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Justice is Not an Excuse for Jubilation

By: Blue_Collar_Muse (Diary)  |  May 2nd, 2011 at 06:59 AM  | 

RESIZE: AAA

There is no way to know that today is a day that will make history. A year ago this weekend, life in my city was savaged by a 500 year flood, the impact of which is still rippling across our burg. Almost 10 years ago America woke to a beautiful September morning that saw the sun set on a nation at war. And yesterday, a major chapter in that war was closed.

Even as I write this, news is continuing to break. Osama bin Laden, the mastermind behind terrorist attacks in the US and abroad, is dead. It is reported he was located in a compound in Pakistan, surrounded by Navy SEALs, given the chance to surrender and killed when he declined the offer. His body was buried at sea to prevent his grave becoming a shrine and a place of pilgrimage.

Most disturbing about the matter is the reaction of so many Americans. I remember the revulsion I felt when I saw video of people rejoicing in Middle Eastern streets because of the 9/11 attacks. I feel the same revulsion at the rejoicing I perceive taking place in my country at the death of bin Laden.

Justice is not a cause for jubilation.

I feel a deep and abiding sense of satisfaction that the man who murdered so many has been found and been held accountable for his crimes. I am amazed at the commitment to justice my country brings to the fight which resulted in the extension of mercy and an offer of surrender to a man such as bin Laden. I feel proud to be protected and represented by the men and women of the various branches of the US military and our intelligence services. Their bravery and professionalism deserves praise beyond what can be granted here. What I do not feel is joy at the death of bin Laden.

Osama bin Laden was acting in accordance with his faith when he murdered over 3,000 Americans on 9/11 and in murdering so many others, from all faiths, in other attacks around the world. I cannot act other than in accordance with my own faith in my response to his death. Christianity teaches that even Osama bin Laden was created in the image of God; he had a purpose and a destiny for his life that God intended even if he did not live it out; he was loved by God enough that Christ died for bin Laden just as he did for me. The part of the heart of God that loved bin Laden as one of His creations does not rejoice that he is dead.

Christianity also teaches that every man has the freedom to choose. That means that despite God having a plan for our lives, we can reject that plan and go our own way; we can and do choose sin and destruction over righteousness and restoration, and; when we do, we accept the full responsibility for our own actions and must abide by that decision. If our actions are sinful and godless, there is justice to face, both in this life and the next. The part of the heart of God that is holy and just does not shrink from dispensing justice. But neither does He rejoice in the dispensing.

It is surreal that President Obama, who blames George Bush for everything, is taking credit for the one thing that George Bush actually did do that remains into this administration – the successful pursuit of Osama bin Laden. As President Bush so quietly and purposefully stated on September 20, 2001, “Whether we bring our enemies to justice or bring justice to our enemies, justice will be done.” Thank you President Bush for your commitment to justice that was strong enough it extended beyond your administration to accomplish its purpose.

Osama bin Laden is dead. Justice has been served. That is a good thing. It is cause for introspection to determine our motives. It is cause for satisfaction and contentment should we find our motives pure and our commitment to justice well served by the events of the last 48 hours. It is cause for motivation as we move forward into the next chapter in facing down the terrorists who would destroy us. But it is not now, nor should it ever be, cause for rejoicing.

We believe different than that. We believe better than that. We are not our enemy. We are Americans.

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COMMENTS

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  • donnybrooke

    BCM, thank you for pointing out what I have been thinking. A monster is dead, but there are other monsters out there and now is not the time for rejoicing.

    I have too many scenes of devastation nearby to remind me that death is not something to celebrate.

  • http://impudent.edublogs.org/ kyle8

    We are happy that finally a horrible evil plotter got his reward, and he will no longer be able to plot against us.

    I am going to celebrate and HOW DARE YOU PREACH TO ME!

    go introspect yourself jerk.

  • http://bluecollarmuse.com Blue_Collar_Muse

    is how you dealt with the issues I raised in such a thoughtful and insightful manner. I truly appreciate the way in which you engaged my ideas and, while disagreeing with them, took a moment to show me where I was wrong. It is always inspiring to come here to RedState and find fine minds such as yours willing to clash over the issues and come out with the truth and solid principles on the other side …

    I especially appreciate … ummm, sorry, wrong commentor … just disregard my last …

  • Justin Spagnolo (standardcandle)

    in my view…

    to celebrate the event that brought justice is perfectly appropriate….

    to rejoice in the justice of the matter is also perfectly appropriate….

    to rejoice over OBL’s death in and of itself in my view is rejoicing in the death, not the justice and is therefore inappropriate.

  • http://impudent.edublogs.org/ kyle8

    blow it.

    I think I’m gonna celebrate his DEATH again tonight!!

    YEEEE HAWWW

  • http://bluecollarmuse.com Blue_Collar_Muse

    You correctly note where celebration is appropriate and where it is not. That is not parsing. It is proper application of grammar and definitions.

    The problem arises when folks say that what I saw on TV last night is either a celebration of the event or the justice. I think that the military folk that I saw on TV likely had the proper understanding and perspective. But the rest seems to be a frat party centered around the announcement that Obama had been killed.

  • conservativecurmudgeon

    On the one hand, I am reminded of the behavior of the great running back for the Detroit Lions, Barry Sanders: He never (and I mean NEVER) hammed it up or celebrated when he, once again, faked entire teams out of their jockstraps, and crossed the goal-line for an umpteenth touchdown. No, he just went about his business, handed the football to the ref, and ran down the field. Ho-hum. When you are the best, when you have morality and virtue on your side, braggadocio seems unseemly. Celebration cheapens the accomplishment.

    On the other hand, tho’, I don’t think Osama Dust Bin Laden was acting “in accordance with his faith”. He was acting in accordance with his psychosis. We have no obligation to take his supposed religiosity into account. He was a mass murdering, evil barbarian.

    God can use whatever instruments are handy to mete out his Divine Justice. He is sovereign. He might very well use a well-trained, grim-faced, serious United States Navy SEAL team to perform the operation. And, if justice has any real meaning, if innocence, and love, and surcease has any real meaning, either, I rather think God might very well choose that method.

    I am certainly not one to gainsay it. And I even celebrate (small “c”) the fact that we are who we are, that our SEALs are who they are, and that the bearded, foul, monster is shark food. And I understand human character: We’re seeing, at least in part, the unleashing of ten years of pent-up emotion. Let it be.

  • http://www.nighttwister.com NightTwister
  • YnotNOW

    I do not celebrate in death, but I do celebrate in the triumph of Justice.
    And while OBL may have been acting in accordance with his personal beliefs, we need to emphasize that his actions were NOT in accordance with his Faith as understood by the majority of it’s adherents. And of course we should insist with their agreement that his beliefs are not true to their Faith.

    As such, OBL should not have been given the dignity of a burial shroud and prompt disposition – he should have been wrapped in bacon and fed to the crows – and then dropped to the fishes.

  • http://908StraightSt.wordpress.com/ mbecker908

    for celebration, I view it somewhat differently.

    I find no justice in his death. Killing him was the right thing to do, but it’s not justice. War isn’t about justice either, as long as it’s going on. War is about survival. Justice, or some semblance of it, comes after the war is over. And, when I say “over” I mean in the WWII sense, not the WWI sense, with a complete destruction of the enemy. Complete.

    What I would like to see happen, in recognition of OBL’s death, is a complete rewrite of the Rules of Engagement and the dismissal of JAG officers from combat units and any input on combat operations. I won’t bother with details, but I will note that I would vastly prefer we follow Curtis LeMay’s example in bombing Tokyo and the major Japanese cities and the example set when we bombed Dresden out of existence.

    Wars are won by making their continuation, or a restart after cease fire, so expensive in terms of lives and property that making war is no longer an option. We’ve not been fighting a “war” in the middle east, we’ve been playing a real life video game where we have extraordinarily restrictive rules and our enemies have none.

  • gekster

    well said, my friend.

  • 1689

    A heinous mass murderer now will never be able to plot more mass murder — ever again. That would seem to be a cause to celebrate. But Jesus commands us to love our enemies, saying our enemies are children of God too, and deserving of basic human dignity & respect. So that suggests toning it down. Still, grim satisfaction seems rather empty, when it comes to UBL. And I note that a lot of Christians believe this teaching doesn’t apply to war. Hmmm.

    No, I’d rather have a big celebraton among friends, especially if the SOB was wrapped in pig fat before being tossed in the dink. No Allah Usammy, regardless! I sure wouldn’t have wasted any time or energy giving the bastard a religious funeral, like Comrade Obama — ever the politically correct hack, fawing over the religion-of-peace, the one that he really loves.

    What do you think Mr. President, that a religious funeral on a US warship is going to appease anyone? appease Al Quaeda? appease the SOLs (Soldiers of Allah)? Hamas? Hezbollah? Any muslim? Ensure that UBL’s soul goes where? Heaven? Is that where you want his soul to go? How about eternity in Hell wrapped in bacon? Did you think that through for even a second?

  • clowngirl

    especially when it has been so long in coming.

    Are you really suggesting there is some moral equivalency between our military killing Osama Bin Laden, a master terrorist responsible for the murder of thousands of innocent people, AFTER giving him the chance to surrender, and the attack on the World Trade Center on 9/11?

    I’m not happy – even unapologetically jubilant – specifically because Bin Laden is dead. I’d have actually preferred that he were taken alive and interrogated extensively. I’m thrilled that the man who took credit for 9/11 – who master minded so many terrorist attacks, and recruited and inspired terrorists to committed to destroying America – has been defeated.

    As to your remark “Osama Bin Laden was acting in accordance with his faith” when he murdered 3,000 innocent people. Well, I expect there are millions of Muslims who would sharply disagree with you.

    You really need to lay off the moral equivalency buddy.

    If you are talking about people who can’t wait for photos of Bin Laden’s dead body to be released so they can use them as a screen saver, I’ll agree with you but if what you’re referring to is people celebrating in the streets – I disagree completely.

    You mention being a Christian, I am likewise a Christian and come to a different opinion than you do. On that note, I’ll leave off by paraphrasing CS Lewis. ” I can respect an honest pacifist though I disagree with him entirely. What I dislike is this sort of pseudo pacifism that says our soldiers should go into battle with long faces and not experience the natural joy that comes with courage.”

    ( I put that in quotes but I am paraphrasing – as I couldn’t easily find the quote I was looking for, I think it’s from “Mere Christianity” but am not sure)

  • YnotNOW

    And any Muslim that objects to such a treatment of OBL’s body should justify why Osama represented their faith with his actions. Should help separate the wheat from the chaff.

  • Diogenes314

    I see it as a matter of closure, not celebration. To party like it’s 2000 again is to both elevate OBL into something other than a psychotic killer and to devalue the seriousness of justice (though delayed) being served. It also ignores the inappropriateness of this freak being able to breath for the last decade. I am reminded of the crowds of party-goers seen outside the prison walls at your average execution. Probably the folks who slow down to rubberneck at traffic accidents and tivo Jerry Springer.

    We see you. Wouldn’t want to be you.

    I’m just going to wish our armed forces well and give thanks for a job well done and move on. He’s history. Next target.

  • Justin Spagnolo (standardcandle)

    If anything… I might add to your diary…

    What separates us from the uncivil, ungodly, and irreverent towards perfectly meted justice… is understanding just exactly when justice becomes a matter of revenge and blood lust.

    OBL is dead. Now can we get back to balancing the budget?

  • clowngirl

    If they are celebrating the fact Osama was killed – inherently included in that is the fact he was found – when he could’ve been practically anywhere in the world, and defeated. The difficulty in finding Osama paralleled the difficulty in fighting and thoroughly defeating Al Quada once and for all- and the accomplishment of the one mission is encouragement with regard to the eventual hoped for success of the oters.

    I have no idea what it is that you watched on tv and found objectionable and so don’t really see your point.

  • powertothepeople

    the poster is entitled to his opinion and can even feel lofty after his sermon, but we in this country spent months dealing with the devastation caused by 9-11, spent years dealing with the clean up and body identification, are still dealing with some of the financial backlash of the attack, have spent nearly a decade dealing with his taunts, videos, recordings,etc, spent years mourning the loss of our brave men and women, and so on and so on. Quite frankly, if we spend the next year celebrating the death of what has to be one of the worst men this world has seen in the last 100 years, it would not be long enough.

    If the poster wants to bring out the sack cloth and pious nature, so be it. I and many others will continue to praise the men who ended this scum bags life and celebrate his demise. Call it justice or call it deserved retribution, either way, the celebration continues.

    Little reminder to the poster. I am sure you feel uplifted that you were able to share your vision of the word to all of us heathens, but I must remind you the greatest truth about the Bible is that we are all imperfect and will remain so until we are resurrected. If the worst sin I commit in the days to come is to celebrate the death of a murderous scumbag who has led so many to untruth and an eternity in hell, I am thankful for that. What sins will you commit in the same period? What sermon do you need preached to you?

  • clowngirl

    If it’s not appropriate to be jubilant now- when should we celebrate?

    Should people have been sad and introspective over Hitler’s suicide too? (Not an exact parallel, of course because Hitler’s death coincided with the VE day – and unfortunately Bin Laden’s death does not mean the end of Al Quaeda)

    I’m just not sure what reactions the poster is referring to and so don’t know where he or she is coming from.

  • MikeG (Icythus)

    On the one hand, I did find the cheering throngs of college students outside the White House to be distasteful, though I understood the sentiment and don’t believe they harbored any malice in their hearts.

    On the other hand, while I was driving home on Monday I heard “God Bless the USA” by Lee Greenwood come on the radio, on a classic rock station no less, and I sang every lyric. And I’ve got no problem with that.

    Hard to say where the line is between inappropriate jubilation on one side, and on the other side, absolutely appropriate satisfaction, relief, closure, pride in our military and intelligence services, and happiness that a mass murderer will never kill again. They both feel good.

  • powertothepeople

    where he comes from on this issue and the term would be “holier than thou.”

    Read some of his other stuff and it has always been good, but this is personal opinion pushed on others as theological fact. If he ( and I assume it is he, if not, my apologies) wants to remain somber, fine. But to push his agenda,his version of Biblical rules, and come at us as if we children in need of correction, just rubs me the wrong way. We are adults here and do not need, nor do most of us appreciate, the lecture. As I said, he is more than entitled to his opinion, but what is more important and what he seems to forget, is we are entitled to do what we want without his attempts at correction. Not too mention, many on here are not Christians and will not abide by his version of the rules.

  • clowngirl

    Like Obama today saying he wouldn’t release photos of Bin Laden’s corpse because “there’s no need to spike the football” He raised other concerns about the potential of them being used for propaganda purposes – but the reasons that I have heard for wanting them released was to prove his death to a potentially skeptical world. not to gloat and rub it in Al Quaeda’s face.

    I saw nothing indecent about college students cheering the defeat of a man who had many times declared war on and ordered attacks on our country though I only saw still photographs.

    I was elated myself – still am – probably will be for at least another two weeks. I’m not ashamed of that at all. It has nothing to do with some morbid joy at Osama’s death – personally I’d have preferred he was taken alive.

  • Michael Dugas

    When 9/11 occurred you had a population celebrating the mass slaughter of innocent citizens. Men, women and children involved in their daily lives were murdered by bin Laden and his cohorts and people celebrated, danced in the streets and handed out candy.
    The death of bin Laden was the killing of a mass murderer who was responsible for the deaths of 3000+ American citizens and also the deaths of those American soldiers in the conflict spawned by bin Ladens actions. Osama bin Laden was NOT an innocent person deserving of any respect and though I am not “celebrating” I am extremely happy he is dead and that we got him in the very same manner that I would be happy at the death of Hitler, Pol Pot, Stalin or Idi Amin……their actions forfeited their lives. American are NOT celebrating the death of an innocent person they are celebrating the death of a mass murderer…a mass murderer who was going to continue planning more mass murders.

  • 20jan2013
  • runner12

    outside the White House as I did not see it and I do not know those people’s hearts. Perhaps they lost loved ones or friends on 9/11 or know someone who did.

    As a Christian, we are called to love our enemies. But we are also called to rejoice when justice is done and when good triumphs over evil. This man was extended every mercy to him by God without deserving it and he was given ten years to surrender and stop his evil ways and yet he continued with murderous plots. Even up to the point of death, he was given an option for surrender. He chose death instead.

    The Bible says that those who live by the sword will die by it. OBL devoted his life to the murder and destruction of others. He reaped what he had sown. While I never revel in death, I always rejoice when justice is done.