The Value of a Terrorist's Life

A couple of months ago, I scanned a Facebook post celebrating the death of a hamas terrorist. The description of the Facebook post read something along the lines of "We can't get enough good news" . The picture on the article boasted the dead terrorist being lifted up by mourners on his funeral bed.

The concept of war disturbs me though I understand why it's necessary at times. Even so, it's an occurrence that is probably the most troublesome thing that wrestles with my deep desire to honor the value of every human life. Was this man a murderer? Yes. Did he deserve to die? Probably.

The irony of all humanity is exposed at times of war: that every individual, terrorist and pacifist, is someone's child, and just as we have no right to take human lives because it was not us who gave souls breath, we also have no right to determine the value of another human being. This sort of thinking has existed in me since I was a little girl. With much influence from my mother's compassionate upbringing, I was taught to respect all human beings.

I believe every person on this planet is level with one another because we are all imperfect beings. That's why the phrase "human nature" was coined. It's in our nature to lie, cheat, steal, and kill. Not that everyone acts on it. But if I have hate in my heart, is that not the same hate that fuels men like the hamas terrorist to commit homicidal acts? If I have the same deficiency of love in my heart, even if I don't act on it, how am I different? Please don't misinterpret what I'm saying. I am by no means excusing terrorists. But the same conviction engraved in my heart shows forth when talking to soldiers on the battlefield who have killed human beings that are our evil enemies. If even men who go to war defending the lives of others struggle with taking lives of cold blooded murderers, could it be we're created to value life even at our own expense?