Tuesday, May 3, 2011

On the death of Osama Bin Laden

I was recently defriended on Facebook by someone I knew in the Navy because of a couple of posts I made in response to the death of Osama Bin Laden.

The first was from the blog "Journal of a Black Mormon Girl" which made the thought provoking comment, "As the world rejoices at getting once last villain of evil off the streets and in the ground I just have one question. It's the same question one of my Sista's asked: Who is going to do our lost brother's temple work?. Where do we draw the lines of our Christianity?" Referring to the Mormon practice of "redeeming the dead" which includes baptism of the dead by proxy so that people who did not have the opportunity to receive the Gospel of Christ while living may have the opportunity to do so and benefit from its saving ordinances should they choose to receive them in the afterlife.

The second post I made was a statement falsely attributed to Martin Luther King Jr. that went viral. After I learned that the attribution was most likely an attempt--obviously a successful one--to ensure that the sentiment was thoroughly propagated, I deleted the post and reposted it with the simple attribution to "Anonymous."

"I mourn the loss of thousands of precious lives, but I will not rejoice in the death of one, not even an enemy. Returning hate for hate multiplies hate, adding deeper darkness to a night already devoid of stars. Darkness cannot drive out darkness: only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate: only love can do that." -Anonymous

I sent the following message to my former Facebook friend to explain why I shared those remarks:

Do not confuse my refusal to celebrate the death of bin laden as an endorsement of his atrocities. As a Christian I cannot square celebrating an assassination (regardless of how just it may have been) with Christ's teachings of love and forgiveness.

Was justice served? Certainly. And I'm grateful it was. But I'm not going to dance in the streets over it. Just as I don't celebrate every execution of a cold-blooded murderer. I don't think it's Christ-like. I have my own faults and sins to atone for and I wouldn't want someone celebrating any punishment I may endure for them, I'd rather they celebrate my repentance.


UPDATE: Not so anonymous anymore: http://rawlinsview.wordpress.com/2011/05/03/“i-will-not-rejoice-in-the-death-of-one-not-even-an-enemy-”-words-of-jessica-dovey-followed-by-martin-luther-king-junior/