by Emma Riley Sutton

Created on: April 15, 2008   Last Updated: June 25, 2008

I cried. Tears ran from my eyes, trickled down my cheeks, and splashed on my shirt. I felt so sad. Deep down, deep down in those we don't want to talk about or even think about, I felt sad. This sadness gripped me in a way that almost frightened me. I was sad on so many levels and sad for so many reasons.

I cried because I doubt if anyone told him about Jesus moments before he died. Did someone take the time to tell him that Jesus loved him and would forgive for all that he had done wrong? Did he have someone there that could say the words that would touch his heart and help him turn his life around, even at the end of it? Saddam Hussein was evil, mean, awful, terrible, murderous, spiteful, all those bad adjectives I can't even think of. Do I think he deserved to go to Hell? Yes, he deserved to go to Hell? Did I want him to go to Hell? No. I wanted him dead and gone. I wanted him to stop his tyranny and acknowledge all of his wrongdoings. I wanted him to hurt and feel the pain of all those he had brutalized. I wanted punishment, revenge, justice, fairness, equality, and wanted to see him suffer. How I wanted him dead. But, I didn't want him to go to Hell. The Bible states that we have all sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. Some more than others. That doesn't matter. My Jesus would have done everything He did on Earth, even if I had been the only person ever born. Even if Saddam Hussein had been the only person born. Salvation is a gift meant for everyone, even Saddam Hussein.

I cried because I was confused. I was sorry he was dead. I was ecstatic he was dead. Isn't that confusing? How can I be a good person and believe that there is good in everyone, like I do, and still be thrilled he was dead? Then, on top of all that, I was sad he was dead. Hanging him probably didn't do much. He never admitted, at least publicly, he was wrong. He didn't go to all those he had wronged and. at least, attempted to make it right. He just stopped breathing. He just stopped living. He just stopped being able to do the horrid things he had done before. No atonement, no justice, no getting in the "way back machine" fixing all the things he broke. He was just dead.

I cried for all those he had wronged. They didn't get what they deserved from him. Not in his life and not in his death. Lives lost, limbs lost, families torn apart...the list is endless. There was no justice for those people. There was just a pitiful excuse for a human hanging by a rope, dead.

I cried because

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