Death of a Terrorist
A well known terrorist no longer walks among the living. I'll not use his name here; I see no reason to propagate his "memory". But I will confess to being somewhat...conflicted.
As an American, I do not grieve; I shed no tear. He came from a wealthy family and could have done good things with his fortune. Instead, he chose to use it to help slaughter dozens of people who did him no harm. And for what? Because he saw America as "evil"? I mean, OK, as a nation we haven't always done "the right thing", but tell me - which nation ever has? We've done more "good" than most; we continue to give - GIVE, mind you - billions of dollars to other countries, all over the world. We give food; we give clothing; we give shelter; we give medical treatment...we give and give and give. What did he give? Nothing but heartache, pain, and suffering. Some legacy. Good riddance.
As a human being, I understand how precious and fleeting life is; we are here but for a "blink of an eye" (metaphorically, of course). To spend ones life and/or resources in the intentional infliction of pain and suffering of others is not only a waste, but ultimately self-defecating. For we, the whole of humanity, are all connected. But elimination of such evil does elevate us. So I am ambivalent to his departure.
As a born again, spirit-filled Christian, we are taught to "love our enemies"; it is easy to love those who love you, it is difficult to love those who hate you. But we are to try. It is a difficult thing. And death brings and end to hope - hope that one can and will change; hope that one will actually see that only through the blood of Jesus Christ can one be saved from eternal damnation. A soul is now lost forever - there is no salvation. I grieve that loss.
I know of a few people who have gone "out of their way" to give the following quotes (typically, entirely lumped together and, albeit incorrectly, attributed only to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.):
and
I don't know if those who have quoted this throughout the bloggosphere (twitter, facebook, etc.) have done so because they actually believe it, or if it was done to show their "moral superiority". I should hope the former, but I think in at least some cases the latter. Is it "Christian" to rejoice in the death of one so evil? Perhaps not. Yet I cannot help but recall that in several places in the Bible, we are told 'not to mourn' over certain deaths. One that comes immediately to mind is when God (through Moses) command Aaron not to mourn over the loss of his sons, who were destroyed for defiling the tabernacle. In Jeremiah (22:10 - NIV), it says "Do not weep for the dead king or mourn his loss...". And as God is the same today, yesterday, and forever, I can only conclude that, while perhaps rejoicing over this death may not be "Christian", I am not required to "mourn" over it either.
Thus, I will remain "conflicted".
As an American, I do not grieve; I shed no tear. He came from a wealthy family and could have done good things with his fortune. Instead, he chose to use it to help slaughter dozens of people who did him no harm. And for what? Because he saw America as "evil"? I mean, OK, as a nation we haven't always done "the right thing", but tell me - which nation ever has? We've done more "good" than most; we continue to give - GIVE, mind you - billions of dollars to other countries, all over the world. We give food; we give clothing; we give shelter; we give medical treatment...we give and give and give. What did he give? Nothing but heartache, pain, and suffering. Some legacy. Good riddance.
As a human being, I understand how precious and fleeting life is; we are here but for a "blink of an eye" (metaphorically, of course). To spend ones life and/or resources in the intentional infliction of pain and suffering of others is not only a waste, but ultimately self-defecating. For we, the whole of humanity, are all connected. But elimination of such evil does elevate us. So I am ambivalent to his departure.
As a born again, spirit-filled Christian, we are taught to "love our enemies"; it is easy to love those who love you, it is difficult to love those who hate you. But we are to try. It is a difficult thing. And death brings and end to hope - hope that one can and will change; hope that one will actually see that only through the blood of Jesus Christ can one be saved from eternal damnation. A soul is now lost forever - there is no salvation. I grieve that loss.
I know of a few people who have gone "out of their way" to give the following quotes (typically, entirely lumped together and, albeit incorrectly, attributed only to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.):
"I mourn the loss of thousands of precious lives, but I will not rejoice in the death of one, not even an enemy." (Jessica Dovey)
and
"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." (Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.)
I don't know if those who have quoted this throughout the bloggosphere (twitter, facebook, etc.) have done so because they actually believe it, or if it was done to show their "moral superiority". I should hope the former, but I think in at least some cases the latter. Is it "Christian" to rejoice in the death of one so evil? Perhaps not. Yet I cannot help but recall that in several places in the Bible, we are told 'not to mourn' over certain deaths. One that comes immediately to mind is when God (through Moses) command Aaron not to mourn over the loss of his sons, who were destroyed for defiling the tabernacle. In Jeremiah (22:10 - NIV), it says "Do not weep for the dead king or mourn his loss...". And as God is the same today, yesterday, and forever, I can only conclude that, while perhaps rejoicing over this death may not be "Christian", I am not required to "mourn" over it either.
Thus, I will remain "conflicted".
posted by TubaMeister at
06:13
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