The killing of Osama bin Laden on Divine Mercy Sunday, yesterday, reminds me of something my friend, Patricia Leonard Pasley, recently told me. Patricia is a New Testament scholar, the mother of five and is studying for the Episcopalian priesthood.
Some of her 16-year-old daughter's friends were having dinner at their house, including young believers of many faiths--Christian, Jewish, Muslim and Buddhist. Naturally (if you knew Tricia, you'd know it would be "naturally"), they started discussing their faith traditions.
When the conversation came around to heaven and hell, one young Jew spoke up. He said that he believes Hitler went to heaven. "How can we limit God's love and mercy?" the young man insisted. "But as soon as Hitler saw all that was going on in heaven, he wanted nothing to do with it. So he left."
Let's leave Osama bin Laden to God and concentrate on finding ways to pursue justice without hatred and violence. Only then can bin Laden's legacy be erased from the earth.
Some of her 16-year-old daughter's friends were having dinner at their house, including young believers of many faiths--Christian, Jewish, Muslim and Buddhist. Naturally (if you knew Tricia, you'd know it would be "naturally"), they started discussing their faith traditions.
When the conversation came around to heaven and hell, one young Jew spoke up. He said that he believes Hitler went to heaven. "How can we limit God's love and mercy?" the young man insisted. "But as soon as Hitler saw all that was going on in heaven, he wanted nothing to do with it. So he left."
Let's leave Osama bin Laden to God and concentrate on finding ways to pursue justice without hatred and violence. Only then can bin Laden's legacy be erased from the earth.
by Barbara Jean Daly Horell
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| Link: Vatican Says Don't Celebrate Death of Bin Laden |
