Should Bin Laden be executed or allowed to live?

[SOS]

What do you as a Christian believe? Should he be punished by death for causing the deaths of so many, or should he just be imprisoned for life?

 

[Erwin]

This topic is too heavy for General Fellowship, and belongs more in the Prophecy Forums which I will rename Prophecy, Endtimes & Current Affairs.

Thanks for understanding!

 

[Monkey Magic]

Die.

 

[Seeker]

The age of "a tooth for a tooth, an eye for an eye" is over - we should practise grace - Bin Laden should not be murdered, but be incarcerated indefinitely.

 

[Debbie]

I see nothing wrong with cutting off his head where we find him hiding, then bring his head back here & put it on a tall steel spike in wtc rubble.Sell pictures of it, make a new postcard. This is the descendant of Ishmael who said on Cnn he wants his birthright back. Let's give it to him. Prison is not an option. He could escape.

 

[Yauming]

Tough and controversial question. Jesus says we are to forgive our enemy and to pray for those who persecute us. We are also suppose to turn our face to allow our tormentors to hit us a second time - aka "turn the other cheek".

This is the moral aspect of Christianity. Yet God has given us government. Read Romans 13 and, though it has a naive tone to it, bear in mind that it was written at a time of persecution by the Roman and Jewish authorities; Paul knew more about persecution by authorities than most of us ever will.

Edited section of Romans 13 for those who do not have their bibles handy -
"... The authorities that exist have been established by God. ... those who (rebel)will bring judgement on themselves. For rulers hold no terror for those who do right, but for those who do wrong. ... For he is God's servant to do you good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword for nothing. He is God's servant, and agent of wrath to bring punishment on the wrongdoer."

The authorities, Paul says, bear the right to the sword against evil doers. In this instance, Osama Bin Laden, the leader of a known terrorist organization has done evil. And the authorities, ie the US and its allies, are going to kill him for it.

In our hands, we cannot kill him. But God has given us an authority who will work out justice.

BTW, please do not post any oneliners i.e. a one message "yeah" and tempt me to delete it.


[This message has been edited by Yauming (edited 12 December 2001).]

 

[Droobie]

This raises the topic of capital punishment and the subsequent debate that follows. Should anyone be punished by death for their crimes? Should Timothy McVeigh die? Should Martin Bryant die? Should Charles Manson die? I personally believe that as a Christian we should not support taking a life for a life. We are not ones to judge.

John 8:1-11

 

[fran]

God is the Judge - he who has no sin cast the first stone.

 

[Yauming]

Eventually someone has to pass judgement be it a jury, court room judge or military tribunal.

Nonetheless, we should refrain from getting emotional about it, expressing passionate hatred or being critical - "the real passing judgement" - over the person. But everyone is entitled to their "matter of fact" point of view based on the facts.

 

[internet]

He should be trialed, and executed for crimes against humanity. He had no thoughts for the innocent - why should he the guilty be offered the same?

 

[SOS]

The thing is, if he is imprisoned for life, his followers will keep hijacking planes to force his release. On the other hand, we are asked to show mercy and grace.

 

[Sceptic]

That is my worry as well, SOS. If he is held captive, there will be a string of hijackings and terror attacks to force the US to release him.

 

[Yauming]

As Christians we can forgive him, we give up our right for revenge. But you forget that God has given us "Government". And Governments and their agents (aka police) are supposed to rule for the benefit of society. (See Apostle Paul's teaching if you don't believe me) Imagine if we applied the "we have no right to judge you so go and do as you please" to every murderer, rapists, robber or criminal?

 

[Kristen]

This is a hard one. Being human I HATE him. As a christian I know I am to forgive, that is a hard thing to do. So I pray for a forgiving heart.

He should be punished according to our laws. Which obviously would be death.

[This message has been edited by Kristen (edited 31 December 2001).]

[This message has been edited by Kristen (edited 31 December 2001).]

 

[7]

I believe that judgement belongs to God. Whether we should kill him is a tough question. It will still be murder. Wilful killing of another person.

 

[Locke]

Biblical Law states that those who murder or conspire to murder are to be brought to justice before the courts, and if found guilty, are to be put to death.

Yeshua confronted the 'eye for eye' idea, but it wasnt the Law He confronted; it was the idea that it was a decree to seek out revenge. This is not what this law was for; it was for equity in justice.

There is a HUGE difference between revenge and justice. We are not going to wrong those who wronged us; we are seeking to bring justice to those who conspired to murder thousands of our citizens, and prevent them from bringing more death to Americna soil. If we sit here with our tail between our legs, more attacks will come. These terrorists must be stopped.



[This message has been edited by Locke (edited 31 December 2001).]

 

[mick]

<font face="Verdana, Arial" size="2">Originally posted by Debbie:
I see nothing wrong with cutting off his head where we find him hiding, then bring his head back here & put it on a tall steel spike in wtc rubble.Sell pictures of it, make a new postcard. This is the descendant of Ishmael who said on Cnn he wants his birthright back. Let's give it to him. Prison is not an option. He could escape.</font>

That is wrong! The teachings of the Bible, Quran, Torah, Zaboor teach us to seek peace so that we can forgive sinners so that they can see the light and change their ways. If we take 1 life there will be many others who will step into that shoe to evenge. God tells us to love one another as he loves us. Who ever mastered the sept 11th attacks has a heavy price to pay. God says that he will punish in this life and others here after. Our attitudes need to be shaped so that we can shape the society that we live in to make this world a beter place.


[This message has been edited by mick (edited 01 January 2002).]

 

[mick]

<font face="Verdana, Arial" size="2">Originally posted by fran:
God is the Judge - he who has no sin cast the first stone.</font>

If we started killing anyone who has sinned we would become extinct. We have all committed sins in our lives but we need to help each other stop. There is allways time to make a change. When we decide to make that change, is entirely up to us.

[This message has been edited by mick (edited 01 January 2002).]

[This message has been edited by mick (edited 01 January 2002).]

 

[mick]

<font face="Verdana, Arial" size="2">Originally posted by Sceptic:
That is my worry as well, SOS. If he is held captive, there will be a string of hijackings and terror attacks to force the US to release him.</font>

But on the other hand if he is killed, we'll be no better than him. God aided us with thinking ability, seeing, feeling. Despite all this, is killing the best we can do. He is the creator, he put life into us, he should also be the one to take our lives from us. Our job should be to find a soloution to stop this kind of terror. It is not acceptable but we need a positive approach to deal with this.

 

[rollinTHUNDER]

I believe this is War, and since he is the leader of the losing side, I would hope that he would be dealt his hand in battle.

If the war ends, which I don't believe it will, then He should be handled the same way as a brutal murderer, or serial killer...>>>>>>>rollinTHUNDER