Are there right feelings? May 2011
Q- I felt conflicted when I saw Americans celebrating when the news came that Osama Bin Laden had been killed. Some on TV were acting like it’s party time, mostly the youth. I was glad he was dead but I could not turn it into a party. For me it was a sobering moment. Should Christians or believers in God celebrate Osama being killed?
A-People have their own personal reaction to such news. For some it is relief and the need to let loose, others feel justice has been served and now they can relax about the moral outrage they have been holding; the world has been righted. We can not tell people how to feel, our feelings are a reaction to a situation. It is what we do with our feelings that we have some control over and we should want our actions to reflect our values.
I was very impressed with the people who had lost loved ones in 9/11 and the present wars. They were glad Osama was dead but the issues of their hearts are not solved by his death; their loved one is dead and never coming back. Maybe a chapter in this saga has closed by Osama’s death for them but life without their loved one is forever.
Many who started to party could have been just following the crowd. We have all lived with pent up emotions about Osama and terrorism and news of his death released some of these feelings. Our desire for revenge might have been satisfied or American dignity was redeemed and pride could return. Many of the youth were singing patriotic songs. But when we can put our desires for revenge behind us and work for the common good we will find some real healing.
As for the believer’s responses, we too are just human but our actions should take into account the teachings of our faith. In the Old Testament, the Jewish Scriptures, we can see mixed responses. When David (I Samuel 18) kills the giant Goliath with his sling shot and he then goes and cuts Goliath’s head off with Goliath’s own sword, he brings the head to King Saul. The women came out singing and dancing. The giant who had plagued Israel for years was now dead. They no longer had to live with this dreaded fear.
But in Ezekiel (33:11) the prophet writes “God takes no pleasure in the death of the wicked. God rather the wicked repent and live” God would show mercy to the wicked if they were willing to receive it by turning from their wicked ways. Even Jesus gave us an example when he said about those crucifying him, “Father, forgive them for they know not what they do.” In Paul’s letter to the Romans he quotes Deut.32:35 “Vengeance is mine , saith the Lord, I will repay” and Proverbs 25:21&22 “If your enemy is hungry feed him if he is thirsty give him drink. In so doing you will heap burning coals upon his head.” Do not be over come by evil, but over come evil with good.
As believers we must learn how to live with our ideals in the face of the world’s evils.
When Adolf Hitler who caused much grief in the world was declared dead the then Senator Howard Taft of Ohio was asked to speak at his local Universalist Church, a denomination that doesn’t not believe in Hell or judgment. Taft stood up before the people and said “I am pleased to announce to you that Adolf Hitler is in that place that you and I don’t believe in”.
The feelings of relief and need for justice and even vengeance was partial satisfied when Taft consigned Hitler to Hell.
For me when of I heard of Osama’s death, a somber mood came over me. I was glad he was gone and no longer instigating evil deeds. I had a mild sense that justice had been served and good can win out and the hope that now maybe the whole world will see Osama for what he really was, a man an obsessed by his own self-righteousness. He made himself a god judging who should live and who should die. Osama represented the worse of what an individual human being can do, the worst of what we can become by taking others down to hell with us.
Our national response to Osama was the Iraq and the Afghan wars. This became a part of the evil inflicted on the world. Osama killed his thousands but we the USA ended up killing our tens of thousands in these wars. Osama and his followers created a false dream causing young people to sacrifice their lives as suicide bombers, as an insurgency army, as the army to bring about a Caliphate, as martyrs who would inherit heaven because they have pleased God by killing thousands of people including other Muslims. The worst evil ends up calling evil good and convinces other to believe thereby destroying everything. We saw this with Hitler and the Nazi movement, Pol Pot and the Kamerouge, Mao in China killing millions of his own people in the name of the highest good, a communist state. In Rwanda one tribe slaughtered 800,000 of another tribe in the name of an ideal, racial purity. When evil is called good, no one is safe.
Osama has now passed even as all the other sources of evil in the last century and we are glad. There is relief but it is not a party time. It is time to reflect in order not to let the problems and process repeat itself.
Our response which caused much suffering reflected our ignorance of other cultures, of Islam, of political and economics realities in these regions and ignorance especially of how America effects this area of the world by our power, money and culture. Not that we could have fixed it all but at least we could have been more understanding over the many years that it happened. The greed in our own culture was allowed to run wild and roughshod over other peoples and culture. Does this excuse the actions of an Osama and Alkaida.? No, but our understanding could mitigate the clashes of culture and values.
Our economic policies in the USA did as much to hurt our own people allowing two wars to be put on the tab so to speak while lowering taxes for the wealthy class. Allowing unrestricted greed in the economic community caused the collapse of the economy and then the tax payer was asked to foot the bill creating even more deficits and then turning around and blaming the average middle and working class people after wiping out their savings, their retirement plans and even taking their homes. And in the recovery who got their money and life stabilized first, the rich; the bankers and the Wall Street community while everyone else has to slog through the mess hoping to come out with something for a future. Now our demographics are going to create even an worse struggle due to the number of retirees, our health care system or lack thereof ( much of it is a greed problem) and the educational system which has failed many. We have bred our own underclass by refusing to share the wealth in a constructive way so everyone can live a better more productive life.This is seen in the facts that CEOs now make 400 to 1 more income than the average worker. It use to be 40 to 1 more.
Our policies are part of the reason the world hates us.
If class warfareever comes to the USA it is not because the lower classes started it. It is because the wealthy have arranged to keep most of the goodies for themselves. The class warfare in Russia was cause by those who ignored the poverty of the people so the ruling class got what it deserved, a revolution.
This is the spirit in the world that is reacting to the USA. Our seeming arrogance and indifference to other people's concerns are inciting people to action against us.
All people are God’s children and God wishes all to come to repentance and knowledge of the truth. The USA is not the most favored nation of God. As believers how are we showing love for all people. Power and greed are big turn offs for people so do we teach our families about a proper perspective about our place and our responsibility in the world and for the world. As Christians we look to Jesus for direction about how to live in the world. He was always seeking the welfare of others with no thought to class or power. We are called as much as possible to live in peace with all people and we are to care for the least among us. Our caring is to be a reflection of God’s caring for the world. We need to be willing to be a voice crying in the wilderness ,a voice against the powers of the day, so that God’s concerns are incorporated into our way of life. We need to challenge the wealthy and the powerful especially if they are bent on aggressive action and to intercede on behalf of the powerless.
The life and death matters that are always before us must be held up as issue that God cares about. We are invited to be ambassadors for God presenting his concerns for all people and invite the rich and powerful to share in this work as God’s agents. Our religion teaches us to be loving and generous to others. Do our feelings match our what God asks of us?
Are there right feelings? May 2011
Q- I felt conflicted when I saw Americans celebrating when the news came that Osama Bin Laden had been killed. Some on TV were acting like it’s party time, mostly the youth. I was glad he was dead but I could not turn it into a party. For me it was a sobering moment. Should Christians or believers in God celebrate Osama being killed?
A-People have their own personal reaction to such news. For some it is relief and the need to let loose, others feel justice has been served and now they can relax about the moral outrage they have been holding; the world has been righted. We can not tell people how to feel, our feelings are a reaction to a situation. It is what we do with our feelings that we have some control over and we should want our actions to reflect our values.
I was very impressed with the people who had lost loved ones in 9/11 and the present wars. They were glad Osama was dead but the issues of their hearts are not solved by his death; their loved one is dead and never coming back. Maybe a chapter in this saga has closed by Osama’s death for them but life without their loved one is forever.
Many who started to party could have been just following the crowd. We have all lived with pent up emotions about Osama and terrorism and news of his death released some of these feelings. Our desire for revenge might have been satisfied or American dignity was redeemed and pride could return. Many of the youth were singing patriotic songs. But when we can put our desires for revenge behind us and work for the common good we will find some real healing.
As for the believer’s responses, we too are just human but our actions should take into account the teachings of our faith. In the Old Testament, the Jewish Scriptures, we can see mixed responses. When David (I Samuel 18) kills the giant Goliath with his sling shot and he then goes and cuts Goliath’s head off with Goliath’s own sword, he brings the head to King Saul. The women came out singing and dancing. The giant who had plagued Israel for years was now dead. They no longer had to live with this dreaded fear.
But in Ezekiel (33:11) the prophet writes “God takes no pleasure in the death of the wicked. God rather the wicked repent and live” God would show mercy to the wicked if they were willing to receive it by turning from their wicked ways. Even Jesus gave us an example when he said about those crucifying him, “Father, forgive them for they know not what they do.” In Paul’s letter to the Romans he quotes Deut.32:35 “Vengence is mine , saith the Lord, I will repay” and Proverbs 25:21&22 “If your enemy is hungry feed him if he is thirsty give him drink. In so doing you will heap burning coals upon his head.” Do not be over come by evil, but over come evil with good.
As believers we must learn how to live with our ideals in the face of the world’s evils.
When Adolf Hitler who caused much grief in the world was declared dead the then Senator Howard Taft of Ohio was asked to speak at his local Universalist Church, a denomination that doesn’t not believe in Hellor judgment. Taft stood up before the people and said “I am pleased to announce to you that Adolf Hitler is in that place that you and I don’t believe in”.
The feelings of relief and need for justice and even vengeance was partial satisfied when Taft consigned Hitler to Hell.
For me when of I heard of Osama’s death, a somber mood came over me I was glad he was gone and no longer instigating evil deeds. I had a mild sense that justice had been served and good can win out and the hope that now maybe the whole world will see Osama for what he really was, a man an obsessed by his own self-righteousness. He made himself a god judging who should live and who should die. Osama represented the worse of what an individual human being can do, the worst of what we can become by taking others down to hell with us.
Our national response to Osama was the Iraq and the Afghan wars. This became a part of the evil inflicted on the world. Osama killed his thousands but we the USA ended up killing our tens of thousands in these wars. Osama and his followers created a false dream causing young people to sacrifice their lives as suicide bombers, as an insurgency army, as the army to bring about a Caliphate, as martyrs who would inherit heaven because they have pleased God by killing thousands of people including other Muslims. The worst evil ends up calling evil good and convinces other to believe thereby destroying everything. We saw this with Hitler and the Nazi movement, Pol Pot and the Kamerouge, Mao in China killing millions of his own people in the name of the highest good, a communist state. In Rwanda one tribe slaughtered 800,000 of another tribe in the name of an ideal, racial purity. When evil is called good, no one is safe.
Osama has now passed even as all the other sources of evil in the last century and we are glad. There is relief but it is not a party time. It is time to reflect in order not to let the problems and process repeat itself.
Our response reflected our ignorance of other cultures, of Islam, of political and economics realities in these regions and ignorance especially of how America effects this area of the world by our power, money and culture. Not that we could have fixed it all but at least we could have been more understanding over the many years that it happened. The greed in our own culture was allowed to run wild and roughshod over other peoples and culture. Does this excuse the actions of an Osama and Alkaida. No but our understanding could mitigate the clashes of culture and values.
Our economic policies in the USA did as much to hurt our own people allowing two wars to be put on the tab so to speak while lowering taxes for the wealthy class. Allowing unrestricted greed in the economic community to cause the collapse of the economy and then asked the tax payer to foot the bill creating an even more deficits and then turning around and blaming the average middle and working class people after wiping out their savings, their retirement plans and even taking their homes. And in the recovery who got their money and life stabilized first, the rich; the bankers and the Wall Street community while everyone else has to slog through the mess hoping to come out with something for a future And now our demographics are going to create even an worse struggle due to the number of retirees, our health care system or lack thereof ( much of it is a greed problem) and the educational system which has failed many. We have bred our own underclass by refusing to share the wealth in a constructive way so everyone can live a better more productive life. And we have carried our same attitudes into the world at large so that poverty and diseases are destroying whole societies while we still take their raw materials and cheap labor to better our own bank accounts
Our policies are part of the reason the world hates us.
If class warfare comes to the USA it is not because the lower classes started it. It is because the wealthy have arranged to keep most of the goodies for themselves. The class warfare in Russia was cause by those who ignored the poverty of the people so the ruling class got what it deserved, a revolution.
This is the spirit in the world that is reacting to the USA. Our seeming arrogance which is truly ignorance is inciting people to action against us.
All people are God’s children and God wishes all to come to repentance and knowledge of the truth. The USA is not the most favored nation of God. As believers how are we showing love for all people. Power and greed are big turn offs for people so do we teach our families about a proper perspective about our place and our responsibility in the world and for the world. As Christians we look to Jesus for direction about how to live in the world. He was always seeking the welfare of others with no thought to class or power. We are called as much as possible to live in peace with all people and we are to care for the least among us. Our caring is to be a reflection of God’s caring for the world. We need to be willing to be a voice crying in the wilderness ,a voice against the powers of the day, so that God’s concerns are incorporated into our way of life. We need to challenge the wealthy and the powerful especially if they are bent on aggressive action and to intercede on behalf of the powerless.
The life and death matters that are always before us must be held up as issue that God cares about. We are invited to be ambassadors for God presenting his concerns for all people and invite the rich and powerful to share in this work as God’s agents..
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