It was during the late hours of May 11 EST that President Barack Obama and his national security team received the news.
The early morning raid on Osama bin Laden’s compound in Abbottabad known as Operation Neptune Spear was successful. Osama bin Laden was dead.
As President Obama said in his press conference later that night, on September 11, 2001, our country was resolved to “…bring those responsible to justice.”
As an American, as I watched news coverage throughout the next few days, I was hesitant to say whether ten years of bloodshed that culminated in the successful assassination actually brought justice.
As a Christian, I was even less certain of the morality of what my government did that night in May and how my fellow Americans reacted.
Brian McLaren, a popular leader in the emergent church, criticized the images he saw on television of “American college students reveling outside the White House, shouting, chanting ‘USA’ and spilling beer.”
I’m not sure that’s the image we as Americans and we as Christians want the world representing who we are.
The President received a standing ovation from Democrats and Republicans. Crowds filled the streets of New York City waving American flags and cheering the death of bin Laden.
Our country celebrated the murder of a murderer who cheered murdering. To those who say, “He deserved it!” I say, so do you and so do I.
Christ died for my sins, your sins, and yes, Christ died for the sins of Osama bin Laden.
What Osama bin Laden and Al Qaeda orchestrated in September of 2011, in addition to all their acts of violence around the world, was immoral, horrifying and absolutely unforgiveable. Despite of all of those terrible actions, as Christians, we are called to forgive.
Cheering any death not only seems inappropriate, but downright shameful. In a series of radio addresses that later became the popular book Mere Christianity, C.S. Lewis discussed forgiveness as it related to Nazi Germany.
“It is not that people think this too high and difficult a virtue: it is that they think it hateful and contemptible.”
And yet, as Lewis goes on to point out, Jesus himself asked it of us. In Matthew 6:12, we are told to pray by saying, “Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us.” We are not offered forgiveness on any other terms.
We cannot forgive someone as we cheer his or her death. It is my belief that on Judgment Day, God and his angels will not be waving flags with the Jesus fish on them, jumping up and down, cheering Satan’s fate.
No, I imagine God is going to be incredibly somber, even sad. He might even shed a tear, if heavenly beings can do that.
That paints a stark contrast with how Americans (and people in other countries) reacted to the death of Osama bin Laden. The goal of forgiveness is restoration.
This isn’t to say that those who sin should not be punished—far from it. Punishment and forgiveness are not mutually exclusive. But as C.S. Lewis says, “We may punish if necessary, but we must not enjoy it.”
What does it look like when we do enjoy doling punishment? Look for yourself at the images of Americans laughing in the streets about bin Laden’s death.
What our government did and how our country reacted did not amount to punishment. It was entirely vindictive in nature.
It was also vengeful. Romans 12:19 says “…vengeance is mine, I will repay, saith the Lord.” This isn’t in any way an easy task. But Lewis again makes an excellent suggestion.
If we are going to learn to forgive, “…perhaps we had better start with something easier than the Gestapo,” or in this case, bin Laden.
I haven’t forgiven Osama bin Laden, and I’m betting you haven’t either. But there’s a friend that wronged me that I still haven’t forgiven. And I’ve wronged someone who hasn’t forgiven me. I’m going to start there. Will you join me?
