The Dilemma
Ironically, many times as Christians, we find ourselves avoiding judgment on the hardest and most divisive moral decisions. It could be in a spirit of unity or maybe a result of the "absolute" stance many take on claiming the only moral compass. Essentially if the wrong decision is made that must mean the compass is off and therefore the faith is wrong. I would say that the reading of the compass was done poorly, but that's another blog post.
One of the biggest moral quandaries that I often hear posed is "Given the opportunity, would you kill Hitler (or you could insert an villain here)?"
A simple math equation seems to be justifiable logic.
Trade one life to save thousands of others. So kill him.
Another way of looking at it is that we have essentially given up on a person.
This person (Hitler or whoever) cannot turn their life around so for the benefit of the world, we'll end their life.
Of course there is the judgment and justice aspect of it too.
Hitler was responsible for the death of millions so he gets what's coming. He dies.
Then there's honoring life.
As terrible of a person as Hitler is, he's still God's creation. We let him live.
The idea of repentance comes in.
Hitler has free will to choose God. If we kill him before he chooses we're playing God.
I'm sure there are millions of other justifications for such an action.
This is a hard question.
We find ourselves giving differing importance to certain moral values. We honor all life and all creation. We honor repentance and free will (well at least this Christian believes in free will). And we honor God's authority of judgment.
May 1, 2011
I came home late to see that President Obama was to give an announcement to the world about the death of Osama bin Laden. It was a pretty crazy time for me on a moral and intellectual level. I'm not afraid to admit that I prayed for Osama and the world to find peace a few times. But I'm not saying I considered him a friend or empathized too much. But just from my experiences as a person, I know that no one person is all bad and no one person is all good. However when the death was announced, I must admit I had a sense of excitement mixed with relief. It was a pretty confusing time for me. Probably because I don't think I've resolved for myself whether or not I would or even could pull the trigger and be at peace with my fellow man and with God.
I'm not bashing the Navy Seal that did pull the trigger. I'm not bashing Obama for making the decision. I'm just stating that it's a complicated decision for me. It's hard to see how death breeds peace. But it's also hard to live out a life that is apathetic to mass murder.
I've read a few blogs and that gave opinions one way or the other from a Christian perspective. So I guess that displays the turmoil that surrounds this issue.
Here are some things that I would say that this issue has taught me fairly conclusively.
- If you're absolutely sure about your stance on this issue, good for you. But if you can't see how other people are confused or don't share your view, then you should evaluate that.
- I'm not God. I'm not bin Laden. I'm not President Obama. I have a hard time casting judgment on someone's motives or actions. But I know we can't live in a world without consequence.
- I'm glad to exist in a community that doesn't condemn or condone, but rather offers guidance. If you polled most of the folks that I go to church (Second Baptist) with you would undoubtedly see our diversity responses to the decision. But you probably wouldn't see too much condemnation of differing opinions. Rather you'd see guidance toward Christ-like-ness (that's a nice made up word).
- I think we honor the struggle that we have as humans in resolving these issues. Sometimes the good stuff isn’t the answer, it’s the struggle. Don’t short cut to the answer, honor the struggle.
So I hope this post provokes thought and not judgment. I hope you can seek to see things in the shoes of other people. I hope you can learn to challenge yourself in new ways. And I hope we can find some peace so we have fewer decisions that involve mortal consequences.