Osama Bin Laden

"I've never wished a man dead, but I've read many obituaries with great pleasure" - unknown

Osama Bin Laden is dead. And I'm not ashamed to say that I had great pleasure in that statement. I've read a lot about whether or not we, as Americans, should be happy at the fact that someone else is dead.

But there hasn't been a man this hated in this country since Adolf Hitler. Osama Bin Laden masterminded the most vicious attack in most of our lives, and he killed many others with no regard for anything. He deserved to die, in my opinion.

The Bible says that we should love our enemies. God said that vengeance belongs to him. And that's what we're taught to believe, but it's much harder in practice. As for vengeance, I'm often told that God performs miracles through people. Isn't it possible that God also performs vengeance through people?

I've thought a lot today about whether or not it would've been better if he'd been caught alive. I had a dark smile every time I think about Osama being brought to New York City for his trial, with small stops in most of the NYC fire and police precincts. They each get a few minutes with the man, with the direct orders not to kill him. Anything else goes.

Maybe throw him in gen pop with all the hardcore New Yorkers that love their city more than anything. Give them a chance to have a run-in with him in the shower room.

But, at the end of the day, I think it's better for everyone that we just killed him. Save everyone the trouble of a trial where the man hasn't shown remorse or hidden his own guilt. Besides, I can't imagine the nightmare that would go along with trying to protect the man responsible for thousands of deaths. Angry Americans would try and kill him, while his fellow extremists would try and break him out.

Will it make him a martyr? Probably. But the word is that Bin Laden was much more than just one man to this organization. That it will be close to impossible to replace him.

And, with that in mind, it is totally worth it. To rid the world of a terrorism mastermind? To rid the world of a symbol of evil? To rid the world of someone who has caused so much death and devastation? Good. Do it.

What do I think God would think? I think it's pretty interesting that, yesterday, our church started a sermon series on Hell. It's tackling questions like: "Does Hell exist?" "Why would a loving God have a Hell?" "Who is in Hell?"

If there's a Hell and people are there, I think Osama Bin Laden is there. He's killed, and he's distorted the word of God. The Koran says that if you kill one person, you might as well be killing the whole world. Which is about as far away from Bin Laden's teachings as you can get. So even if He has mercy on almost everyone, if anyone is beyond God's mercy...it's Osama Bin Laden.

But that's not up to me. I hope there's a world where everyone can be forgiven at some point, and if it takes getting his head blown off to open his eyes, that's probably worth it...right?