..the first reaction most of us had when we heard that OBL had been killed was a sense of "justice." We had finally "got him back." We repaid an eye for an eye, tooth for a tooth..most of us thought & probably continue to think that the monstrocity of what OBL did (I.e. mastermind of the world trade center attack) deserves his life in response. Let's face it, unless we are extreme saints we all have a measure of "earthly justice" in us, some more than others. Yet on a daily basis we must regularly quash such desires for "eye for an eye" justice. We get cut off on the freeway. Earthly justice demands us to go cut that person off in return. a family member gets murdered. Earthly justice demands we murder the perpetrator in response. But we CAN'T DO THAT, can we ? yet, most would say that OBL does not fit into the equation of the commandment to refrain from earthly justice (as citizens, or as Christians, or other religions) or in other words "taking the law into our own hands." Many would say OBL caused the death of so many innocent people, and may argue he continues to plot ways of murdering Americans, et.al, or anyone who does not fit into his idea of "faithful" to the philosophy or religion he practiced (if indeed he was truly doing what he did as a matter of "faith", misguided or otherwise). Thus killing him would, arguably, be a matter of self-defense whether or not he was armed at the moment, sort of like him being a soldier for a country with whom we have declared war (and to a certain extent we did declare "war" on terrorism & we called the World Trade Center attack an "act of war." ) Nonetheless, if OBL was not armed when they entered his bedroom & did not engage in any act of "lethal resistance", is it right to kill him rather than take him prisoner ? That is a very tough question which people will debate for years to come. I don't have an answer, but I'm simply not completely comfortable with an "eye for an eye" approach, no matter what, even if it was Adolf Hitler. Furthermore, I hope that America can continue to develop "relational" ways of dealing with terrorism and threats to our country, or perceived threats, or in some cases, misperceived threats. I myself come from a missiological perspective and my emphasis is, of course, bringing Christ, to others, but not forcing Christ on others, more like sharing a gift. I don't think there was hope to "convert" OBL at this point in his life, but I wonder if we had reached him earlier in life, could we have changed history? I read a bio about OBL as a child and young man & he didn't seem so angry or aggressive, but a few events added up to him feeling snubbed or rejected that may have given him a feeling of being "cornered"..and he had to "make friends" with others who had been marginalized (OBL was even rejected by a few fellow Muslims, or moderate muslims, maybe non-practicing muslim arabs, et al).What we want to do, then, is learn from history and become preventative in our approach to "self-defense" so that extreme measures don't become necessary, and extreme terrorist acts become less likely as well . I've argued before that we need to continue to maintain a "missiological" approach to interacting with the Muslim world. Things that Americans take for granted, flaunting their bikini bodies on the beach, for example, is offensive to some Arabs or Muslims. If u find yourself in a situation where u may think u are offending the conscience of a Muslim, consider putting a shirt on for the moment. Little things add up and little things can subtract as well. That Muslim won't be at the beach every day. Every other day you can flaunt your bikini body, but maybe just cover up for a moment (this is just one example). Yes, u have the legal right to do this or that, but can u temporarily set aside your rights to avoid offending a person's conscience, whether or not u agree with what they believe? I would like the Whitehouse to do more in regards to educating American citizens re diplomacy with other peoples & cultures, especially Islam. Education is not indoctrination and is not something to legally enforce, but simply suggestions for helping maintain a harmonious society, with less violence, either from a Christological point of view or simply a citizenship perspective.
