Christians Weigh-In

 "Usama Bin Laden is dead."

As my husband and I were sitting in the living room watching television last night, our program was interrupted with this latest breaking news...

"the one responsible for so much tragedy in the world today..."

"the man the United States has been hunting since September 11, 2001..."

"the news we have all been waiting to hear since that fateful day..."

"Usama Bin Laden is dead."

I am going to be honest with you, as I always am - I really didn't know what to feel.  Even in this moment as I type these individual letters on my keyboard, I cannot put a name to what I am feeling.  After President Obama's speech, my husband and I quietly got up and began picking up the living room and getting ready for bed; neither of us said a word.  Finally I said to him, "As a Christian, I don't know how I'm supposed to feel about this."

Here's my conflict: 

Is it wrong to rejoice when people die? 

Am I betraying the ones who lost their lives on 9/11 and all those who have lost their lives on the battlefield since if I don't rejoice?

If you know my husband, you know that he is a true Believer; he loves God with his whole heart.  I look to him as my Priest in our home and I find his spiritual wisdom and knowledge invaluable.  But, he's also a patriot.  He loves his country; he's served his country. He has felt very passionate, as most Americans, about what happened on 9/11.  He is very outspoken about his political views and I honesty expected him to be jumping up and down with the rest of the country over this particular development.  Instead, he looked up from what he was doing and said, "I know what you mean.  Are we supposed to be rejoicing when a man dies and goes to hell?" 

I would love to be able to continue this post with some great words of wisdom, with some profound theological discussion that might obsolve us (as Christians) of any confusion or guilt we might be feeling, but I really am not capable in this moment of going there. 

So...

I'm asking you to weigh-in.  I would love to know what my brothers and sisters are feeling about this right now.  I especially would like to hear from you if you find yourself conflicted as I am.  Please, let me hear from you.  The instructions for replying to this post are here to help you with your comments.