Thursday, April 11, 2013

quote-of-the-day (and thoughts on justice)

Saw this quote in something someone linked on fb (actually it was one of the the things they quoted in the comments, so credit doesn't go to me for finding it, particularly since I didn't even finish the article).

"If love is something you cherish, it is hard to glean much joy from death, even in one's enemies."
--Russell Brand

Part of the reason I'm posting it is because I remember the morning I found out Osama bin Laden had been killed. It was night for everyone else back home, but morning for me, walking down the sidewalk to the metro and hearing Obama's voice coming from who knows where. I found the television, watched a little, and then went on to my language lesson. Once I got back I saw all the videos of people celebrating, of rejoicing that he was dead.

And the whole thing worked me up so much, bothered me so much I decided to write a blog about it, but took it down a few hours later because I wasn't sure what I was saying was right necessarily. All those questions about what justice really looks like--and that's what they were, mostly. Questions. In particular about whether justice had to be accompanied by some sort of redemption in order to be true justice. I haven't thought about it enough to give any substantial response but the truth is, at the very least, I want that to be true. Am afraid once I go deeper I might discover that--well, what if it isn't? What then?

But I thought the quote was a very succinct way of saying a lot of the things I was thinking that day. I'm sure someone much more careful than I am being could pick it to pieces, would tell me that it's not really so simple as that. That's probably true. But Jesus did say to love your enemies. Of course there's still plenty of room in that for a just God to do justice.

Anyway, lots of thoughts, lots of questions.

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