OBL’s Death: Pulpit Responses
USA’s pulpits address bin Laden death
USA Today | May 9VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. (AP) — The killing of Osama bin Laden, a man who was America’s face of evil for nearly a decade, left Christians, Jews and Muslims relieved, proud or even jubilant. For their religious leaders, it was sometimes hard to know just what to say about that.
There is at least some dissonance between the values they preach and the triumphant response on the streets of New York and Washington to the death of a human being — even one responsible for thousands of killings in those areas and around the world.
The Rev. Bill Kelly, priest at Saint Mary of the Assumption in Dedham, Mass., near Boston, said he was taken aback by the celebrations because he detected bloodlust. Christians should rejoice that justice was done, but not that another human being was destroyed, he said.
At the same time, Kelly said, the emotional reaction is understandable.