A question popped up on my Facebook newsfeed today that I felt compelled to publicly pose and answer.
The question: Would Jesus have killed Osama Bin Laden?
My answer: No. Plain and simple.
N.Y. Daily News wishful prediction
No matter how many of us find our blood boiling right now with the joy of vengeance complete – Jesus most assuredly would not have killed this international murderer.
I implore the world to use caution when opening our mouths in fits of praise and rage. The death of a human being, even one as vile as Osama Bin Laden, should never warrant the blood thirsty rants that have filled Twitter, Facebook and the Media over the last 24 hours.
As human beings we have all been created by God with His utmost love and precision. It is a wise course of action, therefore, to at least give pause and pray for His Timing, Grace and Mercy when we see our community lusting for blood.
Selah.
“Put your sword back in its place,” Jesus said to him, “for all who draw the sword will die by the sword.” Matthew 26:52
It seems that the consequence of Bin Laden’s demonic actions was his death “by the sword.”
However –
17 Don’t gloat when your enemy falls, and don’t let your heart rejoice when he stumbles, 18 or the Lord will see, be displeased, and turn His wrath away from him.” – Proverbs 24:17&18
The sorrow that torments the souls of those who lost loved ones on September 11,2001 is a darkness that I know all too well. However, Osama Bin Laden’s death will most assuredly only quiet the storm for a season. The soul-cry to our beloved lost angels will still go unanswered and our aching arms will still remain impossibly empty.
Al Qaeda still exists and the road to peace is still fraught with disease. We must proceed humbly in our military accomplishments and vehemently seek peace and humility with every breath in our body.
May God bless our troops, those working in intelligence, our people and our government as we deal with the vicious circle that is propagated by WAR.
What say you? Would Jesus have killed Osama Bin Laden?
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Well said, Shannon. I felt a little bit sad last night when I got teary eyed as it flashed on the screen and realized that they were happy tears. It is wrong to feel glad that someone is gone, but I’ll have to deal with those consequences when I am gone. I’ll refer to the namesake of our high school on this one… “I’ve never wished a man dead, but I have read some obituaries with great pleasure.”
— Mark Twain
(That about sums up my feelings perfectly.)
No, Jesus would not have killed Bin Laden.
That’s why we have Navy Seals.
Let me first say, the first choice of the Navy Seals was to take him alive and they gave him the option to surrender. OBL took the first shot and then the Seals shot and killed him. Would Jesus have killed him, no. As I said earlier, He would have first tried to explain who He was and how OBL could spend eternity in Heaven with Him. He would have told him that the wages of sin is death and that His (Jesus’) blood was the only sacrifice that would save him(OBL) from spending eternity in hell. It is the only thing that saves any of us from eternity in hell. It is the same thing He told Pilate and the Pharasees before they had Him crucified. He died for each of us including OBL.
Good point. Good thoughts. I didn’t really feel happy myself when I saw the news. I don’t believe one man is responsible for the terror which was 9-11 or the numerous other acts he took the “claim” for. It was many people. It still is many people. His death probably created more hate- not less. Raising him to the status of martyrdom by his followers disgusts me as much as the Americans hailing Obama as if he killed him with his bare hands. I didn’t cheer. I didn’t clap. Ding Dong, the wicked witch is not dead. He is just one man. I do not rejoice in his death- but I do wish I could be a fly on the wall as he stands in judgement in front of God.
Yes, I think the arguments between those who rejoice and those who deplore assassination are beside the point. The Seals went to arrest him and only fired in defense. So, here’s a fresh question. Given the complexity of sustaining a civilization that, on the whole, protects innocents and pursues the guilty, would Jesus have become a Seal — if he could qualify, that is!
ummmm..have you read the bible? The answer is really clear. God is the same yesterday, today, and forever!
[...] should be happy. However, our fellow columnist Shannon Ivey gave a slightly different view in her article about the assassination taking the position that the murder of a human being was not the Christian [...]
Jesus Himself avoided getting caught in a verbal trap such as the one posed here. The Bible offers many distinctions between the duties and obligations of government and the individual person. Jesus was not a part of an earthly government, and He was quite clear in defining the difference between the two: “Render unto Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and unto God the things that are God’s.” When we read of Jesus tangling with authority in the Gospels, He was tangling with the Scribes & the Pharisees of the day, not the Roman government that was in place over the Jews at that time.
It could be very simple. Nature’s God could have prevented all of this…thus the dilemma must be there for a reason. Would God leave us to “question” his motives? This was not revenge, it was justice. And a sober soul never takes pleasure in this reality. And in fact we find we are only arguing about the severity of punishment, not that some punishment is justified. Did not that great Judeo Christian Philosopher chase the money changers out of the temple, raising the question of justified anger?
It is all in the privacy of our hearts and the interpretation, convenient or biased, of the Bible, or any Holy Transcript, something very exposed in the Blogs “For the Love of Gay: Part 1, 2 &3”. In allowing the crucifixion was not there a sanctioning from a higher Power of violence for a greater good? Or is a crucifixion not violent and not a “killing” allowed by a Higher Power?
Would not a Greater Power allow for self defense? And if you tell me you will kill me, at what point am I allowed to preempt my demise? Would it be now or when you deem it is justified, that moral salve for the convenience of a conflicted conscience? It is like arguing over when is life sacred, when is a fetus viable and an abortion is murder. And as that great man lay transfixed on that cross, did not Nature’s God allow for this execution in the name of saving the world. And why is that sacred reasoning, properly used and cherished then, not valid today? Only you can wrestle with the intent.
One would surmise that that are very few of us who would hesitate if our loves ones were in harms way. And henceforth we lose little sleep over it. This is a most serious issue and the consequences are enormous, and thus it is a decision requiring prayer, due diligence and a courage once, hopefully still, emblematic of America. And the intellect, the exercise of Free Will, is either the “great seductress” or the instrument of leadership. And if after an infinity of soul searching honest debate, you are afraid to act, move aside, I will protect you and mine, but do not get in the way. And let the consequences fall on my shoulders…something missing in the lack of understanding of “to say nothing is to speak, to do nothing is to act.”
The assumption here is, would Jesus do evil”, is that “killing” is anathema, a postulation not necessarily accepted. Why do people die and accidents happen? And the argument would disappear if Jesus cast Osama down with Lucifer? If a great man was allowed to be “killed” on the cross to save humanity, need I only, honestly, sincerely, and with humility, be assured of my morally proper intentions before following that superior example? Or are we condemning every soldier who kills the enemy in defense of Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness?
In that context, even Jesus might “kill” Osama bib Laden.
This is why I will absolutely never be a christian. Christianity preaches weakness, which I abhor. Certain kinds of people need killing, and it is only natural to rejoice in that killing. We should celebrate, as we have removed a threat to our own kind.