A Ramble About Burying a Bomber

I was in the ER waiting room of a hospital when I saw the news on the Boston Marathon Bombing. We were there to get Aidan's hospital bills from his illness straightened out. The scenes were horrific, and resembled something out of a combat zone. What followed in the manhunt for the suspects added to the wartime resemblance as every law enforcement officer in the Northeast from every jurisdiction flooded into the Boston area in order to search for the two men they determined were responsible.

The two suspects were two brothers, one older one younger, both claiming to be Muslim. In the course of the manhunt, the older one, believed to be the mastermind behind it, died from gunshot wounds. The younger one eventually surrendered after he was found hiding in someone's boat, and was hospitalized from his own gunshot wounds. The younger one was arraigned by a judge in his hospital room. The older one lay in a mortuary waiting to be buried.

In all, as I understand it, eight people died from the bombings, and hundreds were wounded. Many lost their legs and will require prosthetics. Many, many lives were shattered, or at the very least disrupted by these events. More than this, these bombings shattered the feeling of security which this nation recently began to get back after the attacks of September 11^th, 2001. The injuries and deaths from the bombings were bad enough. The injury to the national psyche that another Muslim terrorist could successfully attack a target in the United States is what truly traumatized us. It did not matter that one of the bombers is a U.S. citizen. It did not matter that they both grew up in this country and considered it home. It was still an act of “Muslim terrorism,” and that was enough.

So, when the time came for the eldest to be buried according to Muslim custom (because Muslims don't cremate their dead), it was no wonder that there wasn't a cemetary in Massachusetts that would consent to take his body. There was no one more disgraced and disgusted by his actions than his family, but it was his family who was given the duty to properly care for his remains whether they wanted to or not. In their anger, and hurt, the refusal to allow him to be buried struck out and hurt, not the dead bomber, but his family who had nothing to do with it and had condemned his actions.

Finally, within the last couple of days, a Christian lady led an interfaith movement to find a cemetery which would inter his remains. After calling around, they finally found a Muslim cemetery in Virginia who graciously allowed him to be buried there.

I applaud this Christian lady, though I don't remember her name from the news articles. This is putting into practice what Jesus taught, “Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who persecute you, and pray for those who abuse you and mistrust you.” And also, “Forgive, and you will be forgiven.”

There are many who don't see it that way. They consider what the bomber did as so horrible as to be unforgivable, even after he already died for it. What disturbs me most is the number of professing Christians who are refusing to follow what Jesus taught in this matter.

Refusing to forgive is the same as saying, “I'm not nearly as bad of a sinner as you are.” It's a deliberate forgetfulness of the fact that there lies the capacity within each one of us, given the right triggers, to do the same thing or worse. Our sin disorder manifests itself in different ways with different people. Some ways are considered more acceptable than others, but that doesn't make them any less a symptom or effect of that disorder. Pushed the wrong way too far, I know that there lies within me the capacity for greater evil than what happened in Boston. It's not pleasant to be honest about or to admit, but it is true.

This is the reason why we are all in need of God's mercy through Jesus Christ. If we are to say that this man deserves no mercy, then we must also declare the same for ourselves, because we are afflicted with the same disorder which drove him to kill, maim, and destroy. God shows mercy because we do not deserve it, and He teaches us and expects us to do the same. Just because someone else doesn't follow what Jesus taught doesn't then permit us who profess to follow Him to ignore Him. Loving our enemies and those who hurt us is where the rubber meets the road in following the path of Jesus Christ. Forgiving and beginning the healing process for all involved is not optional for those who profess Christ. It is commanded by Him.

Horrific damage has already been done. It is now time to heal and rebuild. Continuing the cycle of anger and vengeance will only perpetuate more hurt and damage to everyone and will prove to the world that those who profess to follow Christ are themselves hypocrites. It will give the world even more of a reason to look elsewhere for the Truth which should be right in front of them by way of Him through us.