by Adele Rossouw
Jubilating crowds in front of the White House, in Times Square, and on the streets of America. This is how the German media has represented the American reaction to the death of Osama bin Laden. This is hardly a fair depiction. One cannot deny the debate that has occurred in the United States about the way in which Bin Laden was killed, and about the appropriate way in which to react to his death. This debate has been extensively covered in the press, both in the US and abroad; in Germany, much disapproval has been raised against the “American” reaction of unreflecting celebration. It is the form of this criticism itself, however, that deserves some disapproval.
The most frequent critique that is raised against a joyous reaction at the death of Bin Laden is that it is “unchristian”. To name but a few examples: Katrin Göring-Eckardt, politician in Germany’s Green Party, stated: “As a Christian I can only say that it is no reason to celebrate when someone is killed.” Martin Lohmann, politician of the Christian Democratic Union, claimed that, “The killing of a human being could not be a reason for joy for a Christian.” In an article on the reaction to Bin Laden’s death in one of Germany’s most respected news magazines, Der Spiegel, journalist Stefan Kuzmany writes that the god mentioned on American bank notes is not the “forgiving, New Testament god”.
Also referring to the vengeful attitude of celebrating crowds, politician Siegfried Kauder described it as “medieval”. What rather should be designated as old-fashioned, however, is the dominant framing of the debate in a Christian context. In a country in which over 30% of the population does not identify as belonging to either one of the dominant Catholic and Protestant churches, this method of argumentation on the national stage is surely inappropriate. Germany is a secular state in which political criticism should be justified in more ways than through biblical references.
To ask whether it is appropriate to rejoice at Bin Laden’s death sparks a debate that should be encouraged. “Because the bible says so!”, however, is hardly a satisfying answer.