I haven't been entirely certain what my reaction should be either, Ellie. My first initial thought was, yeah, this is a very good thing. And I still think it's a good thing. In a way---however small in the grand scheme of things---it's a victory over evil. Not just terrorism, not just "bad guys"---but evil.
It does seem really weird to me, though, to outright CHEER the death of ANYONE. Yes, I think Bin Laden was an evil man. Yes, he did a lot of terrible, terrible things. But then, we're ALL sinners and we all have the capability and the nature to do evil. As a Christian, is it somewhat self-righteous to celebrate the death of a sinner---to celebrate death as the penalty for this sinner's wrongs---when death and destruction for our sins is what ALL of us deserve?
Justice was served through Bin Laden's death. I don't doubt that and I definitely don't doubt that something needed to be done; that we needed (and need) to defend our country and to fight the forces of evil. But when I feel glad about Osama Bin Laden's death, I'm not celebrating revenge. I'm not celebrating because Osama Bin Laden got what was coming to him---I deserve the same; my sins put Jesus on the cross, too. I'm celebrating because it's one more small step to beating evil (though it won't ever be totally beat until Jesus comes back), and because it's another step to ensuring that the horrors of a terrorist attack like 9/11 won't ever happen again.
And, right or wrong, I guess that sums up my reaction.
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I haven't been entirely certain what my reaction should be either, Ellie. My first initial thought was, yeah, this is a very good thing. And I still think it's a good thing. In a way---however small in the grand scheme of things---it's a victory over evil. Not just terrorism, not just "bad guys"---but evil.
It does seem really weird to me, though, to outright CHEER the death of ANYONE. Yes, I think Bin Laden was an evil man. Yes, he did a lot of terrible, terrible things. But then, we're ALL sinners and we all have the capability and the nature to do evil. As a Christian, is it somewhat self-righteous to celebrate the death of a sinner---to celebrate death as the penalty for this sinner's wrongs---when death and destruction for our sins is what ALL of us deserve?
Justice was served through Bin Laden's death. I don't doubt that and I definitely don't doubt that something needed to be done; that we needed (and need) to defend our country and to fight the forces of evil. But when I feel glad about Osama Bin Laden's death, I'm not celebrating revenge. I'm not celebrating because Osama Bin Laden got what was coming to him---I deserve the same; my sins put Jesus on the cross, too. I'm celebrating because it's one more small step to beating evil (though it won't ever be totally beat until Jesus comes back), and because it's another step to ensuring that the horrors of a terrorist attack like 9/11 won't ever happen again.
And, right or wrong, I guess that sums up my reaction.
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