So I was thinking about this before I read your post. It is hard to be happy that he is dead... I can't pray that he is rotting in hell because I don't believe in hell. So I guess the best prayer is for god to grant rest to his soul and peace for all

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May the soul of Obama bin Laden rest in peace.

"Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled, and do not let them be afraid." - John 14:27

I do find it difficult to take joy in his death. But, I also know our God is a God of justice and there is the concept of a just war. I do think we should pray for his soul and that there will not be violent retribution for his death.

May the Lord have mercy upon him.

June Butler

As President Obama said, "justice has been done." Let us also pray for reconciliation

Ideas are immortal. Bin Laden's death is not the death of his ideas. Like the Hydra others will arise.

As a country, we should never make idle or frivilous threats. In fact we should never issue a threat. What we should issue is points of fact. Upon the attack of 9/11 our stated policy was to "capture of kill" the mastermind, Osama bin Laden. The world now knows our word is our bond. I am very sorry to say this but Christianity had nothing to do with it, nor should it.

I think Mary Harris "Mother" Jones had the right idea:

Pray for the dead, and fight like hell for the living.

I leave Osama Bin Laden to God's Capable Hands. The Eternal---and Merciful---Judge will have the last word, thankfully.

The work of the God's Reign (Justice AND Peace) continues...

JC Fisher

I agree with most of what has been said thus far, though I'm hesitant to say that God's justice is for us to enforce as if we know it. I vote for praying for him. And I think there is room for gratitude for different groups of people. I've seen little thanksgiving for justice (and I think that phrase needs to be used if that's one's intent) and a lot of celebrating death...which makes my heart heavy. What I have appreciated is (on Facebook) the number of people who have been explicitly thankful for the service of military personnel for the entirety of our war efforts.

In addition to praying for bin Laden, those whom he injured/killed, and for justice, the U.S. and its allies must be careful that their words and actions do not contribute to bin Laden becoming a martyr or source of greater enmity between Christians and Muslims.

He becomes a martyr and gets lots of virgins, according to his god. As for us, more trouble. Pretty soon we're going to run out of liberties to sacrfice for our security. Then the end. Kyrie eleison!

I think it's a slippery slope for a powerful nation to rejoice in the death of individuals and begs us to think about what we mean when we use the word, justice.

Saint Isaac of Nineveh said that a Christian heart must pray for all of creation: "humans, birds, animals and even demons." "At the sight and recollection of them, such a person's eyes fill with tears that arise from the great compassion which weighs on his or her heart. The heart grows tender and cannot endure to hear of or look upon any injury, even the smallest suffering, inflicted on anything in creation. For this reason, such a person prays increasingly with tears, even for irrational animals and for enemies of truth and all who harm it, that they may be guarded and be forgiven. The compassion that pours out from his or her heart without measure -- like God's -- extends even to reptiles."

A tall order, but nobody ever said Christlikeness would be easy. This brief prayer from Saint Basil of Caesarea fits well with situations like this: "Lord, sustain the good in their goodness, and make the evil good through your goodness." And, of course, in all things: "Your will be done, on earth as in heaven..."

I would be deceiving myself if I tried to deny the joy/relief of the news of this execution. No figure since Hitler has been as reviled. I may not feel good about the joy but it is balanced against the pain/angst I've felt for 10 yrs. I admire the greater nobility of others on this page, and I pray tomorrow I will be better but today, as a Christian I receive this news with joy that his days of demonizing are done.

I believe we are commanded to pray for our enemies. I have experienced greater rest in the assurance that God is with all of us when I have practiced accordingly. I've even managed to pray for George W. Bush, who, it is worth our remembering, started unjust wars that have killed far more people than OBL even managed to kill. Not that OBL wouldn't have gone for greater numbers if he could have achieved them.

I can pray for OBL and should. In God there is no time.

Jan Adams