with English terrorism as well as our own fringe groups. POLICE ACTION is ALWAYS the most effective response to terrorism.), no where are we presenting that doing nothing in the face of evil is the choice we advocate. NO, we do advocate that justice must be made. Rather we advocate what Jesus commanded:

"You have heard that it was said, 'An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth.' But I tell you, do not resist an evil person. If someone strikes you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also. And if someone wants to sue you and take your tunic, let him have your cloak as well. If someone forces you to go one mile, go with him two miles. Give to the one who asks you, and do not turn away from the one who wants to borrow from you."
—Matthew 5:38-42, NIV

27 ¶ But I say unto you which hear, Love your enemies, do good to them which hate you,

"Bless them that curse you, and pray for them which despitefully use you. And unto him that smiteth thee on the one cheek offer also the other; and him that taketh away thy cloke forbid not to take thy coat also. Give to every man that asketh of thee; and of him that taketh away thy goods ask them not again. And as ye would that men should do to you, do ye also to them likewise."
—Luke 6:27-31. KJV

I wonder how much traction Al-Queda would have had/have if the U.S. made sure that every Afghan child, or elsewhere in the Middle East, had adequate food, water, clothing and shelter. They'd have no support from anyone!

I agree with GYASI THE WAGES OF SIN ARE DEATH. He choose his own destiny. I do agree that peple should not have been gathering and celebrating outside the whitehouse, that was SICKENING, Don't get me wrong.
I was glad he was gone, butt not have a party raise the roof happy. I believe that for some of the 911 families this will help them a great deal. For that
I am Happy Because maybe just maybe they can finally get some closure in there hearts and minds. this is about more than just church and state. It is about the PEOPLE. I would also like to note that the president has known where Osama Bin Laden was since last August Kinda convienant that he decided to get him now. Just in time to make himself look pretty and shiny for relection

I agree in part with your thoughts. I did not necessarily "rejoice" over bin Laden's death; however, I do not totally take your view either. God is not a "love-conquerors-all" God. He does destroy His enemies. One example: He sent David to destroy Goliath...and a nation rejoiced. And I don't categorize bin Laden's death as murder, but execution. The victims of 9-11 were murdered.

God supported His Army when he helped the walls of Jerico to come down, etc. We must STAND for what is RIGHT. We must be strong and willing to fight for it. Our forefathers did and if we want to keep this a strong nation under God, we MUST do the same. I am rejoicing at this triumph. I AM A CHRISTIAN!!! If you take a life or lives because of the evil you live for then you need to be punished for it. Otherwise, this world can be full of hateful, evil people. STAND FOR WHAT IS GOOD, MORAL, RIGHT, JUST.

Dear Mark,

Thank you for your thoughts and the discussion that has followed.

Part of the reason I wrote "Paradoxy: Creating Christian Community Beyond Us and Them" was my concern that we in the Christian community have lost the keen appreciation for the paradoxical and the tragic that that was once at the heart of our faith: that what is paradoxical in God's infinite reality becomes tragic in our finite and fallen world: a world in which we experience situation after situation in which there are no truly good choices left, but only the lesser of evils.

In our fallenness, we are tempted to think that we our choices are between good and evil: good people and evil people, good religion and evil religion, good cultures and evil cultures, good war and evil war, good killing and evil killing. But that tempting thought is a lie. We cannot say that "we" are good and "they" are evil; compared to the absolute goodness of God, the most we could possibly say is that we are less evil. We can make the case that to fight a war against Al Qaeda is less evil than the alternative, but we can never claim that it is good. We may make the case that a war is a tragically necessary evil, but that tragic necessity cannot remove the evil. We can make the case that the world is a safer place without OBL, that "taking him out" was a necessary evil, but we cannot pronounce it good, and God does not permit us to celebrate his killing.

We must be under no illusions. Christians cannot do violence outwardly to other human beings without doing violence inwardly to our own consciences. We cannot engage in killing without killing pieces of our own souls. War cannot overcome evil, nor can hate or violence or killing. Only love. As Jesus said, "Do not try to overcome evil with evil. Rather, overcome evil with love."

In Christ's love,
Ken+

I find that there is a distinction that many are failing to make. There is a difference between the necessity to exert justice and the giddy joy of seeing it carried out. No parent who punishes his child enjoys the act of punishment, yet a responsible and good parent will not hesitate so that the child will learn justice. No Christian should be joyful of Osama's death. Yet even so Christians need not feel guilty or lament that our nation sought a form of justice.

Proverbs 24:17 "Do not rejoice when your enemy falls, and let not your heart be glad when he stumbles."

Ezekiel 18:23 "Have I any pleasure in the death of the Wicked, declares the Lord God, and not rather he should turn from his way and live?"

And yet there is Romans 13 where Paul lays it out that governments are placed by God to carry out justice "Rulers are not a terror to good conduct, but to bad.... For he [rulers/government] is the servant of God, and avenger who carries out God's wrath on the wrongdoer."

I wonder if perhaps some of the complexity of emotion and thought Christians are struggling with is that human justice carried out by Governments is always incomplete. Osama's death cannot bring back any life lost on 9/11. There is no restoration. This justice, evil turned back on itself, will only come on the final day of judgment and when the Lord comes again. The death of Osama should unite all Christians in calling out "Maranatha!" because not even a necessary calling to account by our government on bin Laden can remotely satisfy the justice needed. Augustine spoke of two cities. The city of Man and the city of God. The conundrum facing modern Christians is we find ourselves as citizens of both cities. Where the City of Man is but only a faint shadow to the City of God and cannot offer any true peace, justice, security and love it is still nevertheless a City that can and does offer a shadow of that peace, justice, security and love. This, I believe, is the tension felt by Christians today in light of bin Laden's death.

Rhonan, I cannot help but notice that almost the ONLY people even discussing Osama's death as perhaps not something to rejoice are the religious. (Incidentally you are discussing this yourself on a religious site) I would think that it is much better to have a world filled with people who question joy at any death than to have a world where no one would do so. I agree that religions have been the cause of far too many hurts and pains in this world. I would still argue, however, that remove religion and you would find a much more base society. Indeed anthropologists tell us that civilization began because in large part peoples were united by religion. I fear you may be throwing the baby out with the bathwater by wishing all religion eradicated.

"And they'll know we are Christians by our Love"
Well said, it takes a prophet to speak the truth. Jesus said, the world hated me first.

While I am not a Christian (raised Catholic, have since become Pantheist) I agree with your perspective. I believe in the connectedness of everything, and anything that diminishes our connectedness is evil. Sometimes it is necessary to go against our better natures, but we need not rejoice in that. I firmly believe this was one of the most difficult decisions President Obama faced in his 2 1/2 years as President. I believe in his Christianity in the truest sense of the word, but I also believe what he authorized was necessary to save hundreds and perhaps thousands of lives. Blessings on our President.

I personally agree with your point of view on this one. But a question keeps bugging me and that is this: what would I have done had I sat in Obama's chair? What would one of my Christian heroes, Bonhoeffer, have done?

My issue is not, I believe, so much in the act of assassination, but in the public reaction to the act. I am bothered by our rejoicing in death, but I do not know that his death really bothers me. I certainly want it to bother me. I know that it should bother me. But would it have been responsible for us to do anything other than what we did? Governments must be pragmatic. To that end, pragmatic choices are often between degrees of evil -- either in terms of direct action or as unintended consequences.

Ultimately, could we expect anyone to choose other than the way Obama choose? Wouldn't the knowledge that failure to kill this viper will surely allow someone else to be bit require us to act?

Rejoicing over a killing is what ignorant people do just as they r stirred up to nationalist fervor by failing governmemts but it isn't as bad as the dancing in the stteets on 9/11 by Muslim children in N J. The true dividing line for Christians will always be their response to the Jew and to Israel. They are the enemy as per the Gospel but they are the beloved of God for the Father's sake. At one time this was a more PROTESTANT nation and after the Holocaust we supported Israel. I don't think Jesus would have gone around like a current day pacifist condemning war especially of nation states. He said the .law doesn't pass away yet and he who lives by the sword shall die by the sword . The poor you will always have with you.. he didn't call in a new world order to replace the powers that be. Don't be smug and self-righteous in condemning the U.S. for defending its interests but be about your Father's business of speaking the new Kingdom into the lives of men. You don't change the base emotions of man with holier than thou pacifism.

Thank you so much for having the courage to say what so many of us had trouble voicing. I understand completely WHY they rejoiced in his death, but that doesn't make it right. The Lord mourned Bin Laden's death, I am sure. There is so much to say on this but you already know the words I would say, being the author of this article, and anyone reading here in agreement does, too.

I cannot fathom how anyone could say some of the things I've read here- and you posted that you've deleted the worst of it! My stomach keeps turning at the anger and hateful words. I don't understand how anyone could claim you had a "holier than thou" attitude with this blog- I definitely did not get that from what you wrote at all.

If we are Christians, we follow Christ. There is no place in the Bible that outlines Chris's embrace of violence in any way, for any reason. There is a very clear and easy-to-understand reason for this: He never supported violence. He never supported an eye for an eye. It is true, those who live by the sword die by the sword- but that doesn't mean it is our place, here on Earth, to decide who lives and who dies. Murder is murder is murder, and God will judge accordingly, as it is only He who may do so. Anyone who believes He is as great as God, can take that up with Him.

It still makes my stomach turn to think of all that hate-filled rejoicing. I am not sad that a man filled with so much evil is gone, no, but I am not happy about murder, either.

If that is "holier than thou pacifism," then sobeit. I am comfortable with it.

Thank you very much for voicing what so many have been afraid to voice. I'm only sorry I didn't stumble upon this sooner.