Clive and Osama

I have to admit. Every bone in my body is screaming to run away from this sort of a subject. Its controversial. Its current. And its anything but happy. But I feel that what I have to say, needs to be said. Whether it is agreed with or not. I owe myself and those reading that much. So let me throw silliness and optimism out the window for one post. Sometimes wake up calls are necessary. Even when no one's listening.

This isn't my usual style. But America is begging for a well-placed slap upside the head. And I intend to give it.

You may have heard that one of America's greatest enemies was killed recently. If this is the first you've heard, do yourself a favor and crawl out from under that rock. For all those newly-rock-less-people, here are a few things you should know. 1. Start loathing Justin Bieber. 2. Get a Facebook account. and 3. Osama bin Laden is dead.

First and foremost, don't misunderstand me. He was an evil, despicable human being. If anyone deserved death, it was him. But that's not why I'm writing. That's not what needs attention.

Yes, justice was served. The world is a better place because of his death, but its not a good one. The fact that the world is safer and he paid for the murder of countless innocent victims, is something to be celebrated. Loss of life, no matter how evil and horrible the owner of that life was, is not.

Frankly, I'm sickened by it. I thought we were better than this. Celebrating in the streets? Really? Change the clothing, the language, and the skin color and you pretty much have a picture of how our very enemies celebrated our losses nearly 10 years ago. Is that what we are? Sure, you may say that we were justified in killing him after all he did. Well, terrorists (as misled as they might be) believe they are justified too. So what exactly is the difference?

I'm having a hard time seeing one.

Since when are death and war ever good things? The Bible is clear that they are necessary. But it's also clear that they aren't to be enjoyed. They can make the world a better place, but war and death never make it a good one.

Ezekiel 33:11a
^"Say unto them, As I live, saith the Lord GOD, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked; but that the wicked turn from his way and live..."

I like the way C.S Lewis put it (having witnessed The Holocaust during his lifetime, he understood this concept quite well.)

"Consequently, Christianity does not want us to reduce by one atom the hatred we feel for cruelty or treachery.... But it does want us to hate them in the same way in which we hate things within ourselves: being sorry that the man should have done such things, and hoping, if it is anyway possible, that somehow, sometime, somewhere, he can be cured and made human again."

Have we even bothered to try that? Could we? I think so. But it takes the Love of God and only that in our hearts to accomplish such a feat. I can't begin to imagine how born-again family members of the victims of 9/11 must be feeling tonight. I'm not in their shoes. And I pray I never will be.

And so, tonight I won't be celebrating the death of yet another person. I'll be mourning and praying for all the lives lost nearly a decade ago and still being lost today. Yes, every single one. Terrorists weren't the victors on 9/11, and we aren't today. Satan is the only victor through all this. I can only imagine that he was just as pleased to welcome bin Laden into the pits of Hell, as he was the unsaved innocent victims of the attacks and resulting wars.

As dark and hopeless as the world is, we have two things to remember. 1. It is this way because of us. We sin. We made it the twisted place that it is. And we would be (without the Grace of God) heading for the exact same punishment as terrorists. We're all the same in that sense. And 2. God has a plan to change this twisted world. He's promised He will. And He's given us a way to join Him in that world.

That's all, really. I can't think of a better way to end this than the same way C.S. Lewis did under similar circumstances decades ago.

"Remember, we Christians think man lives forever. Therefore, what really matters is those little marks or twists on the central, inside part of the soul which are going to turn it, in the long run, into a heavenly or hellish creature. We may kill if necessary but we must not hate and enjoy hating. We may punish if necessary, but we must not enjoy it. In other words something inside us, the feeling of resentment, the feeling that wants to get one's own back, must simply be killed." - C.S. Lewis