Response by Rev Dr Vic Pfitzner

I guess I’m not the only one — certainly not the only Christian — who felt uncomfortable at the sight of crowds waving flags, singing and dancing in celebration of Osama bin Laden’s death. How can one be happy at any death, particularly the gruesome death of a man gunned down with members of his family? There’s something crass about dancing on anybody’s grave. A woman at Ground Zero, where she lost a cousin, said, ‘I’m a Christian and killing isn’t part of my belief. It doesn’t bring anyone back.’ She’s right.

Speaking into another situation where hurting people were straining for revenge, four decades ago Martin Luther King wrote in his book Strength to Love, ‘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.’ But perhaps my discomfort has another side to it, one that’s not at all noble. Deep down I want to join in with the crowd’s glee over the death of a mass murderer, a subhuman ogre who incited fanatics to commit acts of terror. I feel with the family victims of 9/11 who say that Osama got what he deserved, that justice has been done. I can feel a noble vengeance when I see how evil people get their deserts.

I’m even tempted to cite divine power as accessory to the fact of retribution. Doesn’t God judge sinners? Isn’t God the Lord of history? Shouldn’t we be glad to see criminals get what’s coming to them?

Then I hear the whisper in my ear, ‘Vengeance is mine; I will repay’ (Rom 12:19). Let’s face it. The assassination of bin Laden was an act of warfare on the field of international politics. It may have been a clever tactic, or it may turn out to be a foolish act, breeding only more hatred for the West in the ranks of extremist Muslims. Only history will tell. But one thing is clear: the bullets that killed bin Laden were not shot by the God of peace and justice.

For me as a (very fallible) follower of Jesus Christ there are several big problems with rejoicing even over the death of an instigator of terror. Osama was my brother, a fellow human being, made in the image of God. The saddest thing is not his death in itself, but that he never knew Jesus as his Lord, that he never knew God as the God of love and forgiveness through Jesus.

Then there’s the fact that God is the true and righteous judge. Problem is that God is also my judge, and without Christ I’m also dead. In the very moment that I call down divine vengeance on others I must also face the heavenly judge. One can dodge bullets but not the penetrating eye of God (Heb 4:12,13). 

Jesus once told a story about not prejudging people and things according to our own standards. He spoke of workers eager to pull out the weeds in a crop, even if it meant pulling out some of the good plants (Matt 13:24-30). St Paul has the same message: ‘Don’t judge people before the Lord comes. He will set all the records straight’ (1 Cor 4:5).

Rev Dr Vic Pfitzner is a retired LCA pastor and former lecturer and principal at Luther Seminary (now Australian Lutheran College).