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PDF versionOsama bin Laden's death and questions of faith
by Joshua J. McElwee on May. 01, 2011
Osama bin Laden is dead. President Obama just went on television live, at near midnight Eastern Time to make the announcement.
A ten-year quest to hunt down the man considered most responsible for the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks ended with an firefight with U.S. Special Forces in Pakistan, Obama said.
Bin Laden's death certainly comes with many of the typical questions. What will it mean for Al Qaeda, the terrorist group he led? Will it incense the group, or others, to launch plans for other attacks on U.S. targets?
But maybe it raises other, deeper questions.
This weekend I've been covering a Catholic Worker faith and resistance retreat in Kansas City, Mo. From across the country, people have come here to protest the construction of a major new nuclear weapons production facility.
While talking with many of those gathered -- both young and old; those who have been arrested many times for acts of civil disobedience, those who are planning to risk arrest for the first time tomorrow -- I've asked what brought them to this point, what inspired them to live a life of nonviolent witness.
Again and again I heard a familiar refrain. Something to the effect of: "My faith in Jesus compels me to speak out against all violence."
It seems a weird juxtaposition that bin Laden's death would come at the same time as this faith and resistance retreat. I wonder what questions the Catholic Workers might ask about what bin Laden's death means. Will one more killing do any good? Can violence ever beget something other than violence?
Us and fhem. Another martyr.
Us and fhem. Another martyr. Father, forgive them. They know nogt what they do.
Paz y Bien, Rollando, SFO.
So is the answer to turn the
So is the answer to turn the other cheek toward a man who already has successfully plotted the killing of over 3,000 Americans? Would those same people have said the same about Tojo after Pearl Harbor or Hitler as he destroyed the Jews and others he decided did not deserve to breath the same air as him and then declared war against the US?
I am not for a minute defending all of the US's recent wars. But there does come a time when certain individuals with a proven record of attacking our country, whether you justify it or not, have to be hunted down like a cougar treed by a bunch of dogs and be shot dead if they refuse to surrender.
According to the reports I read tonight, he was offered the opportunity to surrender and chose not to do so. That does not surprise me as it was well known that he had told his guards to kill him rather than to let him be taken alive.
Thank you for your
Thank you for your reaffirmation of our faith that does indeed compel us to always and everywhere speak out against ALL violence. As I said in one of my blog post last night on this subject, we must remember: "God does not desire vengeance and this is not God’s form of justice."
http://datinggod.org/2011/05/01/death-of-bin-laden-not-a-time-to-celebra...
http://datinggod.org/2011/05/01/what-does-the-bible-say-about-bin-ladens...
Peace and all Good!
Ben Laden wasn't murdered by
Ben Laden wasn't murdered by a person acting on his own, he was killed resisting arrest authorized by a country that he had declared war on.
If he had surrendered, he would have been arrested and flown out to a jail.
So they "oppose" violence? Fine, for yourself.
But I don't see a lot of you trying to stop violence by anyone but the USA. Nope. No protests when the Vatican permits Mugabe to attend the beatification: they actually welcomed him. But of course, the "peace and justice" types helped him get his job.
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