Sam Wells: Not a time for celebration
This is the first of two posts engaging the death of Osama bin Laden. Look for Melissa Wiginton's post tomorrow, May 5, 2011.
Ten years ago a force that distorted religion, had no respect for justice and had no regard for human life, killed 3,000 people in one day and seared the soul of America.
Earlier this week American forces killed the man widely regarded as chiefly responsible for perpetrating those terrible crimes.
This is not a time for celebration.
A celebration would be due if the perpetrators of those crimes had expressed remorse, regret and repentance. They have not. A celebration would be due if there had been a conversion of bin Laden or his followers to a truer practice of Islam. There has been none. A celebration would be due if the overwhelming response from Christians in America had been one that embodied the commandments to love their enemies and pray for their persecutors. There has been no such overwhelming response. A celebration would be due if there had been a proper process of justice, involving arrest, gathering of evidence, trial, defense, and prosecution. There has been no such process. A celebration would be due if the 3,000 that died on 9/11 and their memory had been honored by no endless cycle of further killing. Quite the contrary: nearly 6,000 U.S. troops have died in the “War on Terror” since 2001, and countless thousands of Iraqis and Afghans have meanwhile lost their lives in a decade of slaughter.
Having bin Laden still at large after 10 years was an embarrassment to America, and it’s not surprising the American administration would stop at nothing to destroy him. But this is not a moment for celebration. If we assume that killing a suspect without trial, without persuading him of the justice of our cause and without bringing him to a true expression of his own tradition -- let alone our own -- is a victory, then it is a sign of how far we have allowed this war to distort the values of our civilization.
Sam Wells is Dean of Duke University Chapel and Research Professor of Christian Ethics at Duke Divinity School.
Bin Laden
Dr Wells you are right and wrong. Your are right in that it is no time to celebrate. We should not dance on Bin Laden's grave, but neither should we condemn the administration or the soldiers who took his life. Bin Laden was evil, he was never going to be persuaded of the justice of our cause. He was never going to stop finding new ways to kill Americans and others who didn't see the world in his way. His arrest and trial would have just given his followers more impetus to try to do things to show their devotion to him.
As Mr Colbert said on his tv show,"I hope that I am never again this happy to see someone die."
Bin Laden response
I have responded to a similiar line of thinking from Miroslav Volf in this blog.
http://defendingobama.blogspot.com/2011/05/disputing-volf-on-pakistan.html
Bin Laden 1, America 0
My college major was American Studies. But Bin Laden was the best American Studies major ever. He knew us better than we knew ourselves. The Sept. 11 attacks motivated America to give up its most basic traditions --- and with enthusiasm.
Habeas corpus is for those situations in which the government seeks to deny a hearing. Habeas corpus was suspended for those in Guantanamo, and when habeas corpus is spended for anyone, it means liberty for everyone is no longer a right, but exists only at the forbearance of the authorities. In Sept. 11, Bin Laden tested America's commitment to freedom, and we failed.
We denied the right to trial to Bin Laden. We passed up the opportunity to show the world, and Bin Laden's followers, that we really do mean liberty and justice justice for all. The tragedy of the last 10 years is that when put to the hard test of giving constitutional rights to everyone, even those we hate, we flunked.
This is cause for mourning, not for Bin Laden, but for for the liberty we claim to cherish, which no longer exists, and the billions of dollars we have wasted in wars and the security state rather than for our own well-being. Even in death, Bin Laden beat us.
Bin Laden
"Casualty" of declared war? Murdered in cold blood? Whatever his death will be defined as in the future, Bin Laden's death at he hands of Navy Seals certainly marked an end to something. Thousands died at his hand. A trial on American soil would have been more deserved for Bin Laden.
Adolf Eichman, responsible for orchestrating the deaths of millions of Jewish deaths in the holocaust fled to Argentina after WWII. He was captured by Mossad operatives in Argentina and taken to Israel to face trial in an Israeli court on 15 criminal charges, including crimes against humanity and war crimes. He was found guilty and executed by hanging in 1962. He is the only person to have been executed in Israel on conviction by a civilian court.
It would have served the US better to have followed the same process. The capture, and subsequent trial of Bin laden on "crimes against humanity" would have allowed a civilian court in New York to offer justice on a the very ground where so many perished at his hand. The trial would have captivated the world and held out for all to see justice in process as Adolph Eichman experienced in 1962.
In April of 1943 the US Army
In April of 1943 the US Army Air Corps dispatched fighter planes to engage and kill Japanese Admiral Yamamoto. He was responsible for the attack on Pearl Harbor. He was actively involved in the Japanese war effort. On Sunday the U.S. Navy SEAL attacked and killed ben laden. He was responsible for the killing of thousands of innocent men and women on 9/11. He was involved in ongoing enemy operations against the United States. No difference. It is a war. This is how a war is won. Loosing has nothing to recommend it.
Adm Yamamoto
I agree completely with BThomas. It is rather a nicety to say that we should capture him and try him. We can't even agree on how to try lo-level terrorists now at GITMO! Yamamoto was an honorable military man who died in the service of his country. He had opposed the attack on PH, but when his country called, he answered. His plane was shot down deliberately and he died. Over 80,000 USAF aircrewmen were deliberately shot down over Germany and died. Thousands of innocent Americans (and Iraqis/Afghans) have died when all they wanted to do was have a long and happy life. Too bad about OBL; he was a soldier and he died.
Admiral Yamamoto was a career
Admiral Yamamoto was a career officer in the Japanese Imperial Navy serving the Emperor of Japan. Like any other serviceman, he was a legitimate military target. For that reason he was targeted and killed. Targeting and killing obl was no different. Arguments that he should have been afforded the protections of The Constitution, etc., are not persuasive. The action taken to find and kill him was a fully appropriate response by the United States. Neither combat casualties sustained by the USAAF in WWII nor civilian deaths in Iraq or Afghanistan are in view or germane to the subject at hand.
Celebration without a Deep Cause
Indeed I was out of touch with the celebratio that was taking place after news broke. I was surprise to witness the glee yhay wicked witch was dead. The joy of his death did indeed remind me of the wizard of OZ,
Christ followers should never
Christ followers should never place love of country above love of God and his kingdom. That being said, this blog post reflects a selective reading of the bible.
Yes, we are called to pray for our enemies and those that persecute us, but God's justice is just as real and powerful as his love: "When it goes well with the righteous, the city rejoices, and when the wicked perish there are shouts of gladness."(Proverbs 11:10)
It is reasonable - even righteous - to feel a sense of satisfaction at justice being carried. At the same time we do well to remember that we are just as guilty of God's wrath, and are undeserving recipients of his mercy.
Proverbs 24:17 - Do not rejoice when your enemy falls, & let not your heart be glad when he stumbles.
Not how things should be done
Personally, I believe that anyone with morals (or any humanity, for that matter) should never celebrate the death of anyone. It is especially deplorable for a Christian to do any such thing. It only provokes hate, and if anything, fuels the terrorist's propaganda, which would only cause more hate and suffering. Hate is a slippery slope.
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