Monday, May 2, 2011

My thoughts...

I posted something on my Facebook last night and probably offended many: 
"They are cheering the the streets because a man is dead. There is something wrong with that. Maybe he was a bad man, but I can't see celebrating. There has been enough death in all of this."
It was not my intention to upset anyone. I understand that they feel relief and joy on the death of Osama bin Laden.

For me, I see no reason to cheer when a man is dead. There has been so much death and we still have young men and women dying each day in Afghanistan and Iraq and yet, no one even knows their names. Those are the lives we should be celebrating. Thanking their families for making the ultimate sacrifice. 

As the wife of a Soldier whose "boots are on the ground", the celebrating has me worried. They will retaliate. They won't stop because one man is dead. That will only unite them more. We have to remember that we are not fighting a man, but something much larger. 

Our enemies celebrate when our men and women die. They dance in the streets and wave their flags. Last night's images reminded me of Somalia, when they drug our brave Soldiers' bodies through the streets and burned our flag while the crowds danced. 

Perhaps being a Soldier's wife has made me a pacifist, or maybe it has just opened up my eyes. Senseless killing makes me sick. No one wins when someone dies. 
"Do not gloat when your enemy falls; when he stumbles, do not let your heart rejoice..." Proverbs 24:17
Instead of celebrating the death of an enemy, pray for our troops and their families. Honor the memory of those who have died so that we may live free.



I am interested in your thoughts, please share.

Linking up today for Military Monday with:

Mrs. Mama Hen 


and 
Army Wives' Lives
Military Mondays Family and Spouse Carnival at Army Wives' Lives

Love,
Photobucket

15 comments:

  1. I agree completely. I want to be happy and excited. But I can't for the same reasons you stated. What will happen now? Will my husband be in more danger now? Do we rejoice over the death of a man? Any man?

    I don't begrudge others their joy...but we all react in our own way.

    Thank you for joining the blog hop!

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  2. I also feel conflicted about celebrating about the actual death of osama bin laden. i feel there is a certain sense of justice about it which I do rejoice in. Its hard to separate being happy about his death and being happy that he is being judged for his actions somewhere other then earth. . My blog post on the subject is about how it is culturally significant but as i continue to think about the implications of Bin laden being killed and subsequent "celebrations" it makes me question others about what they are really happy about. Definitely a lot to think about and for people who think this makes us somehow safer are obviously deluded. Great post!

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  3. Jennifer GoldingerMay 2, 2011 at 1:04 PM

    Thank you for being related to me... that is exactly how i felt when i heard the news. We need to rejoice when our soldiers come home and the war has ended...

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  4. I agree. My first thought was to be happy but it quickly changed to apprehension and to some degree, sadness. As evil as he was, he was created by God. I cannot rejoice for the death of someone I believe to be in hell.

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  5. Very good thoughts! And I totally agree with you. Thank you so much for stopping by my site today. I am going to follow now! : )

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  6. Awesome verse by the way... definitely going to write that one down.
    I posted on fb this morning "what a great day! Osama is dead"... but driving in the car today I was thinking about Osamas soul, and I was conflicted whether to pray for it... or not. And I know that I should. But it is hard to pray for the soul of a man who caused SUCH death and destruction. The other thing I was thinking about was about the retaliation that may be coming. I pray that it does not come.

    I think conflicted is a GREAT word to use...

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  7. After I posted my own blog this morning I think I realized that part of the reason I can't celebrate this, besides not thinking it's the right thing to do, is because I would feel as though I had dropped to their level. Celebration for celebration isn't any better then an eye for an eye. It's a tough situation all the way around though I can see both sides and won't hold a grudge against anyone who does choose to celebrate.

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  8. I feel the exact same way as you. AND I what really gets me is knowing that my Jesus died for him just like He did me. I can't rejoice when anyone is killed; and I can't help but worry about our troops and how things really are going to heat up now. I hope we all don't let our guard down.

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  9. My feelings changed from disbelief, to relief that justice was served (even if it was in some small amount) to apprehention because I feel like they will retaliate in some form or another. Just because he's dead it doesn't mean our troops are coming home, they're still right there within enemy's reach and that scares me. The fact that there's cell groups within the US scares me. So I get where you're coming from.

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  10. Beautifully said! As the daughter of a former Military Chaplain I thank you.

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  11. I'm with you, to celebrate an enemy's death is wrong.
    It is the Muslim way to retaliate on an act like this. I can't help but wonder if there is someone worse than Bin Laden ready to fill his shoes.
    My prayers are with our military for their protection in these volatile times.

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  12. I agree with you. I was saddened that so many people were rejoicing over the death of another man. An evil man, yes - but he was still a man.

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  13. Completely agree with you!

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  14. I agree with you,too, Athena! Very well said! Perfect Scripture for you to have in this message! We need to keep praying for our troops and their families. God bless you, Athena and kids, for so lovingly supporting your hubby/daddy while he's serving our country.

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  15. I'm happy he has finally been caught and I find it hard to feel anything but relief that he will no longer be able to spread his brand of hatred. I don't know that this will cause a huge backlash any greater than what is already happening.

    At the same time, I don't feel like killing him changes anything. He hasn't taken an active role in years--and the terrorists are spread out in autonomous cells throughout the world. Killing him won't bring back the dead and I doubt it will make the world a safer place.

    I also worry about the ethics of targeting a specific man for assassination, without any attempt to bring him in alive for trial.

    I'm conflicted because a trial would have only served to give him another forum for his evil. And yet, I worry about the precedent of assassination.

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