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If You’re Happy When Someone Dies, You Have a Problem
“Hate cannot drive out hate.” -Martin Luther King, Jr.
In this absurdly and heinously polarized age, it seems that every time a political or religious figure dies, there are some people celebrating.
This should bother all of us. At the very least, it should give all of us pause.
Don’t get me wrong. I’m not a pacifist. I understand that there are situations when it’s necessary to fight and even (sadly) take life. I believe the rarer these situations, the better. And I believe we should strive always to pursue peace. But I understand peace is sometimes not possible.
Even so…
Even when violence is forced upon us, we shouldn’t let ourselves become so hateful and so callous that we celebrate the suffering and death of others.
To do so makes us no better than those we consider evil.
I certainly understand the relief (even grim satisfaction) people feel when a wicked murderer like Adolf Hitler, Joseph Stalin, or Osama bin Laden faces justice or exits this world. But there’s a difference between relief and celebration.
Contrary to popular misconception, not even God celebrates the death of the wicked even when He exercises judgment on them in the…
