Where Are We Now?

The killing of Osama bin Laden has been much discussed this week and, no doubt like many of you, I am getting more confused by the hour by what is coming out of the White House.  The story is changing minute by minute.  Now that can be honestly explained by a number of factors.  Any event, seen by different people, is going to seen in different ways.  Because we live in an instant news age, news trickles down to us second by second, and not all of that is going to be accurate, and so clarification and qualification is going to be necessary.  Also, Obama is facing elections soon, so his people will want to spin all of this in a way that silences his critics, distracts from his dreadful pro-abortion record and the resignation of the Catholic ambassador to Malta which may cost him some Catholic votes.  Wrapping the stars and stripes around him as the great American hero is good for votes.

But in the midst of all this confusion, there is one clear moral question which needs to be asked: should Osama bin Laden have been killed in the way he was?   Christian voices answer this question in many ways, some say yes, others no (see the Mary Riddell on the Archbishop of Canterbury).  Personally, I am growing more uncomfortable with what has happened.

Was justice done, as President Obama declares?  Personally, I say no, it was not.  At the moment, as I reflect, that regardless of who the man was, or what he did, there is no excuse for gunning him down if he does not pose an immediate threat and he can be taken.  If he was armed, if he had the finger on a button, or was on a mobile phone and could give orders to his minions, then immediate execution might be morally justified as an act of defence.  But he was unarmed, he could have been taken, and some reports suggest he already was in custody when he was gunned down.  

Some argue that having Osama in custody would pose a serious danger to non-Muslims as his supporters may have gone on a rampage or kidnapped people as a means of having him released.  I understand that, and I accept it, but it does not justify, in my mind, what has happened. Perhaps they could have put him on trial as quickly as possible and carry out the sentence he received immediately: that would have fulfilled the requirements of justice and moral expectations.  Capital punishment would probably be justified here since his incarceration would pose an continuing danger to innocent people.  Seeing as they had all this planned, it would have been possible to have a court martial ready and there was already enough evidence to convict.

What happened in that house is not morally justifiable; it was dishonorable, it was not Christian and not fair.  And as some have asked: do we abandon our beliefs, our judicial process and our ethics so as to exact revenge on a man who has done wrong?  Do we not drag ourselves down to his level to get him?  But then where are we then?  The moral high ground is gone, we have made ourselves the same as those who have no morals. 

There is an interesting line in Robert Bolt's play, A Man for All Seasons.  The character of Thomas More and Richard Rich are discussing law.  Rich says that he would pull down every law in England to get the devil, More responds by asking a simple question: "And when every law is gone and the devil turns on you, where do you hide, now that the law is gone?"  We respect law, justice, proper procedure, and yes, mercy (though that would not be a popular concept in the discussion on Osama), not merely to do things right, or to keep us right, but also to ensure that we ourselves have somewhere to hide should we fall victim to injustice ourselves. 

Is assassination ever justified in Catholic moral teaching?  The killing of a tyrant, by his own subjects as an act of defence might be morally justified if there is no other way of removing him or her.  The attempts on the life of Hitler, for example, fulfill the requirements there.  But this summary execution of Osama bin Laden does not fulfil the requirements.  There was another way to deal with him, but perhaps, as always, the easy solution was convenient. 

Ironically, this is the same excuse used for the taking of innocent life in the act of abortion: the morality of convenience.   So what happened in that house in Pakistan rests on the same moral distortion as that which happens in abortion clinics - the pro-choice position which manipulates or even discards ethics to get the desired result.

Just a few thoughts....so, where are we now?