Wednesday, May 18, 2011

The Death of Osama bin Laden

I know, I know. It's been like a week (or more?), but I feel like commenting on it.

As a Catholic, I was a little saddened by the amount of celebration that was going on with his death. Yeah, he did horrible things...I understand that. But what happened to preaching forgiveness? Jesus said to forgive those who do us wrong, not just those who want to be forgive for it. I can say from experience that it's truly hard to forgive someone who doesn't seem to be at all sorry for what he's done, but God calls us to rise above and be Christian in those circumstances.

After all, God loves Osama just as much as he loves me, right? As a person of equal dignity, Osama and I are equals. And frankly, I want my brother to come into heaven as much as any other person I may or may not know. Shouldn't we all want that? To see as many people in heaven as possible? To have as many people experience forgiveness as God would grant?

One priest who accepted a Mass intention for the late terrorist leader, according to catholicculture.org, caught a lot of flack for it. He simply replied, "Their hearts are troubled because they're thinking emotionally about what he has done, and he has done a lot of evil."

Let's remove our emotions about the matter, and remember Osama's dignity. Let's pray for the repose of his soul.

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