Is it proper to celebrate when my enemy Is killed? Or is it more appropriate to accept that the act had to occur, but mourn?
As I write this, the lives of three world-known tyrants have been taken in the past five years. Each time there has been dancing in the streets. Controversy soon followed between those who felt the reaction was called for, versus the view that rejoicing over any death – even a justified one – makes the rejoicers little better than the person who had to die.
I look to the Bible for answers. There I find that the children of Israel danced and sang when the Egyptian army drowned in the Red Sea. The song gave praise to God, but it was a party in the presence of Egyptian dead bodies, nonetheless. Jesus told us to love our enemies. Is it possible to love a despot, and be pleased about his or her demise at the same time? To human reasoning this is difficult, but it might make sense at some spiritual level.
Scripture gives a bit more insight as to the state of mind of the Hebrew people after their enemies were destroyed. It says: When Israel saw the great power that the Lord used against the Egyptians, the people feared the Lord and believed in Him. Perhaps fearing and believing in the Lord are the safest reactions I can have when faced with a complex situation like this one. There are no simple answers.
I found the videos of Gadhafi’s torture leading up to his death disturbing. Even reminding myself that he tortured, butchered and murdered so many didn’t make it any more palatable. I’m glad he’s gone, but as I walk the path of my own spiritual growth, I instinctively know that God’s ways do not include dancing on the grave of someone who violated his laws. God will not be mocked, be it living a life of greed and murder or one of revelling in hatred and death.
Good point. Perhaps if we lived under their terror we would feel differently, it is hard to know for sure.
When I think of despots being put out of power through prison or death, I can’t help but think of the most horrific ones like Hitler who was responsible for the genocide of over 6 million jews, or Mao Zedong who created a man-made holocaust killing over 23 millions people, and Pot Pot who butchered over 1 million of his own people on the killing fields. I would hope that my religious faith and fear of God would allow me to endure religious prosecution, poverty, torture, and massacres. When the reign of such extreme sadism comes to an end, I cannot imagine how I wouldn’t be rejoicing and celebrating that God overcame pure evil.