Is It Wrong?....by Lisa

The news seemed to come out of nowhere, mired in Libya, $4.37/gallon gas, health care reform that no one agrees with, never-ending wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, and the list goes on. Suddenly, Osama bin Laden is dead, reportedly at the hands of American Navy Seals. Remember how we felt when we saw the Afghans celebrating in their streets when our Twin Towers were destroyed? That’s how our celebrations earlier this week must have looked.

I don’t like any of it. To me, all of this is a grotesque failure of diplomacy, and of human beings to understand each other. The math doesn’t work for me that the murder of one crazy old man, an act of retaliation against what he and his followers have done to us, is justice. The death of one man is payment for the loss of so many precious, innocent lives? I just don’t buy it. The means, being the cost in human lives and in dollars, is not justified by the end, the death of one cave-dwelling coward. Just because we said we would take him out doesn’t mean we should have. And the idea that the death of this one man will make a big difference in the “fight against terror” just doesn’t hit the mark for me. We’ve seen this over and over throughout history. These types always have a slew of understudies just waiting to step into the limelight. Extremism exists in many if not all religions, including Christianity, so don’t go getting all indignant. Are we any better than the terrorists if we hunt them and take them out? Does retaliation by violence and murder put an end to violence and murder? Already the news reports warn of the risk of retaliation. How ironic—our act of relatiation will be retaliated against. This is all so senseless. Why do we think it is easier, better, cheaper (?!) to wage violent acts of aggression than to sit at the bargaining table and develop an understanding of those who are not like us? Oh—I forgot. War is big business. Remember Dick Cheney and Halliburton? See Dick get rich on the backs of minority soldiers for whom the military is the best way out of poverty. Shameful!

What a sad state of affairs. We all have blood on our hands and I pray for the humility to ask God’s forgiveness. I wish that all of those who vote to wage war had to send their children to the battlefield—maybe they would give diplomacy another shot. (That’s a pun) I will end with this paragraph from a report on NPR’s website:

The Roman Catholic Church responded to the news of bin Laden's death with this statement: "Faced with the death of a man, a Christian never rejoices, but reflects on the serious responsibility of everyone before God and man, and hopes and pledges that every event is not an opportunity for a further growth of hatred, but of peace.”