On the Death of Muammar Gaddafi: Gleanings from the Book of Amos

by The Reverend Terry Dowdy

Though Amos' words were meant for Israel and Israel's leaders in the middle of the eighth century B.C.E., the same sentiment of revenge as a form of justice rings out around the world today. It is heard because of the death of Muammar Gaddafi, the 69- year-old leader of Libya, whose 42-year reign of terror impacted not only the people of Libya, but innocents across the world. So it makes sense that someone who had, in Amos' words, trampled the head of the poor into the dust of the earth would himself be pressed down in his place, just as a cart presses down when it is full of sheaves by one just god or another. And we can certainly understand how Amos' judgment that Flight shall perish from the swift, and the strong shall not retain their strength, nor shall the mighty save their lives; those who handle the bow shall not stand, and those who are swift of foot shall not save themselves, nor shall those who ride horses save their lives; and those who are stout of heart among the mighty shall flee away naked in that day, says the LORD may well have been made real if only we substitute modern missiles and armored vehicles for bows and horses.

And so a large part of the world might understandably shout with glee that "God is great," fire live rounds into the air, and dance in the streets as we saw on our TVs and computer monitors last week. But we also saw Hilary Clinton when she got the unconfirmed report that Gaddafi had been captured: she said simply, "Wow." No exclamation point. And Obama's response was not "Ding dong! The witch is dead." It was a simple acknowledgment: "Today, the government of Libya announced the death of Muammar Qaddafi. This marks the end of a long and painful chapter for the people of Libya, who now have the opportunity to determine their own destiny in a new and democratic Libya." And Obama's assessment of the state of the world at the removal of a 42-year long dictatorship: "The dark shadow of tyranny has been lifted."

These are hopeful words that look for things to be substantially different:

Shower, O heavens, from above,
and let the skies rain down righteousness;
let the earth open, that salvation may spring up,
and let it cause righteousness to sprout up also;
I the LORD have created it.
 [Isaiah 45:8 (NRSV)]

 

But too often in world history one bad dictator is replaced by another who is worse, and the hoped-for salvation replaced by another kind of tyranny that does not resemble righteousness at all. An opening has been created, and the celebration of that must be accompanied by a warning: Be very careful what is allowed to fill that opening!

An enthusiastic celebration is understandable and even necessary, but heed John Donne's warning:

No man is an island,
entire of itself.
Each is a piece of the continent,
a part of the main.
If a clod be washed away by the sea,
Europe is the less.
As well as if a promontory were.
As well as if a manor of thine own
or of thine friend's were.
Each man's death diminishes me,
for I am involved in mankind.
Therefore, send not to know
for whom the bell tolls;
it tolls for thee.

 

If Donne is right, then Libya must ask itself the hard question, "How have we been diminished by the death of this man, Muammar Muhammad Abu Minyar al-Gaddafi?" It seems like an absurd question. "Of course, we have not been diminished by his death; we have been liberated by his death!" And, of course, that is true; but what has Libya been liberated to? How will it cope with its new freedom? What is the way of life that they now have the freedom to choose?

The questions are certainly not mine to answer for Libya, but they are mine to ask of myself:

What within me has trampled the head of my poor self into the dust of the earth?

What has made that part of me a captive for the last 42 years?

How can I determine precisely what it has been, especially if/since it has been unconscious for such a long time?

How can I get a hold on it and remove it or, better, transform it?

When it finally releases its hold, what will take its place?

How will that new self be manifest in the outer world?

 

The bell tolls for Muammar Muhammad Abu Minyar al-Gaddafi; how does it toll for me?

How does that bell toll for you?

 

Amos 2:6-16 (NRSV)

6 Thus says the LORD:
For three transgressions of Israel,
and for four, I will not revoke the punishment;
because they sell the righteous for silver,
and the needy for a pair of sandals--
7 they who trample the head of the poor into the dust of the earth,
and push the afflicted out of the way;
father and son go in to the same girl,
so that my holy name is profaned;
8 they lay themselves down beside every altar
on garments taken in pledge;
and in the house of their God they drink
wine bought with fines they imposed.
9 Yet I destroyed the Amorite before them,
whose height was like the height of cedars,
and who was as strong as oaks;
I destroyed his fruit above,
and his roots beneath.
10 Also I brought you up out of the land of Egypt,
and led you forty years in the wilderness,
to possess the land of the Amorite.
11 And I raised up some of your children to be prophets
and some of your youths to be Nazirites.
Is it not indeed so, O people of Israel? says the LORD
12 But you made the Nazirites drink wine,
and commanded the prophets,
saying, "You shall not prophesy."
13 So, I will press you down in your place,
just as a cart presses down
when it is full of sheaves.
14 Flight shall perish from the swift,
and the strong shall not retain their strength,
nor shall the mighty save their lives;
15 those who handle the bow shall not stand,
and those who are swift of foot shall not save themselves,
nor shall those who ride horses save their lives;
16 and those who are stout of heart among the mighty
shall flee away naked in that day, says the LORD.

 

 

Obama quotations:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/10/20/obama-muammar-gaddafi-dead_n_1022106.html

John Donne: http://www.skrause.org/reading/donne.shtml

For more on John Donne (1572-1631) -English poet, satirist, lawyer, and priest visit:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Donne

 

The Reverend Terry Dowdy has recently retired after 40 years as a United Methodist minister. His bachelor's degree is in physics and his master's in theology. Terry also pursued graduate work in Hebrew scriptures in the graduate Program in Religion at Southern Methodist University. He has come to this work with the Educational Center through his involvement in Matthew Fox's "Creation Centered Spirituality" and through two decades of employing the methods of the Guild for Psychological Studies with both lay and clergy small groups.