Friends,

In recent days I have received a lot of comments, mostly opposing several of my tweets and facebook posts which were a response to the death of Osama Bin Laden. Rather than continue in a struggle to communicate in short statuses and 160 character blurbs, I thought it best to post my thoughts, thoroughly articulated, here.

It may be helpful to begin by clarifying my original facebook post -“Grieved by the news.”

I didn’t mean so much that I was grieved by the news of Osama’s death but rather grieved by what was portrayed on the news: high-fives, U-S-A chants, celebration in the streets.

Celebrate? Death? Deplorable. With all the cheering recently over the death of Osama Bin Laden, with all the claims that finally “justice” has been done, I’m finding it hard to associate the biblical understanding of “justice” with government-sponsored assassination. Is justice achieved by killing someone, even a certifiably dangerous, violent man?

Let’s at least say that we regret that violence was deemed necessary. Let’s at least say, if it is true, that all other means had been used to prevent his future violent actions, that this was not simply vengeful payback for 9/11, and that this was an unfortunate last resort to make the world safer, today. Maybe we feel a sense of relief or catharsis that a mad man cannot continue fomenting violence. But violence just begets more violence.

I’m not suggesting we lay down and do nothing but rather Jesus said there’s a third way that neither returns violence with violence nor rolls over and submits to violence. Jesus’ way was neither the way of passively permitting injustice nor the way of violence and vengeance. Instead, Jesus taught and modeled creative, active nonviolence (which influenced both Gandhi and MLK)

However, I also acknowledge the complexity and challenge of the third way. I’ve been thinking for the last few days about Dietrich Bonhoeffer, one of the last century’s most admired Christian theologians/pastors, who was killed by the Nazis. Bonhoeffer, as you may know, really agonized over how to end Hitler’s evil impact and decided finally, in spite of his history of nonviolence, to be a part of a conspiracy to assassinate Hitler. The plan failed. Bonhoeffer was executed. But had it succeeded, who knows how many lives could have been saved? 

That being said, any act of violence puts us on a slippery slope, but I also understand that pure passivism may not always be the most ethical choice. However it is without a doubt, God’s dream for humanity and thus incumbent upon Kingdom people to uphold that ethic. I wonder how Bin Laden’s assassination will ultimately be judged?

I do not know if you have watched the video of Dr. Hauerwas on my FB wall but he is certainly right about one thing: Americans fail to read the bible well because our unjust nationalism gets in the way of our interpretation. Most of us are sadly, Americans before we are Christians and when we read the New Testament we do not understand that we are Rome.

I am also reminded of Will Campbell, an iconic baptist preacher, author, and civil rights activist. In the heat of the civil rights movement, Campbell was asked to attend of viewing of the documentary on the Ku Klux Klan and lead a discussion afterwards.

After the viewing Campbell got up and gave the following speech: “My name is Will Campbell. I am a Baptist preacher. I am a native of Mississippi. And I am pro-klansman because I am pro human being.”

His words were shocking, especially coming from someone known for being so opposed to everything the Klan stood for. However, the then angry, hostile crowd was not able to pause long enough to consider that being pro-klansman was different than being pro-klan. The former has to do with a person, the latter an ideology. Campbell was not condoning the actions of the Klan, but rather he understood that Klansmen, like him, were in need of repentance. And that Klansmen, like him, were capable of being transformed by the grace of God.

How often are we, especially during moments like these, just like the hostile crowd. We get hurt, we get angry, we get fearful and we fail to see the underlying humanity in our enemies. And by seeking to deny them God’s mercy are we not only putting ourselves in greater need of that mercy?

Return for a second to the death of Jesus. Imagine how susceptible the disciples would have been to vengeance just after their Lord’s tortuous death. Consider how easy it would have been for them to react violently to their hero’s unjust execution. The Jesus Movement might have taken a very different turn if his death had been used to rally revolutionaries to take to the streets. Think of how often that has happened in human history. 

What a powerful testimony to Jesus’ living presence among them that they were able to hear, above the voices of violence and despair, their deceased teacher still speaking these words: “Peace. Forgive.” (John 20:19-23). We too can hear these words today. Indeed, sometimes when we feel locked into rooms of fear and grief and pain we can hear, by Gods grace, those freeing words. When we do, Jesus lives on in us and sets us loose into the world.