Typically on an issue of this magnatude it is not hard to find respectable christian voices on all side of an issue. But other than the Archbishop of Canterbury Dr. Rowan Williams saying “I think the killing of an unarmed man is always going to leave a very uncomfortable feeling because it doesn’t look as if justice is seen to be done”,* it has not been obvious that there is a great deal of dissent among Christian leaders that Osama Bin Laden has been killed. In fact one person in particular that I regularly seek out to hear an opposing view from is Jim Wallis, founder of Sojourners, but even Wallis doesn’t seem dismayed that Osama has met his demise.
To emphasis my point take the case of The Dalai Lama (although he is not a Christian) I found it interesting that even the worlds
leading Buddhist – said “Forgiveness doesn’t mean forget what happened. … If something is serious and it is necessary to take counter-measures, you have to take counter-measures.” So it seems to me that except for a very rare few, most everyone (Christians and Non-Christians)believes that Osama had it coming- so to speak…
You got to express some of your views on Wednesday and so did I, as I suspected it would be, it proved to be a challenging subject. Here are some of the best response I’ve read so far. As I come across others (or is you have one for me to add – email me the link) i’ll post them too.
Al Mohler – The Trail that Still Must Come: http://www.albertmohler.com/2011/05/02/the-trial-that-still-must-come-the-death-of-osama-bin-ladin-and-the-limits-of-human-justice/
Christian Post –What the Bible Says on the Killing of Osama: http://www.christianpost.com/news/what-the-bible-has-to-say-on-the-killing-of-osama-bin-laden-50106/
Christianity Today – Yes, Justice Has Been Done: http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/article_print.html?id=91716
John Piper – Is God Glad Osama is Dead?: http://www.desiringgod.org/blog/posts/is-god-glad-osama-bin-ladens-dead
Jim Wallis – Is It Moral to Celebrate Someone’s Death?: http://blog.sojo.net/2011/05/04/is-it-moral-to-celebrate-a-persons-death/
* The Archbishop of Canterbury short comments: http://www.christianpost.com/news/killing-of-unarmed-bin-laden-leaves-anglican-head-uncomfortable-50112/
**The Dalai Lama quote: http://articles.latimes.com/2011/may/04/local/la-me-0504-dalai-lama-20110504