From our baptismal covenant: (page 305, Book of Common Prayer 1979)
“Will you…respect the dignity of every human being?” Answer: “I will, with God’s help.”
Notice that there is not any “fine print” with exceptions. It does not say, I did not say, or was said on my behalf, that I will respect the dignity of only those that I agree with. It does not except those who have harmed me, abused me, or killed my son/daughter/brother/parent. They are all included in “the dignity of every human being.”
Osama bin Laden is included in “every human being.”
Who said living a Christian life is easy?
I grieve all those who have died because of the actions of Osama bin Laden.
I grieve that our world has become a place where killing of other human beings is an accepted practice, and is even, on occasion, celebrated.
I grieve for our President and all who acted to kill another human being.
I grieve that we all have supported the killing of others by supporting our government that kills humans, by electing those who make the decisions to kill others, by paying taxes to pay for the killing of other human beings.
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3 comments:
That is a very beautiful prayer you have written-
thank you
Being a Christian is very hard; it is even harder when we commit to becoming disciples of Christ.
I was very saddened to see people taking to the streets and celebrating bin Laden's death at our nation's hands. Yes, he was a murderous monster. He was also a human being whose ultimate judgement was in God's hands, not our misplaced glee.
John, your prayer says it eloquenly and ccompletely.
May God bless and protect you,
Bishop Timothy
As Timothy said, your prayer is eloquent and complete. When I heard the news and saw people celebrating in the streets, i thought, "This is not who we are..."
I pray for the repose of the soul of bin Laden,as I pray for the members of the team that killed him. At some point, they too will have to deal with the demons.
There are no easy answers in matters like this, even (or maybe especially) for a Christian. I just pray, because, ultimately it is all in God's hands.
Peace be with you all,
Dean
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