Bin Laden's Bye Bye

Osama Bin Laden met his demise this week at the hands of the Navy Seal elite Team 6. It set up a wave of celebration around the globe—mostly in the United States where Bin Laden had ruled as a King of Terror for years. He was 53 years old, born in 1957. From an age perspective, Bin Laden and I are peers. Other than that, the circumstances in our lives couldn’t have been more different.

I’ll admit that I experienced a smug sense of satisfaction late Sunday night when I got on line and read that Bin Laden was dead. It was even entertaining to read how it was done: the helicopters with the Seals rapelling into the compound and engaging in a fire fight. It could have been taken from a Tom Clancey novel. But something else has come to my mind in the wake of it all. I remember Bin Laden gloating over the destruction of the Twin Towers and the damage to the Pentegon. He was giddy with joy over the casualties. I also recall footage of Muslim children waving flags and shouting in glee over the events. Their version of Islam had given the big bad Americans a bloody nose and used the very freedoms we treasure to do it! They were tickled pink. I was insensed.

But now we are giddy with joy. We are shouting in glee. We are dancing on Bin Laden’s grave. And while I agree with the writer of the Proverbs, “…when the wicked perish, there are shouts of joy” (Prov 11:10), I have found myself feeling a little unsettled over it all. We should be glad over the destruction of an evil man and so I am happy. In my opinion, Bin Laden was Hitler with a turbin. But this happiness, and the smug sense of inner satisfaction it has created in me, has given me pause. Its our turn to celebrate—its true. But for me personally, the celebration is also turning me appropriately inward. I need to check my own heart. Are there injustices that I unwittingly support without even knowing it that would make someone glad at my demise? Are there things that I do, that would cause others to say to me, “Don’t go away mad, just go away!” Am I blind to things in my life that are hurtful to others that in my own self-righteousness, I refuse to be aware of?

I’ve never been in a fire fight on a battle field or seen my friends heads blown off by an enemy bent on our destruction. But I have watched my neighbors grieve the senseless loss of their son on 9/11! And I watched in horror as those buildings came down and was repulsed by the joyful response to it from many Muslims around the world. I’ll never forget the smell that wafted through Queens as what was left of the towers burned underground.

I’m proud to be an American. I am grateful for the freedoms we have and promote. I’m glad that the guy responsible for the intrusive actions from TSA officials, that I face regularly at airports around the country, has met his end. But I’m also aware of how dark my own soul is. In my understanding of Christianity, the gospel gives me the tools to do the self reflection necessary to be honest with my own issues. So while I’m thrilled at Bin Laden’s just and untimely death, I’m also sobered by it all.