Osama Bin Laden and the Lord of the Flies

One of the world's most famous villians, a man who cared nothing for the murders of innocents and celebrated their deaths in his twisted vision of the future, is dead.  Will terrorism die with him?  Could the death of this one man put a stop to the global Jihad that has been declared against the West and Christianity?

The short answer is no.  That isn't what everyone wants to hear, but it's the sad truth.  There are still plenty of evil men (and some women) in our world eager to commit similar acts of sin against their fellow man.  When Hitler envisioned the destruction of the Jewish people he would have been just another racist if there weren't millions of "good" Germans willingly joining in the killing.  Remember, Hitler was elected by popular vote before he took power in Germany.  Osama Bin Laden too was very popular among the millions of young Muslims who share his hatred.

How does any of this relate to William Golding's novel, Lord of the Flies?  In the book, the character Simon seeks to explain to the boys who have been stranded on the Pacific island with him that "mankind's essential illness" is what they have to fear.  The boys on the island have been growing increasingly afraid of an imaginary "beast" whose existence they have tried to deny, but the fear of which continues to grow just the same.  Simon explains that there is no external beast to fear, but rather "the beast is us".  The only evil they have to fear is the evil within themselves.  Humanity's essential flaw is that we are depraved.  We are mired in sin and unable to live together in peace. 

As shocking as it may sound, the evil in men like Osama Bin Laden and Adolf Hitler is not different in kind from the evil that resides in humanity as a whole.  It is certainly different in degree; most people never approach such scale in the evil that they do, but as Romans reminds us, "all have sinned".  We have all fallen short of perfection, we have all commited sins against ourselves, our neighbors, and our God.  We have all taken steps down the path that leads to Hell.

Is it a good thing that Osama Bin Laden is dead?  Certainly.  Did he deserve to die because of his crimes?  Absolutely.  Will terrorism cease now or in the future?  Sadly, no, this form of evil may be new, but the depravity that spawned it is not.  So what should we do if the battle that we're fighting cannot be won?  Even if we cannot win a battle against evil in our world, we must still support and honor those who try to protect the innocent and administer justice.  We must all strive to instill virtue in the next generation, work to protect the innocent as best we can, and tell the world that the only cure for our self-destruction is the saving grace of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.