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May 6, 2011
"I do not second guess that, in the intensity of the moment, and given the weight of the consequences of success or failure, his killing is understandable," Bishop Sisk wrote in a statement issued May 6 and presented in full below. "However, I am troubled by the glee with which the news of his killing has been received in some quarters. The death of another human being should never be, in my judgment, a moment for rejoicing. Such a moment always represents a failure to achieve the dignity of humanity to which God calls us all."
President Obama’s announcement on the evening of May 1st that Osama Bin Laden had been killed as a “result of a U.S. operation launched …in Abbottabad, Pakistan;” was welcomed by many people around the world. The President went on to say “…his demise should be welcomed by all who believe in peace and human dignity.” Wisely the President reminded his world-wide audience that this attack had not been against Islam, nor against a leader of Islam, but rather against a terrorist who, motivated by a toxic blend of religious/political radicalism had slaughtered innocents of many faiths, including Muslims by the thousands.
Speaking quite personally, as one who saw first-hand the devastation of the attack of September 11th, I am glad that the master-mind of that horror has finally been silenced as an orchestrator of evil. Further, I do not second guess that, in the intensity of the moment, and given the weight of the consequences of success or failure, his killing is understandable. However, I am troubled by the glee with which the news of his killing has been received in some quarters. The death of another human being should never be, in my judgment, a moment for rejoicing. Such a moment always represents a failure to achieve the dignity of humanity to which God calls us all. What’s more, it seems to me that the statement that “Justice has been done” can be asserted only in the sense that this is a very rough sense of justice. Rough in the sense, not only that his death came amidst a gun battle and not in a court room, but also rough in the sense that there is more to justice itself than the death of even the most loathsome criminal. Justice, in its full sense, has to do with putting things right: with righteousness. The death of this one man does not begin to make right the evil that he has done.
So let us be attentive to how we, as followers of Jesus, receive this news. We should neither exaggerate nor minimize its importance. However, without hesitance we should give thanks for the perseverance, the competence and the courage of those who brought this decade long drama to a close. We should pray to be delivered from the soul crushing hate that rejoices in the death of another human being. And above all let us pray for the peace of the world, among all its many peoples, a peace that truly passes all understanding.
