Both American and Christian

Since the death of Usama Bin Laden there have been many celebrations across our country. Many Christians have questioned the idea of celebrating the death of even such a terrible man. And they are right to question this. As Christians we should never ever celebrate the death of a person who does not know the Lord. It is a tragic event when someone dies without the Lord. Just as we should celebrate with the angels anytime someone gets saved, we should mourn the death of someone who dies outside of the knowledge of Christ. However, I submit that the majority of celebration was not over the death of this man. It was rather a celebration of justice. It was a celebration of closure for the family members of over 3,000 dead Americans murdered on September 11, 2001. A celebration of the end of a tyrant. A celebration of the death of an enemy of Israel. It was a celebration of the fact that unlike Korea, unlike Vietnam, unlike Beruit, unlike Somalia the 2,340 deaths of coalition forces in Afghanistan were not in vain. It was, like the celebration of VE and VJ days at the end of World War II, not a celebration of one man's death, but rather of one country's ability to stay the course and bring justice to one of this century's greatest criminals. And that is worth celebrating, even as we mourn the death of another soul lost without Christ.