Death
**This may anger some. These are just some thoughts that I am having today, some questions that have been brought up in my own mind. I apologize if I offend anyone… but if I cause you to think about things, then it will be worth it.**
As I sit here today, I find myself unsure how I feel. The news of the death of a very infamous man was released yesterday, May 1, 2011, in a bit of a replication of the death of an infamous figure released decades ago on May 1, 1945.
Osama bin Laden is dead.
He was apparently killed by a US bomb somewhere around a week ago. Most of America is congratulating themselves that “We Got Him!” and a man that led thousands of terrorists to kill thousands of innocents has been removed from the picture.
On the side of Justice, I can agree that this should feel like a good thing. I admit to having a few moments of relief that the man that thought up the bombings on 9/11 is no longer able to plot against us.
But I also mourn the loss of a human life. No, I mourn the jubulation that so many people feel over the loss of a human life.
And then I wonder why it is that ONE DEATH can mean so very much, while unborn children are slaughtered daily, children are sold or taken into slavery and raped and abused daily and soldiers are killed in war… but “America” doesn’t seem to care.
Yes, this man led others to senselessly murder thousands in a single day, and yes, we should be relieved that he is gone… but I assure you that there are others ready & willing to take his place. Yes, we should care that he has been removed, but what about the other invisible deaths and tragedies that surround us daily?
I was at a youth girls get-together last night when the news came out, and there were mixed responses. One person wasn’t sure who he was. Most were quite joyful that he was dead. But one of the girls looked at me and said what I was feeling inside. She said “I’m glad that he’s gone, but I can’t help mourn the loss of a life. He won’t be going to heaven unless he had a drastic conversion experience. He will never know God!”
Osama bin Laden showed us what religious fanatacism looks like. He showed us what it looks like to have a passion about your beliefs, how to have a belief strong enough that you are willing to die for it.
As Christians, we could learn a thing or two from Islam. We could learn how to not be complacent. We could learn to take a stand for what we claim to believe in.
Let me say right now that I am NOT saying we need to go around killing people in the name of God! The bible tells about a God that is LOVE. He said that His people would be known by their love. I serve a God of forgiveness and love and justice and mercy and gracy – a God that is holy, that cannot tolerate sin. A God that sacrificed His own Son – all to spare us from death and eternal seperation from Him.
What woujld this country – this world! – look like if Christians set out to love the world around us with as much passion and religious fervor as the radical muslims that followed bin Laden?
What if we had redical love for the world around us? What if we celebrated each person who died to themselves and gave their heart over to Jesus with the same dancing in the streets and exultation that we are currently celebrating the death of one man?
Passion is very attractive. Passion draws humanity like a flame draws moths – we can’t resist it.
How can we, as followers of the One True God, have passion for a God that doesn’t demand our worship and adoration? How can we have a greater fervor for a God that loved us into existence?
So yes, I am thankful that a mind that contemplated evil upon my country will no longer contemplate that evil against us. But I also wonder if we can learn something from him. And I am sad that he crossed over to something so different than he expected to. I am sad that he never knew God.
0 comments
Kick things off by filling out the form below.
Leave a Comment