What exactly did Jesus mean when he said, according to Luke chapter 6: “I tell everyone listening: love your enemies, do good to people who hate you, bless people who curse you, and pray for people who mistreat you. When someone slaps you on one cheek, offer them the other as well. When someone takes away your coat, let them take your shirt as well… What credit do you deserve if you love those who love you?… Instead, love your enemies… and you will be children of the Most High, because he is kind toward the unthankful and evil.”
It seems to me that what Jesus was saying can’t be very popular with a lot of “church people”. What does “loving my enemy” mean in the context of Osama bin Laden? Is there a category of “enemy” that is so wicked that they don’t qualify to be treated as an “enemy” in the manner advocated by Jesus, just as “terrorists” don’t qualify as “enemy combatants”, so they don’t get the protection of the Geneva Convention relating to prisoners of war, and can be tortured?
Is there a difference between public morality and private morality when it comes to “loving your enemy”? In other words, does Jesus require me as a person to forgive Osama bin Laden, but as a country we still need to blast the basmati rice out of him? Or was Jesus just talking about what I need to do in my heart, while externally I still need to “solve the problem” by “eliminating” the terrorist?