All Life Is Precious

After hearing the news of Osama Bin Laden's death...I was conflicted. I am human and I am American. A part of me felt extremely relieved that his reign of terror had ended. But mostly I felt sadness. I am sad that people are rejoicing over a man being killed. I am sad that killing OBL was in all reality the only way to end his reign. I am sad that countries often have to result to war and killing.

It also leads me to the idea of being pro-life. Being pro-life doesn't just mean not supporting abortions. Pro-life means believing that ALL life is precious. Young, old, priests, mothers, fathers, and even murderers and terrorists. Being pro-life means not supporting abortions, the death penalty, euthanasia, murders, and war. I do not feel that it is my place to pick and choose whose life is important and whose isn't. ALL life is precious and all human beings deserve to live from conception to natural death.

Do not get me wrong, I do not support murder! There are consequences to our actions and thats what the justice system is for...thats another topic for another day...but too wrongs do not make a right....ok I'm done with that.

Also do not misunderstand that not supporting war means I don't support our troops. Far from true, they are seperate topics. I support our troops who fight for our freedom day after day and make sacrifices that I cannot even dream of. Like I stated earlier, it just saddens me that sometimes our world comes to war.

I feel extremely blessed to be surrounded by friends who are amazing people and Christians. It is nice to know that I am not the only one to feel mixed emotions about the recent events. Here are some quotes from my amazing friends via facebook.

"Are we seeking power for power’s sake? Or are we seeking to make the world and our nation better places to live. If we seek the latter, violence can never provide the answer. The ultimate weakness of violence is that it is a descending spiral, begetting the very thing it seeks to destroy. Instead of diminishing evil, it multiplies it. Through violence you may murder the liar, but you cannot murder the lie, nor establish the truth. Through violence you may murder the hater, but you do not murder hate. In fact, violence merely increases hate. So it goes. Returning violence for violence multiplies violence, adding deeper darkness to a night already devoid of stars. Darkness cannot drive out darkness: only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate: only love can do that." ~Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

"Do not gloat when your enemy falls; when they stumble, do not let your heart rejoice, or the Lord will see and disapprove and turn his wrath away from them." Proverbs 24: 17-18

"Let us give thanks for Presidents Bush and Obama and their relentless pursuit of this terrorist and others who jeopardize our safety and the safety of the world. Let us give thanks for the members of this Navy Seal team that carried out this operation—and give thanks for their safe return. I can’t imagine what that must have been like.Let us pray that this will unite our nation, rather than continue to divide us because of political or religious or racial differences. Let us pray that, as one of our Bishops prayed this morning, “this will bring closure, and that there will no longer be retaliation upon retaliation upon retaliation.” Let us pray, as we have been taught through the Scriptures, for peace."
~First United Methodist Church, Monroe, LA

"Faced with the death of a man, a Christian never rejoices, but reflects on the serious responsibility of everyone before God and man, and hopes and pledges that every event is not an opportunity for a further growth of hatred, but of peace."
~Fr. Federico Lombardi (Official statement from the Vatican)