Viewpoint: Vengeance and the God of righteousness, justice, and love
On May 1, 2011, at 11:35 p.m., Barak Obama, the president of the United States, announced that “the United States has conducted an operation that killed Osama bin Laden, the leader of al-Qaida, and a terrorist who’s responsible for the murder of thousands of innocent men, women, and children.”
The next day, U.S. newspapers reported the news in their front-page headlines. The Wall Street Journal announced simply, “U.S. Forces Kill Osama bin Laden.” The New York Times added the president’s moral interpretation of the event, “Bin Laden Killed by U.S. Forces in Pakistan, Obama Says, Declaring Justice Has Been Done.” The New York Post cheered triumphantly, “Got Him! Vengeance at last! US nails the bastard.” The NY Daily News had a full-page picture of bin Laden with the words “Rot In Hell” stamped in bold letters.
Families of 9/11 victims said though they had some satisfaction in knowing bin Laden had finally been punished for his crimes, and this “bogeyman can’t come out of the closet anymore,” their loss remained – this was not closure. Some even noted friends and family of bin Laden were now experiencing the same sudden loss and anger American families experienced in 2001.
Christian organizations, leaders, and media tried to put the event into a moral context. The Vatican said Christians should never rejoice at the death of another person, even one responsible for so much hatred and death. Instead they should reflect on the responsibilities of each person to live so that “every event may be the occasion for the further growth of peace and not of hatred.”
Most commentators echoed this attitude, and quoted Ezekiel 18:23: “Do I take any pleasure in the death of the wicked? declares the Sovereign LORD. Rather, am I not pleased when they turn from their ways and live?”
Yet, God punishes, and so do humans. While individual Christians should pray for and forgive their enemies, God has authorized the state to restrain and punish evil. As one writer put it, the killing of bin Laden was “an execution for crimes he freely admitted to and bragged about.”
In the U.S. evangelical blogosphere, bin Laden’s death ignited a debate about his eternal destiny. Most were quite sure he was destined for hell, but there was a spirited discussion of whether he could be in heaven if, the day or minute before his death, he had acknowledged his sin, asked God for forgiveness, and accepted Jesus as his Saviour. As Richard Mouw of Fuller Seminary put it, when we sing the hymn “To God be the Glory,” we proclaim that “The vilest offender who truly believes, that moment from Jesus a pardon receives.” Do we believe those words?
Mennonites, other Christians, and people concerned about the use of violence to settle disputes, acknowledged their ambivalence. They wanted bin Laden to be held responsible for his crimes, and to be prevented from further violence, but they preferred that he would have been captured and given a fair trial, rather than quickly shot and disposed of. They felt uncomfortable with the partisan, gloating, public celebrations of bin Laden’s death, and yet were relieved that he was not still actively plotting violence and death. Bin Laden’s death was a confirmation that vengeance is a vicious, self-perpetuating, deadly cycle that is ultimately futile and needs to be replaced with forgiveness and reconciliation.
How does our theology guide us at times like this?
Most Mennonite Brethren share the conviction that forgiveness is more life-giving than revenge, but don’t know how that applies to a mass killer. Some remember that Mennonites were grateful and relieved to hear the news of Stalin’s death in 1953, and many would have been just as happy if he had died by a bullet rather than a stroke. But nearly none would have been ready to pull the trigger.
The MB Confession of Faith recognizes that we live in nation-states whose purpose is to promote the well-being of their citizens, to maintain law and order, and to punish wrongdoers. This often involves the sort of brute force that ended bin Laden’s life. The Confession is realistic about this without acknowledging it explicitly. It simply says, “We deplore the loss of life in the exercise of state-sanctioned violence.”
But it then declares that Christians are ambassadors for Christ who seek to be “agents of reconciliation in all relationships, to practice love of enemies as taught by Christ, and to be peacemakers in all situations. We view violence in its many different forms as contradictory to the new nature of the Christian. We believe that the evil and inhumane nature of violence is contrary to the gospel of love and peace.”
God created Osama bin Laden, those whom he killed, and those who killed him. Jesus lived, died, and rose for Osama bin Laden, those whom he killed, and those who killed him. Christians grieve all of these hateful, wasteful deaths and seek to be agents of reconciliation and servants of the well-being of all peoples in the name of God, who is righteousness, justice, and love.
The next day, U.S. newspapers reported the news in their front-page headlines. The Wall Street Journal announced simply, “U.S. Forces Kill Osama bin Laden.” The New York Times added the president’s moral interpretation of the event, “Bin Laden Killed by U.S. Forces in Pakistan, Obama Says, Declaring Justice Has Been Done.” The New York Post cheered triumphantly, “Got Him! Vengeance at last! US nails the bastard.” The NY Daily News had a full-page picture of bin Laden with the words “Rot In Hell” stamped in bold letters.
Families of 9/11 victims said though they had some satisfaction in knowing bin Laden had finally been punished for his crimes, and this “bogeyman can’t come out of the closet anymore,” their loss remained – this was not closure. Some even noted friends and family of bin Laden were now experiencing the same sudden loss and anger American families experienced in 2001.
Christian organizations, leaders, and media tried to put the event into a moral context. The Vatican said Christians should never rejoice at the death of another person, even one responsible for so much hatred and death. Instead they should reflect on the responsibilities of each person to live so that “every event may be the occasion for the further growth of peace and not of hatred.”
Most commentators echoed this attitude, and quoted Ezekiel 18:23: “Do I take any pleasure in the death of the wicked? declares the Sovereign LORD. Rather, am I not pleased when they turn from their ways and live?”
Yet, God punishes, and so do humans. While individual Christians should pray for and forgive their enemies, God has authorized the state to restrain and punish evil. As one writer put it, the killing of bin Laden was “an execution for crimes he freely admitted to and bragged about.”
In the U.S. evangelical blogosphere, bin Laden’s death ignited a debate about his eternal destiny. Most were quite sure he was destined for hell, but there was a spirited discussion of whether he could be in heaven if, the day or minute before his death, he had acknowledged his sin, asked God for forgiveness, and accepted Jesus as his Saviour. As Richard Mouw of Fuller Seminary put it, when we sing the hymn “To God be the Glory,” we proclaim that “The vilest offender who truly believes, that moment from Jesus a pardon receives.” Do we believe those words?
Mennonites, other Christians, and people concerned about the use of violence to settle disputes, acknowledged their ambivalence. They wanted bin Laden to be held responsible for his crimes, and to be prevented from further violence, but they preferred that he would have been captured and given a fair trial, rather than quickly shot and disposed of. They felt uncomfortable with the partisan, gloating, public celebrations of bin Laden’s death, and yet were relieved that he was not still actively plotting violence and death. Bin Laden’s death was a confirmation that vengeance is a vicious, self-perpetuating, deadly cycle that is ultimately futile and needs to be replaced with forgiveness and reconciliation.
How does our theology guide us at times like this?
Most Mennonite Brethren share the conviction that forgiveness is more life-giving than revenge, but don’t know how that applies to a mass killer. Some remember that Mennonites were grateful and relieved to hear the news of Stalin’s death in 1953, and many would have been just as happy if he had died by a bullet rather than a stroke. But nearly none would have been ready to pull the trigger.
The MB Confession of Faith recognizes that we live in nation-states whose purpose is to promote the well-being of their citizens, to maintain law and order, and to punish wrongdoers. This often involves the sort of brute force that ended bin Laden’s life. The Confession is realistic about this without acknowledging it explicitly. It simply says, “We deplore the loss of life in the exercise of state-sanctioned violence.”
But it then declares that Christians are ambassadors for Christ who seek to be “agents of reconciliation in all relationships, to practice love of enemies as taught by Christ, and to be peacemakers in all situations. We view violence in its many different forms as contradictory to the new nature of the Christian. We believe that the evil and inhumane nature of violence is contrary to the gospel of love and peace.”
God created Osama bin Laden, those whom he killed, and those who killed him. Jesus lived, died, and rose for Osama bin Laden, those whom he killed, and those who killed him. Christians grieve all of these hateful, wasteful deaths and seek to be agents of reconciliation and servants of the well-being of all peoples in the name of God, who is righteousness, justice, and love.
–Jim Pankratz
