- Fr. Conrad Saldanha
Finally the Americans have caught on with their enemy; Osama bin Laden! The western world is celebrating the nemesis of their foe, the personification of all hatred; that is how the world is made to perceive the man. Has love conquered over hate? Has the battle against evil been won? How Christian is it ultimately to see the death of an enemy?
The Director of the Holy See Press Office, Fr. Federico Lombardi, S.J., released the following declaration on the news regarding the death of Osama Bin Laden. The wordings are remarkable and calls on Christian for an appropriate response.
"Osama Bin Laden, as is known, claimed responsibility for grave acts that spread division and hate among the peoples, manipulating religion to that end. A Christian never takes pleasure from the fact of a man's death, but sees it as an opportunity to reflect on each person's responsibility, before God and humanity, and to hope and commit oneself to seeing that no event becomes another occasion to disseminate hate but rather to foster peace".
"Osama Bin Laden, as is known, claimed responsibility for grave acts that spread division and hate among the peoples, manipulating religion to that end. A Christian never takes pleasure from the fact of a man's death, but sees it as an opportunity to reflect on each person's responsibility, before God and humanity, and to hope and commit oneself to seeing that no event becomes another occasion to disseminate hate but rather to foster peace".
In the Old Testament the death of an enemy was often rejoiced upon with great triumph. The Israelites even had a song, an anthem to celebrate the occasion as seen in Exodus chapter 15. So too David’s victory over Goliath the Philistine is celebrated with great pomp and rejoicing (1 Sam. 17-18; 2 Sam.22). The Lord himself promises the Israelites his faithfulness towards them in return for their faithfulness. "But if you hearken attentively to his voice and do all that I say, then I will be an enemy to your enemies and an adversary to your adversaries”. Ex 23:22. God as if going with the judgment of his people; the chosen people have special privilege of God‘s unconditional support. In a way, it was also God’s participation in the human cry for justice, of course under his guidance and protection. Some of these actions in our times could easily come under scrutiny.
This cry for justice arises in the heart of every human being. In real life and even when one watches a movie, where there is justice accomplished, one begins to experience the fire in one’s own heart and is much inspired. The formulae of many action packed movies are based on this innate desire and experience of the human heart. I am sure the so called injustices that irked Osama was based on the inner most cry for justice in his heart too which was heard and still being heard by the many followers of Osama bin Laden all over the Muslim world.
One of the things that bewilders me about the human cry for justice and is a very common factor anywhere in human society is this: The initiator of the first act of injustice could be crying foul when the other reacts, this is followed up by another act and thus the cycle of evil and the feelings of injustices is continually aroused and sometimes leads to damages of huge proportions.
Hence in reality it is not easy to stay unmoved or not rejoice at the downfall of an enemy; it is one thing to make a statement of truth objectively and another thing to live the reality. The existential reality is this: There is a flame of justice burning in the heart of every human being. To those who understand it; a fair judgment on their part is still sown in doubt by those who respect the subjective state of human discernment and in the application of laws by fallible humans. Though there is no perfect justice system and perfect justice cannot be achieved yet there is a certain objectivity we assign to institutions that dispense justice. Yet in the midst of this subjectivity if we give way to this philosophy of subjectivity in the working of the institutions of justice then there can only be chaos and anarchy. At the same time the making of human law goes by the limitation of our mortal thinking and gathering supportive help in pseudo-cultures, warped religious beliefs, philosophies world views and emotional appeals. There may be a comprehensive debate yet it does not guarantee a perfect law or justice. There are many factors that maybe the reason for such a state. The human motivation steeped in dishonesty in implementation, wrong judgments, perspectives and world views are all factors for corruption of the processes of law along the way. In the drafting process of human law there is very little room for emotional attachment or subjective interpretations. Similarly, in the application such actions can lead to unjust situations. Yet there may be situations where these very factors could trigger the decision making process in judicial or executive activity.
The aim of this article is not aimed at justifying this cry for justice in the hearts of men. This cry is not always based on sound moral principles but is many a time based on fallacy; a narrow world view of self righteous beliefs. Sometimes it could be based on sound justice as per the demands of legality or as per the doctrine of justice but the means used to achieve it could be wrong. The means adopted no way justifies the end. The killing of innocents in order to achieve one’s end does not justify the cause even if it is the noblest cause. In the Old Testament if you had God on your side you were justified. Similarly, in our time justification seems to be on the side of the mighty and the powerful. Though there may be some who may look at these things from the side of the oppressed and the weak yet there may be no justification from a Christian point of view.
The world has its own justice system in place. Yet it cannot achieve perfect justice for the many victims of injustice. One main reason is this; injustice is not measurable or quantifiable easily by any human courts or legal system or human institutions. There is always a close approximation when justice is done and yet it is still a distant approximation if the overall situation and the emotional make-up of the individual and the upbringing and the causative factors are all taken into account.
In the light of the above it should be clear to us that if Osama has been pursued, killed and justice accomplished then it is purely because of human laws which goes by principle of fairness steeped in limited human reasoning. These human laws could be the making of a majority yet it can in no way be justifiable. The greatest limitation and yet a repetitive folly of the human race is this; very rarely we as humans are able to see the long term consequences of those actions in which we see the immediate good. Why else does history repeat itself, especially its grave folly?
Jesus gives us a different meaning to life and hence his law could be summed-up as a law of love with him as the perfect model of interpretation. This new law is new, may sound impractical and meaningless to humans at times in a world that is torn by strife and rift. It is an act that first begins with a search for freedom and truth in God and hence even one’s cry for justice is subject to God who alone is the arbiter of right justice. This law cannot be imposed on the nations of the earth. It is prone to risk and only a man of faith can live by it. This cry for justice is not like the terrorist’s cry who may have God as the purpose, and perhaps on paper as an all powerful God, who needs to be defended and propagated by force and criminal intimidation by human beings. Looks like, this God of theirs is all powerful and almighty and his power cannot be made visible and tangible apart from me!?!
Sorting out the Osama and Al Qaeda terrorism has no easy solution. The world is at war and perhaps this war will continue. Ultimately, it may even turn out to be a religious war with roots in history and a cry steeped in injustice. Looking into the historical and subsequent evil this may be a prolonged battle in the name of religion between a secular west and the fundamentalist Islam which looks at the secularized west as a Christian entity. Yet the war will go on. For an individual Christian, living the essence of his faith, God as their Savior is the only recourse. He lives his life in close union with him who is able to save him from the snare of the fowler. (2Sam22:6ff; Ps. 91, 23, 34, 38, 69, 116, 124, 140, 141) The boast of dialogue as a means to resolve the issue is steeped in danger. It’s the secular west in dialogue with an ideology that has many and changing voices, but one goal. Unless you repent you shall all perish likewise (Lk. 13:3-5). We shall all perish, death is an inevitable reality, yet to perish without Jesus the Savior of mankind is a terrible thing to happen.
In the book of Habakkuk we are given an instruction and learn about the kind of attitude to maintain, let it be our meditation and prayer:
I hear, and my body trembles,
my lips quiver at the sound;
rottenness enters into my bones,
my steps totter beneath me.
I will quietly wait for the day of trouble
to come upon people who invade us.
Though the fig tree do not blossom,
nor fruit be on the vines,
the produce of the olive fail
and the fields yield no food,
the flock be cut off from the fold
and there be no herd in the stalls,
yet I will rejoice in the Lord,
I will joy in the God of my salvation.
God, the Lord, is my strength;
he makes my feet like hinds' feet,
he makes me tread upon my high places …………. Hab 3:16-19 (RSV).
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