Rejoicing in the Death of Bin Laden

Anthony Horvath is the Executive Director of Athanatos Christian Ministries and the author of the Birth Pang series and other short stories.  He is also a pro-life speaker.

The reported death of Bin Laden generated crowds of people on the street wrapped in American flags and cheering.  A casual look at the reaction to this reaction revealed to me that many people shared my apprehension with such a response.  Different reasons for the apprehension have been produced:

• The Scriptures tell us not to rejoice in the deaths of our enemies:  "I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way and live." Ezekiel 33:11
• We should be deeply sorrowful about any single person dying outside of a saving relationship with Christ.
• As Christians, we should object to killing of any kind at any time.

I guess this sums it up.

Personally, my apprehension was not as laudable as any of these.  I am distrustful whenever I see people being carried away on emotion, and resist it in myself to the best of my ability.  If today we are whipped into a frenzy for something socially 'safe' to be frenzied about, we probably won't put up as much of a fight if someone whips us into a frenzy for something we might regret later after we had time to think about it and get more information about.  Indeed, some of the 'frenzy' I saw resembled how I imagined Romans would have reacted when gladiators and lions tore into Christians centuries ago. 

It was glee for the sake of glee and a cheer for a victory for our 'team.'

But it wasn't a game.  It was not a competition meant to be entertainment, like football.  Thousands died, and depending on how you slice it, thousands are dying, and will continue to die.  Bin Laden's Wahhabi form of Islam is a persistent and pernicious threat.  The appropriate response, in my opinion, would have been sober jutting of the chin that communicated:  we take the committing of atrocities seriously and will bring those who carry them out to justice, no matter how long it takes, as this incident demonstrates.

Of course, I did see that response out there.  Certainly the relatives of the victims of 9-11 seemed to have the right reaction.  I have never heard of a relative of a murder victim let out a celebratory whoop and wrap themselves in a flag after the verdict is announced in court.  The joy, such as it is, of the verdict and eventual carrying out of the punishment, is tempered with the realization that the loss of a loved one is real and devastating.  Unlike in a football game where, if the other team scores your team now gets a chance to answer, the damage here is permanent and enduring. What I saw of the footage of 9-11 relatives showed this sort of balance.

So you see that of the three categories of reactions above, mine doesn't quite fit.  (Actually, I reject the third one as simply wrong).  While I care deeply about the lost and want them to have every opportunity to be saved, I am aware that this concern can be used against me.  I can be held hostage by such sentiments.  I can be kept from doing what is right out of the concern that some people might be 'turned off' or, as in cases like Bin Laden, or more generally, the death penalty, people may be hastened to their death without being saved.

Measures such as the death penalty are not meant to arise out of a vengeful spirit but out of a solemn consideration of justice.  We put someone to death because they themselves have taken a life.  We diminish the value of the victim's life if do not obtain justice for it.  But it is precisely the value of that victim's life that prevents us from 'rejoicing' in the death of the murderer.

It is not my point here to address the death penalty, but I am using it because unlike targetted assasinations of world famous terrorists, it is something more within our general experience.  So, using it to address the principles in the first two bullet points, just what does a Christian think about the death of our enemies and the consideration that they might die outside of Christ? 

Well, we have many stories of people going to jail and finding Christ there, and this certainly includes death row inmates who, when faced with their mortality, come to terms with God and his claim on us.  By not executing them, we may in fact leave them safely and smugly in their sins, so that they eventually die outside the faith.  More time does not necessarily mean more opportunity.

Similarly, while taking out Bin Laden may cement him in whatever spirtual state he was in at his death, we can suppose that it is possible that future terrorists may find that they need to examine their own mortality.  Who knows?  Maybe this is what pushes them over, so that eventually they actually come to Christ?

These scenarios highlight the crux of the issue, for me.  They are hypotheticals.  We know that there are examples of things across the board.  (eg, a death row inmate that receives a pardon may see in it the mercy of God, and be saved).  We cannot possibly know what will have what effect with what person.  Therefore, we cannot base our actions- or our emotions- based on such considerations.  We must seek a firmer basis, and that basis involves a sober consideration of principles of justice, mercy, and the value of life.

The alternative, I fear, is to be paralyzed and do nothing- or worse, to do what it is that that sober consideration determines to be right and then constantly second guess it and feel remorse about it.  This essentially allows us to be held hostage to evil and evil men, as it gives them power over us even after they have received their just 'reward.'  Rejoice?  No... but Joy cannot be allowed to be held hostage.

What the above assumes is that a sober consideration has been done and that it is has been solemnly and seriously carried out.  We may legitimately wonder if our capital punishment policies do that.  We may legitimately wonder if our government does this when it uses military force.  Those issues are worth examination, but let us not hestitate to do what is right if upon that examination we find the action justified.  Abrogation of our duty to do what is right is an affront to the victims- people who are really dead, and not just our team that just had a touchdown scored on them.

And by all means, let us not allow our own conscience to be an additional victim!

Anthony Horvath is the Executive Director of Athanatos Christian Ministries and the author of the Birth Pang series and other short stories. He is also a pro-life speaker.