Like all of you, I was stunned some days ago as I started soaking in the breaking news of Osama bin Laden's capture and death via U.S. military operations.
In the midst of a heavy traveling week, I didn't have the time to blog about it, but this past Sunday, I did a TV interview with King 5 News -- a local Seattle news station on my thoughts about Osama bin Laden. More specifically, on how I reconcile the death of Osama bin Laden as a Christian and a pastor.
Honestly, I'm always reluctant to do interviews because when it's all said and done, a good interview can be reduced to a couple of sentences. I learned this a couple of years ago when I chatted with the New York Times about my views on Mixed Martial Arts and Jesus. We had a phenomenal hour interview, which was reduced to one sentence for the article. Bummer.
So, I thought it would be good to share -- in more depth -- what I was trying to communicate during my recent interview -- just in case we get some angry emails and phone calls. So, here are some thoughts:
The Reality of Evil
Evil exists.
Perhaps one of the worst mistakes we can make in a plethora of worldviews and ideas is to forget the reality of evil and evildoers in our world; to forget even our own capacity for evil and our complicity towards evil.
Let's not mince words: What Osama bin Laden did was evil. He was an evildoer. He was a ruthless terrorist and responsible for the deaths of thousands of lives. And the truth is that he needed to be stopped.
And I am grateful that he was finally captured and if in the slightest way, hopeful that the world is a bit safer as a result of it.
Gratitude to our Administration and Military
In an ideal world, there would be no need for military forces. Peace would reign. Seattle would have more than 45 days of summer. The NBA would repent and return the Sonics to Seattle. I'd be tall
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