The Best Revenge

"Give me... your tired masses,
er...ah revenge"

      Whatever happened to love your enemies? I guess that scripture is of little use to me and should be cut out of my Hole(ly) Bible. May be also "vengence is mine, I will repay, said the Lord" (Rom. 12:18-20 ). Move over God we'll get the job done. As one of my Ethics students said, "Well, we are not a Christian nation." Well said. Score one for the American team. Let's dance in the streets.
      I can remember how disgusted I was when I saw the people of the Arab nations dancing in the streets and shooting off their AK47s after 9/11.  I wanted to puke. They certainly thought they were doing God a favor, the right thing, the nationally approved retaliation for all that America has done, real or perceived. But right is with America and God is with us, and, well, they (Osama) had it coming. All this sentiment is defensible for national merit and security. After all we did rejoice when Hitler died, killed by his own hand. Judas too. When I reach that point in the Bible where he kills himself, I close the book and go shoot off my Ak47 and do a little jig. I have a sign above my kitchen table, "no Judas eats here only those with clean hands and a pure heart."
      Is the sermon on the mount unlivable? Is being alive the last great victory over your enemy? The last one standing. I am asking Christians. I asked my Ethics class of 11 and 12th graders if they believed Matthew 5:45-48? Only two believed that killing was wrong. One of the two felt that loving your enemies and praying for them somehow excluded shooting them. Novel. What about being assaulted? It is covered in Matthew also. I had them picture Stephen being stoned (Acts 7). In America Stephen would be cheered if he died throwing the stones back and "taking with him" as many as possible. Our kids grow up on "Gears of War", "Soldiers of Fortune", "Postal", " Mortal Combat" ect.... What do we expect?  If we were honest we would cut out most of Matthew 5,6 and 7 as we have no intention of trying to fulfill these scriptures. But who can live out these scriptures anyway?
       As odd a lifestyle as the Amish live, in this one area they shine, they try to live the Sermon on the Mount.  They are conscientious objectors and much more.  I remember a few years ago when a gunman named Charles Roberts, not an Amish member, went into an Amish school house and murdered several Amish girls and wounded other children. Within a day the Amish parents of the victims came out and forgave the man. Love your enemies, pray for those who persecute you. They visited Roberts' widow, set up a charitable fund for his family and went to his funeral. They didn't talk about "Justice" at least not the kind we are used to hearing about. Their just way was to forgive and love.
       I am not saying that we are to become Amish, but I may be saying that we should not act like the rest of America who loves revenge and civil justice. This whole story of Americas' Jehad against Bin Laden has caused me to rethink my elation over the killing of OBL.
      There is a good scene in "An American President" with Michael Douglas as Andrew Shepherd. He is deciding whether to bomb Libya.   Let's listen in.

President Andrew Shepherd: What I did tonight was not about political gain. 
Leon Kodak: Yes sir. But it can be, sir. What you did tonight was very presidential. 
President Andrew Shepherd: Leon, somewhere in Libya right now, a janitor's working the night shift at Libyan Intelligence headquarters. He's going about doing his job... because he has no idea, in about an hour he's going to die in a massive explosion. He's just going about his job, because he has no idea that about an hour ago I gave an order to have him killed. You've just seen me do the least presidential thing I do."
     We shouldn't get all enamored with killing, its not the highlight of being a Christian or even being human.