Ding Dong Bin Laden is Dead - Part 2

When I was in Africa I heard a very disturbing thing.  There are many myths about AIDS that have spread around the continent and one of them basically states, "if a man with AIDS, has sex with a virgin, he'll be cured."  The many lives that have been destroyed by that one myth alone is tragic.  Can you imagine the emotions of a young lady who has to deal with the pain of rape followed by a diagnosis of HIV positive?  Can you imagine being the dad, brother or friend?

When we take our heads out of the sand we realize that examples like this are merely one of a million examples of evil that has spread to every corner of the globe.  When this evil is confronted and resolved/destroyed it's a natural thing for people who desire righteousness and justice to be glad, relieved, thankful, excited.  Whenever righteousness prevails it's a picture of what heaven will be like.  Unfortunately, on earth we can enjoy the elimination of someone like Bin Laden but have to immediately be aware that there are many others ready to take his place.

The imprecatory Psalms (i.e. Psalm 58) are a call for God to curse enemies.  You may find these difficult to swallow knowing that we're to love and pray for our enemies.  I find them refreshingly honest and human in the face of pure evil.  Imagine the feelings of people around the world who had to watch Hitler perpetrate his brand of evil.  Then, imagine their feelings upon hearing of Hitler's death.  That's what the Psalmist feels toward evil men who were doing things against him, against God and against God's people.

My best advice to Christians would be to think of this in two parts - Pre and Post.
    Pre is while the evil or evil man is still alive.  In the pre we pray for their conversion to Christ to find his redemption and life.  We also support and pray for those in our govt whom God has put in that place to create order, that they would be successful in protecting us and defeating the evil.  Our feelings of anger and frustration are expressed to God (your imprecation) - that shows faith in him that His will be done.
    Post is when the evil is defeated.  The feelings of excitement and joy should be directed to glorify God, not to glorify violence.  As Christians we understand that violence is a part of this fallen world and sometimes is necessary for our peace officers and military in their calling to fight evil and anarchy.  Our goal is to be known as peacemakers, but we realized that on some occasions peace comes through the violence authorized by our govt.