Sunday, May 08, 2011
Is it wrong to rejoice over the death of anyone?
t is my understanding that the New Testament calls upon each believer to forgive and love even their worst enemy and oppressor regardless of whether they "repent." It is my understanding that Christ on the cross prayed that ALL be forgiven adding than NO ONE understands the significance of what they do. Some people assume that Christ only asked forgiveness for SOME people BECAUSE they are ignorant of what they do. It is my understanding that Christ died EVEN for extreme villains like Hitler and bin Laden and Stalin. It may have been their free will choice not to avail of that salvation or repent BUT that does not change the fact that Christ died for all and that there is no sin which is beyond repentance and absolution. I would appreciate hearing from some of the clergy on these broad issues. It is surprising that no one speaks about forgiving or loving their enemy bin Laden. I probably would have shot him myself if I had the chance. I probably would have shot Hitler and obviously Dietrich Bonhoeffer would have shot Hitler and died trying. But the heinous nature of the enemy does not change the message of Christ to forgive all and return evil and hatred with goodness and love.
A wannabe "Christian" once told me "I am commanded to LOVE you but I dont have to LIKE you."
When the would-be assassin of Gov. Wallace was paroled, the surviving relatives of Wallace replied "Well of course we FORGIVE him for the Bible commands that but we think he should rot in jail for the rest of his life."
As I reflect upon these many matters it occurs to me that the Achaeans had less valid reasons in their minds for attacking Troy than bin Laden had for attacking America. The Achaeans were simply insulted over the abduction of Helen but did not see Troy as inherently evil. Bin Laden was actually convinced that the American regime is satanic. There are verses in the Qur'an which easily lend themselves to such a view. When we consider that Odysseus and Telemachus took the suitors into the court yard and disemboweled them while still alive we see that Odysseus was needlessly sadistic. Osama caused the death of several thousand people in a fiendishly clever fashion with the hijacking of planes but did not approach Odysseus in terms of cruelty. I am certain that historical figures such as Ghengis Khan were far more sadistic to their enemies than any of the terrorists of today. I don't see that what bin Laden did was any worse than the American fire bombing of Dresden. Lincoln said that in every way both sides pray for God to be on their side but they should reflect upon whether THEY are on GOD'S side.
Islam is my LEAST favorite religion and there are internet posts dating back to 1998 which prove that. But I am pointing out that one essential message of the New Testament is to love even one's worst enemy and forgive them and pray for them and I feel that the spirit of that New Testament message is totally lost to the average American mind... or worse yet, Americans twist and distort scripture to fit their own agendas...and the 2nd Epistle of Peter clearly states that there are people who distort scriptural passages to their own destruction.
I did NOT have any DESIRE to see such photos... I just could not believe the news story.... that a woman would bum rush Navy Seals and they would shoot her in the LEG (you do not USE lethal force unless it is important that you be LETHAL... you do not do trick shots because you might actually kill someone)... I did not see the point of showing some cluttered dump with blood stains and a dog barking outside... I could not believe that they would do such an operation and NOT publicize photos. They said bin Laden stood their unarmed but "because he offered resistance the Seal used good discretion to shoot him once in the chest... and I guess a second seal blew have his head away) ... and you mean the wife got shot in the leg with one of those rounds and still has a leg.... that sort of ammo blows limbs and heads right off your body.... you mean they did NOT intend to take him dead BUT they had elaborate plans for a burial at sea and the time to contact many nations who REFUSED to take the body... BY no means did I want to see some gory photo.... I just do not believe my government and I do not believe the media/press/news and too many things seemed fishy... in my life I have seen photos of JFK getting his head blown away, Jack Ruby shooting Kennedy's assassin Lee Harvey Oswald (took me 10 minutes to remember) in the chest/stomach ... terrorist beheadings.... Vietnamese children running naked from napalm, firing squad executions after WWII and by Castro... in short I have seen all the same photos that you and everyone else have seen... and I saw video of Saddam wandering around his cell in his underwear, so I could not imagine that the American suddenly acquired dignity, honor, taste.... BUT now I feel that I understand what happened and why certain choices were made. I THINK they were wise to simply execute him because a live bin Laden in captivity and on trial presents far more problems than a dead bin Laden at the bottom of the ocean. I think it is disingenuous to claim that it was all up to one Navy Seal to take him dead. If the orders had been to take him alive then they would have taken them alive. One other person from the compound was taken alive but they have not identified who that person is. Now as an afterthought... the secret Nixon tapes went public and wikileaks was able to leak all sorts of things, so IF it is the case that our government does not want those photos released then I suggest they destroy all copies, otherwise one day it will be released or leaked.
An assassination is an assassination no matter how you look at it... and it may be necessary (unavoidable) but it is NOT the same as justice by due process.
There was an Indie film, Zentropa, in which an idealist young German American goes to Germany after WWII to help with the reconstruction. He meets a Catholic priest in the opening scene and asks "Since both sides prayed to God for victory, how does God decide since BOTH cannot be in the right" and the priest quotes that verse "you are neither hot nor cold so I spew you from my mouth." God looks at the sincerity and conviction and sacrifice of each individual (even though as it is said "there are ways which seem good unto a man but the end thereof is death")
It is my understanding that the New Testament calls upon each believer to forgive and love even their worst enemy and oppressor regardless of whether they "repent." It is my understanding that Christ on the cross prayed that ALL be forgiven adding than NO ONE understands the significance of what ...
t is curious that in such a Christian nation as America not one person has said "I forgive Osama." Even Jesus, crucified on the cross, said "Forgive them Father, they know not what they do." Think about it!
Kurt Vonnegut chose to live out his life as an expatriate in France because Americans REALLY made him sick. But he laughed and said "Americans demand to erect monuments to the ten commandments but no one EVER wants to put up a plaque for the Beatitudes of the Sermon on the Mount."
t is a monstrous distortion to say that Christ on the cross prayed for forgiveness ONLY for those who did not know what they were doing, and it is monstrous to say that Christ did not die for Osama bin Laden, because Christ died for all people. Obama chose not to avail himself of what Christ did, BUT, in theory, Obama could have repented and believed in the last ten minutes of his like... which is UNLIKELY but is not impossible.
Christ was obviously saying that NOBODY at all realized what they were doing. Even Caiphas who uttered prophecy BECAUSE he was high priest saying "it is expedient for one to die for many" ... even Caiphas did not understand his own prophecy.. the prophecy issued from his mouth because of his divine office.
