Like everybody else I heard the good news last night that Bin Laden had been killed. I watched the news for a few minutes and was glad for what I saw and then went to bed grateful for our incredible military and wondering how much credit Obama was going to take for this. But I woke up feeling a little different. I once again turned on the news and saw the mass celebrations from coast to coast. Flag-waving and flag-draped Americans chanting "USA" and singing and honking horns in scenes similar to when our country has won a war.
So what's my problem? How come I don't feel like singing the National Anthem while draped in Old Glory and wearing a NYFD cap and kissing a baby?Maybe I'm getting older and that's the problem. The older I get the more precious life seems to get. I used to be a big deer hunter but I hate to admit it but now I would rather just shoot my camera at them. I still squash spiders and swat flies so I'm not totally soft.
Maybe my feeling stems from the fact that I realize we killed the leader of a bad group but the bad group still exists and didn't need much of a reason to hate us even more if that is possible. We have not won a war today with his death and the way people are celebrating looks too much like how people celebrate over there when one of our people gets killed and that disgusts me when it happens to one of ours so maybe that is part of my problem.
Lastly, as much as I know that Hell was made for people like Bin Laden who kill innocent people I also know that Hell was not really made for anybody but Satan and I hate to think of anybody (yes, even him) spending eternity there. Hell is a real place and much worse than we can imagine and I just can't help but wonder what wonderful things could be accomplished for the Kingdom by a man with Osama's passion. Think it couldn't happen? So did the first church in Jerusalem when they heard about Saul of Tarsus on the road to Damascus.
In the big scheme of things, yes, I agree, it is a day to celebrate the fact that justice has been done and who knows how many lives have been saved by taking out this dirtbag? Still, death is the end. And the end for someone without a relationship with Jesus is an eternal hopelessness that I wouldn't wish on anybody.
"When justice is done, it brings joy to the righteous but terror to evildoers." Proverbs 21:15
"As surely as I live, declares the Sovereign LORD, I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but rather that they turn from their ways and live." Ezekiel 33:11
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