Celebration or sobriety ? Christians weigh up bin Ladens death

Popular Christian blogger, Church Mouse, went as far as to say that images of young Americans chanting “USA” had made him feel "rather sick”.

He took the line that no matter how odious a human being may be, their death is “not something to be celebrated”.

“Whilst few would argue with the idea that the world is a better place without bin Laden in it, the celebratory mood amongst some strikes the wrong note. Too many people have died in this ‘war’ to feel anything joyful right now,” he wrote.

The Bishop of Croydon, the Rt Rev Nick Baines, urged a cautious response in the face of the real threat of al-Qaeda launching revenge attacks on western countries.

“Osama bin Laden is no hero of mine and no hero of most people in the Western world. But he is a hero to many others and his death will, I suspect, lead to more trouble rather than less,” he wrote on his blog.

“Obama might think ‘justice has been done’, but, despite overtones of ‘atonement’, we might reflect that vengeance isn’t necessarily the same as justice.”

Inter-faith adviser to the Diocese of Chichester, the Rev John Chitham, said feelings of relief at his passing needed to be "tempered with the knowledge that the cycle of violence will continue", partly in reaction to his death.

"The underlying causes of the movement he spawned have not gone away, which include western foreign policy as well as some Muslims turning to a violent interpretation of Islam," he said.

"Christians are commanded to pray for our enemies and to convert them by love to the way of love. So as followers of Jesus we must commit to pray for and love all Muslims, especially at this time. We also need to walk together with the many Muslims who are prepared to stand for peaceful solutions to the world’s ills."

Popular anonymous blogger, Archbishop Cranmer, was less apologetic in his response to the al-Qaeda leader’s death in his posting yesterday, writing that bin Laden had “gone to the place prepared for the devil and his angels … to be tormented day and night for ever and ever”.

“And to those who do not agree with His Grace’s rather literalist understanding of the afterlife, he does not care: he feels better for having conveyed a sense of what it must be to fall into the hands of the living God, without the hope of the salvation of Christ. There is no obituary to write for Bin laden, other than ‘good riddance’,” he added.

The commentator also condemned the attempts by some to portray the killing of bin Laden by US forces as “murder”.

Calling the act murder would only “embolden those who plot a further September 11th or July 7th bombings or who scheme to bring down passenger-filled jets” and “’partly legitimate’ the arbitrary murder of thousands of innocent people going about their daily business”, he said.

Stateside, the response among Christians has been varied.

Purpose Driven author Rick Warren responded by tweeting Proverbs 21:15 - “When justice is done, it brings joy to the righteous but terror to evil doers” - while Arkansas Governor and evangelical Christian Mike Huckabee opted for celebration.

“Welcome to Hell, bin Laden,” he said in a statement.

“It is unusual to celebrate a death but today Americans and decent people the world over cheer the news that madman, murderer and terrorist Osama bin Laden is dead.”

Dr Richard Land, of the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention said bin Laden's death was "deserved".

"If anyone ever deserved the forfeiture of his life for crimes against humanity, it was Osama bin Laden."

Taking a different approach altogether, the International Mission Board of the Southern Baptist Convention said it had been contacted by members working overseas pleading that Christians in the US would, instead of celebrating, "fall on their knees and pray for an opportunity to share the Gospel."

Also more subdued was merging church leader Brian McLaren, who expressed shame at some of the celebrations he had seen in the US.

Images of college students chanting ‘USA’ and spilling beer “does not reflect well on my country”, he said.

“Joyfully celebrating the killing of a killer who joyfully celebrated killing carries an irony that I hope will not be lost on us.

“Are we learning anything, or simply spinning harder in the cycle of violence?”