MACABRE

Poll: Celebrating bin Laden's Death Wrong

Americans say his punishment is in hell.

Images of Americans celebrating in the street after Osama bin Laden’s death may already be iconic—but a majority of Americans now say they believe it was wrong to revel in bin Laden’s death. A Public Religion Research Institute Poll found that 62 percent of Americans say it is “wrong to celebrate the death of another human being, no matter how bad that person was.” Nearly two-thirds of Americans said they believed bin Laden would be “eternally punished in hell” for his sins—with nearly half of the religiously unaffiliated in that category. The poll also found 49 percent said the use of torture is never justified, and only 27 percent found harsh interrogation methods gave the U.S. “critical information leading to the capture of Osama bin Laden.”