Should we celebrate a killing?
By PASTOR RANDY SMITH
First Mennonite Church, Hillsboro
The "Wizard of Oz" is perhaps my favorite movie of all time. After leaving black-and-white Kansas, Dorothy lands in the magical land of color, and is greeted as a heroine by munchkins joyfully dancing and singing, "Ding dong! the witch is dead!"
The wicked witch who terrorized their land and life is dead, and they celebrate.
They sing the catchy tune without considering the ethical quandary of delighting in the death of another, or of death itself.
The dead-witch scene came back to me this week as many celebrated the killing by U.S. armed forces of terrorist Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the highest profile al-Qaeda leader to have been hunted down and killed.
This man personified evil. His murderous acts were savage, senseless, and without end. He delighted in savagery. He gloated, declaring himself righteous by spilling the blood of others.
He trained many to follow him and kill themselves on his instruction. After an extensive manhunt, he was located and he was killed.
We should celebrate! Or, should we celebrate? Is it ever right to celebrate death?
My mixed emotions and thoughts confused me, and apparently I was not alone.
Even Fox News raised the ethical consideration of this matter as a point of discussion. Is it right to be joyful over a killing, even the killing of a barbaric terrorist?
As I tried to sort through my thoughts and feelings, my mind centered on the death of Jesus Christ.
It may sound a strange comparison, but I asked myself, "How am I to feel about the killing of Jesus? What are the appropriate emotions when considering his death?"
True, no one would ever confuse Zarqawi with Christ, but I found a similar point of reference in understanding my thought and feelings.
Do we celebrate Jesus' death? The answer is a resounding "No!"
Jesus' death was the result of an evil world and a sinful humanity. We killed the Lord. There is no celebration or joy in his killing. Yet, we do celebrate.
We celebrate the resurrected Christ on Easter Sunday. The hope, new life, healing, forgiveness, and reconciliation made possible by his death certainly are reasons for joy and celebration.
However, we are not to celebrate death and killing, regardless of who he or she may be or how much we believe they need to be killed — even a savage murderer such as al-Zarqawi.
Instead, we are to mourn the sad state of our human condition, even as we celebrate and anticipate the hope of a brighter future.
We can find joy in the hope that people shall live with less suffering and fear, that peace is a closer reality, and that freedom and stability might one day come to the people of Iraq and the world. We pray for these things, and for the people of Iraq.
What we celebrate is the possibilities of the future.
God, the creator of life, does not find joy in death.
God rejoices in life.
So, too, should we.
