The Death of Saddam

Over the last 24+ hours, many in the blogosphere have rejoiced over the death of Saddam Hussein.

Not me.

To put it nicely, celebrating the death of one of God's Creations is just tacky.

When one takes the life of another, it is always a tragedy.

We did not create life and thus have no right to take it. Disaster is the result when people and governments claim the role of God.

The Vatican has condemned the execution of Saddam Hussein. Cardinal Renato Martino had urged Iraqi authorities not to carry out the death sentence. He stated:

"I hope a crime will not be compensated with another crime. The death penalty is not a natural death. And no one can give death, not even the State."

Last month, D.W. Congdon of Princeton Theological Seminary made a passionate plea to the church to denounce the execution of Saddam. He concludes...

The question to the church, to the United States, and to the world is clear: Will we stretch out our hand to Saddam Hussein? Even if he refuses to receive our embrace, will we refuse to offer it? Can we see Saddam as a person apart from his deeds, however barbarous? Can we dare to see him in the shadow of the cross as the one for whom Christ died?

The church that witnesses to the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ must be a church that has a profound and perhaps unpopular “reverence for life,” as Schweitzer declared. We must be a church that demands true justice—not justice as the world understands it, but justice as defined by the triune God, who came to the world in Jesus Christ while we were still sinners to reconcile us to God. We must embody the mystery of divine love, that gives of itself and overflows even to the least of all people. We must have our vision shaped by the gospel of justification, which refuses to see people in terms of their good or bad deeds and instead sees people in terms of God’s eternal and insurmountable ‘YES’ to each person in Jesus Christ.

Saddam Hussein is one such person. No matter the extent of his crimes against humanity, he is still loved by God, for such is the inscrutable depths of God’s being—a being who loves unconditionally, gives unceasingly, forgives eternally, and redeems completely. This is why we confess that God is love. The question for the church is: Will we demonstrate this kind of love?

Will other Christian denominations and organizations join the Vatican in denouncing the execution of Saddam Hussein? I hope so.

For the perspective of a Southern Baptist, I commend to you Ben Cole's post entitled "To bear the sword in vain."