The death of Osama bin Laden

I am strangely delighted at the death of Osama bin Laden. I’d like to explore the news of his death and my reactions.

I say “strangely delighted” for two reasons. As a Christian, I do mourn the loss of a soul that probably never found the truth. There is so much error in Islam—its concept of God, its emphasis on works, its holy book that comes so many years after the person who supposedly received it from heaven and has such poor manuscript evidence. Osama unfortunately was not a heretic of his faith. He was the most faithful adherent to Islam as it was originally conceived. I get tired of hearing that Islam was hijacked by people who have perverted the faith. No, it’s the other way around—the majority of Muslims are backsliders, ignoring the vicious commands as laid out in the Qur’an. Osama and his followers are the true believers.

Secondly, I am delighted because justice was meted out. So many times in this world we see justice stymied for some reason—incompetence, bribery, strong-arm tactics, ignorance. Of course, we know God is in command and will take care of it all eventually. But it’s satisfying to see the wronged nation able to track down and eliminate the source of so much evil and suffering. The United States once again has helped the world out, as we did before during World War 2 when we crushed the evil Nazi regime.

I watched President Obama’s report last night with mixed feelings. He acted strong and made no apology for the death of bin Laden. That was good. But why did he have to use so many personal pronouns (“I”) to tell how it all came about. There was no room to compliment President Bush for establishing the Guantanamo site and getting valuable information out of the detainees. All we heard as the run-up to his election was how Obama would do away with Bush’s methods. Now that he’s President, Obama has seen the wisdom of so much that Bush set up. A thank-you last night would have been appropriate for the courage with which Bush pursued the war.

We know the war will go on, and that is discouraging. But the news last night showed the courage and determination of our fighting forces. Thanks to all the brave men and women who keep us free. God bless them.