should christians celebrate death?
I tried to post this last night, but blogger was busy sucking so....
Unless you have been in a cave the last couple of days, you know that the US dropped two 500lb bombs on a house where Abu Musab al-Zarqawi and several aides and other people were having a meeting. al-Zarqawi was killed along with everyone else present. al-Zarqawi was an evil man. He was responsible for untold deaths of civilians both Iraqi and American (and others). Next to Bin Laden (anyone remember him?) he was probably the most sought-after target in the "war on terror".
So why mention all of this? I am bothered by the celebratory attitude of "christians" who are cheering the death of another human. The President and the media have worked hard to dehumanize men like al-Zarqawi to make the public view them as something other than human. Something that is to be cheered when it is eliminated. We've turned war into a sporting event (or at least a card game) where we get to say "gotcha" to fellow humans by blowing them up and then showing off their bodies.
Was he evil? Yes. Is the world better because he is dead? Probably. Should he have been captured and "brought to justice"? Not if it meant putting soldiers (Iraqi or American or anyone else) in harm's way.
But, all this being said, should a person who claims to follow Christ celebrate the violent death of another human being? Perhaps we should instead mourn. Not necessarily the passing of al-Zarqawi but rather the world in which we live that made it necessary for him to die. I guess my fear is that in all of the flag-waving and America=Jesusland that has gone on over the past few years, we have forgotten that we are strangers and aliens here. We have forgotten that Jesus doesn't hate Iraqis, even the terrorists.
I don't know exactly how we should feel, but I'm pretty sure "happy" isn't it.
j
Unless you have been in a cave the last couple of days, you know that the US dropped two 500lb bombs on a house where Abu Musab al-Zarqawi and several aides and other people were having a meeting. al-Zarqawi was killed along with everyone else present. al-Zarqawi was an evil man. He was responsible for untold deaths of civilians both Iraqi and American (and others). Next to Bin Laden (anyone remember him?) he was probably the most sought-after target in the "war on terror".
So why mention all of this? I am bothered by the celebratory attitude of "christians" who are cheering the death of another human. The President and the media have worked hard to dehumanize men like al-Zarqawi to make the public view them as something other than human. Something that is to be cheered when it is eliminated. We've turned war into a sporting event (or at least a card game) where we get to say "gotcha" to fellow humans by blowing them up and then showing off their bodies.
Was he evil? Yes. Is the world better because he is dead? Probably. Should he have been captured and "brought to justice"? Not if it meant putting soldiers (Iraqi or American or anyone else) in harm's way.
But, all this being said, should a person who claims to follow Christ celebrate the violent death of another human being? Perhaps we should instead mourn. Not necessarily the passing of al-Zarqawi but rather the world in which we live that made it necessary for him to die. I guess my fear is that in all of the flag-waving and America=Jesusland that has gone on over the past few years, we have forgotten that we are strangers and aliens here. We have forgotten that Jesus doesn't hate Iraqis, even the terrorists.
I don't know exactly how we should feel, but I'm pretty sure "happy" isn't it.
j
posted by J at 3:57 PM
1 Comments:
Thank you. You've hit the nail on the head.
I do not consider myself christian, but I had nearly identical thoughts upon hearing the news of Zarqawi's death.
I mourn not for Zarqawi or the world that made it neccessary to kill him. I mourn for Americans who have been duped into believing that Christ was a muslim hating hawk - And for what they're doing to my country.
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