I don't know why, but as good as it is to have Bin Laden dead, it makes me uncomfortable to cheer about it. Does this bother anyone else?

Call me an evil asshole, or unwilling to take the moral high-road, or whatever, but celebrating his death just doesn’t really make me bat an eyelash. *shrugs

Lord, I’m probably going to get flamed all to hell for this, but whatever.

I’m feeling exactly the same way @skfinkel. The death of a human being just isn’t something I feel I can rejoice in, even if it’s one despicable human being. I know a few other people are struggling with their feelings in response to this, too.

I’m 100% with you. I’ve already gotten some negative feedback for expressing it tonight, which is not unexpected. I honestly feel sick thinking about cheering over someone’s death. It really doesn’t sit well with me, not one bit.

I’m against the death penalty. But I am glad the asshole took a bullet to the head.

Part of the celebration is about what it symbolizes rather than just about rejoicing in a death. I might not be one to rejoice and cheer about it, but I can say that I’m happy that he is dead and I don’t mind if people want to celebrate it. Someone like that deserved to die and I’m glad it finally happened. Call me a redneck warmongering conservative, but that’s what I think. :\

I keep thinking of how the celebrating crowd outside the White House is going to play on TV in Islamic countries and whether it will look to them a lot like the footage we saw of jubilant crowds over there after 9/11.

I think this action was necessary and right, and I think the solemn tone the President took in announcing it was appropriate (or would have been if he had left out the part about our unique wonderfulness, which embarrasses me no matter which president says it). To me that sounded the keynote that we should be tuning to.

I am not sorry he is dead. I do not wish to spit on his grave or anything like that though. It is small closure in terms of 9/11 and not just that event but in his role as a figurehead for terrorism. I hope though there are not repercussions against other innocent people. Not that I am suggesting he shouldn’t have been killed, just that I hope there isn’t an additional cost in lives.

I have had to deal with uncomfortable feelings and things my whole life but this thing here is one of those that I will get over pretty quickly. We have had this coming for almost ten years and we finally got the animal. I’m stoked. I can still clearly see those poor folks falling to their deaths from the towers that day. It’s only natural to feel like this if only for a while. The man was evil from our(my) standpoint but a hero to people in his part of the world. Remember those news clips of the crowds over there cheering for Bin laden when viewing those buildings on fire? I do.
Maybe now all those BinLaden t-shirts will have some value?

Since he was responsible for the deaths of so many others ( and bragged about it) I’m not bothered overly. I look at it as justice. Or Karma being fulfilled in this lifetime.

It’s not like the death policy in this country where it’s possible that an innocent person could be killed since our entire justice system is stacked against the disenfranchised in our society.

With him there is no doubt at all about his guilt.

What bothers me much more is that Quadaffi’s grandchild is dead while he is apparently still unscathed.

I agree with everything you said and I agree with you and those who have expressed similar feelings however, I am certainly glad he is dead.

EDIT-
BTW, similar thoughts/feelings were plaguing me and I am glad I came here where people are discussing it.

I’m so glad someone else said something (from all the replies, more than someONE!) My FB status feed is all alit with American Flags and celebrations- I’m terrified of posting anything that’s non-celebratory. For me it’s a moment that requires reflection, not celebration.
Also, I’ve never been 100% positive of his role in 9/11—just something nagging me that there’s more to the story, or maybe it’s a healthy skepticism of the media. I know others are thrilled he’s been killed, and they have every right to feel the way they do, but I think we’re going to see a “if you’re not with us, you’re against us” rhetoric for a while. THAT is what makes me uncomfortable.

It means that you’re a human being. Celebrating the death of another is something that we should never feel right doing.

I myself posted on this, about the unfortunate reaction of joy I actually felt when I heard the news.

It’s wrong to celebrate and validate it, I think. But it’s not wrong to have it, recognize it, and state that one is glad he’s gone. I don’t think that anything good can come from rejoicing.

We celebrate JUSTICE that has been meted out not the mere taking of his life which I’m willing to guess he preferred in such a way…engaging to fight and die with whatever self perceived dignity he had, unlike Saddam found in a hole, a cowardly mole.

I’m sure there are lots of people out there REJOICING he got killed but not PERVERSELY, just happy Justice was SERVED. If you feel uneasy that’s great, you are good human beings that’s why but don’t feel guilty. Recall those people JUMPING off the towers while collapsing…now a little grateful JUMPING to signify relief that their murderer is gone is just right in my view.

@mazingerz88 I like the way you frame it—that helps with making emotional sense of the celebrations. Thanks!

@linguaphile Yes I did get that uneasy feeling about this seemingly “blood jubilation” but really it isn’t that at all. Bin Laden got the better deal dying on his own terms. He knew this day will come. Not so with those twin towers’ non-combatants. Their terror was palpable. If it was up to me, it would be fairer if Bin Laden was just thrown off the top of a building or left at the rooftop of a collapsing building. Eye for an eye, terror for terror? Or not. ( sigh )

Many people rejoice in what his death means for the world rather than the death itself. The ends, in this case, justify the means. One of the main terrorists in the world is no longer out there plotting against Western society (not just America, the biggest terrorist attack in England and other places was Al Qaeda as well). This makes us all feel a little safer, even if we also have to deal with the backlash that will occur because of his death. I’d rather have less experienced, and hopefully less effectual, people planning whatever comes next as a result of his death than the proven mastermind himself plotting ways to kill as many of us as possible.

it’s fine not too, Hell, I will not celebrate it because now we’re going to have to suffer some serious bloodshed.

Do not fool yourselves, this is not just a death it is an accomplishment of an entire nation which eluded us for 10 years, he was not simply a man, but a person who’s idealogy completely opposite of our own, who’s only desire was the destruction of everything we loved, and if he had the means to do it would commit atrocities far beyond anything we have ever seen or known of. This is not an exageration.

Enjoy this victory over someone who has caused our country so much pain

There should be no cheering, David Camerons statement was uncomfortable to watch. It was like, as my wife pointed put, he was singing ‘ding dong the witch is dead’. It’s something of a relief he is out of the way but his ideology has spread far and wide and there are plenty of people waiting to take his place. I hope they don’t parade the brave men and women responsible for his death across our TV screens as heroes as all this will do is put them and their families at risk from complete nut-jobs

Thank god this happened when a Democrat was on watch.

Anyone who is happy about a death isn’t someone I want to know. I am with you.

Sorry to pop anybody’s party balloons, but is it really over until we’ve repayed (with interest, of course) the kind foreigners with bulging wallets who financed this little adventure tale to the tune of $1.18 trillion?

I will be going to work soon, and it’s not going to be any different. The folks in the expensive suits will continue to get richer and they’ll get more tax breaks, and I will continue to be squeezed. And then let go at the next downturn or whenever they decide to wrap the joint up and farm it out to Texas or Mexico or Brazil or China or India. So it goes.

I wouldn’t go out and cheer but I’m not sorry about it. But if someone very close to me had been killed in the Twin Towers or London or Bali or any of his other targets, I might feel differently.

I feel the same way. It never feels “right” to celebrate someone’s death, no matter how evil they were. Showing crowds of cheering Americans seems a little wrong. And I can’t help but be a little on edge about whether this will cause retaliation.

Was kinda eery watching that crowd cheer in front of the White House. First time I’ve seen anyone celebrate “a hit”.

They keep saying on the news that bin Laden was “buried at sea”.

What I hear is…

…they fed him to the fishes.

Yes, it bothersme immensely. Justice was done, but as a Christian I cannot rejoice in the death of this man. Being glad justice was served is one thing, cheering at the death of another is something else entirely…

I rejoice that he was finally STOPPED, however it was accomplished. I’m afraid that I do not find every human life to be sacred. I think he gave up the right to have is life respected when he was instrument of the death of so many innocents.

Forgive me for raining on the parade of those that are cheering in the streets. Bin Laden was dead a long time ago. I have no idea who was taken out…in this massive PR campaign to distract us from all the economic/global problems that the world is facing. Notice that this was left till after the Royal Wedding….another great distraction (albeit a happy and beautiful one.) Basically, Bin Laden was “put on ice” so to speak, to continue the craziness of war…and then brought out now…why? Well, stay tuned. I’m sure we will find out soon. And if you disagree and say, “No, he was really killed.” Perhaps, but in that case, please know that our government has known from Day One exactly where he was.

I look at the people who lost family in 9–11…and the greatest tragedy is that we still don’t know the full truth of what happened. I am not espousing conspiracy theories…but we are not being told everything. The greatest thing we can do today, is to know that nothing that is being reported by the mainstream media is necessarily the truth.

The cheering in the streets to me…does not bring back the thousands who have lost their lives, on every side simply to continue the march of war which is always good business. Wasn’t Obama going to pull the troops out? And isn’t Al-Qaeda working with the US in Libya? (That’s what is being reported here in the UK.)

Who exactly is the enemy? Do we really know? We don’t.

Our greatest challenge in these times is simply to look at what is happening with distance and discretion…and not to buy into the illusion. My deepest prayers are for the men and women (soldiers and non-soldiers) who have been sacrificed in this decade long campaign…and for the families who have been destroyed by war.

Bin Laden has been gone a long time. But the war will continue. This is just a way to flame the fires of patriotism to go into the next leg of whatever is planned globally.

The true victory will come when we no longer have to worry about war at all. And until then all the cheering in the streets will seem empty to me. I love my country, but a study of its history will show that it does not always divulge its deepest secrets…not until many years later.

So, for now, I simply watch…and pray for peace…a peace that extends to everyone and excludes no one.

I do not mourn his death nor do I celebrate it. Who on Earth do you think created him in the first place (besides his parents, obviously)? An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind.

I also feel a bit uneasy about celebrating anyone’s death. I would have felt much better if he had been taken alive. Of course then people would have been clamoring for his execution.

Personally, I am not celebrating or mourning his death. However, I do think it’s kind of ridiculous to celebrate his death because (as people always forget) the death of this one man doesn’t change much, really unless you think it does, which some people do. It’s never just one man, this involves decades and countries and many more conflicts. Sure, he led people but he was not working alone and his work continues. Besides, this kind of thing always rights a more fervent fire under some wrong people’s asses.

Honestly, all the cheering that I’m watching on the television and the chanting of USA is making me want to turn the tv off. It’s kind of sickening and I feel it makes the United States look stupid. This “war” is not over with the death of one person.

Killing for peace just doesn’t quite sound right, does it? It sucks that sometimes it’s the only way.

I’m glad he’s stopped, but I can’t rejoice in anyone’s death.

Well this just makes me love Fluther more having jellies with enough decency to feel for a human being no matter if it’s the enemy. If only both sides of this fight will do more of the same maybe the killings would stop. This death is just one short single link in what would be a long chain of vengeful acts.

@DarlingRhadamanthus

I’m curious what evidence you’re privy to that’s enabled you to draw your conspiracy theory conclusions with such certainty?

@Obama_got_Osama Bhutto, while she was the Prime Minister of Pakistan, made an official statement saying that a former MI6 agent turned rogue then back stabbed Usama bin Laden and shot him. If it’s true or not… well, guess we’ll have to wait and see history answer for itself or WikiLeaks to get on that one (LOL).

As for Al Qaeda in Libya, according to Rebel Leaders, they are being assisted by Al Qaeda and soldiers turned mercenaries from the war in Iraq. you can look it up yourself.

That’s exactly what I was thinking last night when I saw all of those people cheering in front of the White House. That seems really weird to me. Bin Laden was a horrible evil man and his legacy does not end with his death. Getting all cocky and laughing about his death just seems kind of sickening to me.

How about we just try to give comfort and support to those people who lost loved ones due to that sicko.

I’ll just quote Jeff Greenfield’s brief but succinct comment here:

A famous poet once wrote “each man’s death diminishes me”
Not this one.

Similar to Greenfield, I likewise feel rather undiminished by this news. I’m not going to be out on the streets cheering about it but I don’t begrudge those who do. I have no idea how many of them have lost loved ones due to this megalomaniac, so…....

IM totally agreeing. My friends today said they were gonna go drink about it and stuff and i know he did something horrible but i don’t know how to recact to this. I mean, he was crazy.. i agree but death isn’t something to be happy and cheering about. It’s not like its a baseball game which you’ve won…

I agree. When I heard about how he was killed… I felt num…then worried about what could happen now. Crazy people are scary! you just don’t know when they’ll strike back. We’ll be on pins and needles for a long time.

“I will mourn the loss of thousands of precious lives, but I will not rejoice in the death of one, not even an enemy. Returning hate for hate multiplies hate, adding deeper darkness to a night already devoid of stars. Darkness cannot drive out darkness: only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate, only love can do that.”
~Martin Luther King Jr
This pretty much sums it up for me. Not that I have a problem with those who do celebrate. I feel I am very removed from his crimes. If I had lost a loved one because of him I might feel differently.

@skfinkel – thank you for such a GREAT QUESTION.
@Blonderaven – agreed.

I find it odd and yet indicative of our overall society that I wanted so badly to repost the MLK quote on my FB page, yet I hesitate because I feel I am in the minority on this issue.

Everyone is reveling in this death and yet for me too it feels quite bothersome.

People who “revel” are no better than the fundamentalist Islamist who “reveled” when the towers went down on 9 11.

Yes, it bothers me to see people rejoicing at someones death. They may as well dance around with his head on a stick like a bunch of savages. Do people have no morals? So the guy was evil, yes, but that doesn’t give us the right to celebrate his death.

I wish the whole world was made up of Fluther People.

@Dutchess_III Me, too. My freaking best friend posted this horribleness on her Facebook page. It really troubles me.

@kheredia I agree and I also think that it doesn’t give us the right to kill him either. I believe that if it is wrong to kill someone, it always wrong. There can be no justification. You might kill someone in revenge/justice for killing your loved one but it just makes you as bad as they are. You’ve still killed someone. It’s always wrong.

i’m not talking about accidents or self defence here

@augustlan: That’s a bit much. Yeesh.

Good friend of mine posted the MLK quote (seen here on Fluther) and he got slammed with negative comments.

I just found out that MLK quote isn’t really from MLK. I don’t really care who said it, as it expresses my own thoughts perfectly.

@Dutchess_III That photo…very poor taste, to say the least…!

Yes, cheering about any death is ghastly and I felt very uncomfortable too when watching tv yesterday. But we should also keep in mind that more than 99% of all New Yorkers and people in Washington did not go to public places and gather for a party like after the victory of a sports event. Everybody feels relieved and rightly so. But in our countries we should not copy the behavior of burning posters and cheering when people die, even when it’s diabolical masterminds and mass murderers.

@Dutchess_III so she may be more patriotic than others, ain’t the worst I’ve seen.

LOOK AT THIS

That’s exactly what I was saying… the “If you’re not with us, you’re against us” rhetoric. I read some of his tweets… most of his tweets are much milder than what we’re saying here. Scary!

@SABOTEUR I so agree….@augustlan… have you been able to talk to your friend about it? I think sometimes people get so blindly caught up in the crowd that they don’t think for themselves….

@King_Pariah Not sure what you’re talking about.

@linguaphile – SO TRUE. That story was quite interesting.

@Dutchess_III Honestly, I don’t even know what to say to her. She’s much more conservative than I am, and things like this get weird between us sometimes. I might even ask a question about it.

I wonder how the rest of the world views the street parties that happened here after his death was announced?

Seems to me here in Australia it is about the same as USA, some are cheering, some are quietly pleased and others don’t give a damn one way or the other.

@augustlan…In the UK, the cheering in the streets was plastered in the newspapers…and one headline read something like: “It’s like they won the Superbowl!” This wasn’t said in a very flattering way. The reaction has been mixed here…frankly, it looked too much like the cheering after 9–11 to me and I found it rather disturbing.

Taking this man out (if we did at all…or if it was done now or before) will not change the face of terrorism. It’s not as if we took out the despotic ruler of a country and we have “liberated” his people. He was a figurehead, yes, but not one that was hands-on and in the trenches. His followers will not be affected, they will continue and push on, so this is (to me) a hollow victory.

The German chancellor cheered as well, which is totally embarrassing and right now she’s facing heavy criticism over here.

http://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/0,1518,760580,00.html

“On Monday, Chancellor Angela Merkel said she was “glad” about the killing of Osama bin Laden. That statement is now being heavily criticized in German political and religious circles, including among members of Merkel’s own party.

A vice president of German parliament, Katrin Göring-Eckhardt, told the daily newspaper Berliner Zeitung: “As a Christian, I can only say that it is not a reason to celebrate, when someone is killed in a targeted way.” Göring-Eckhardt, a member of the Greens, said Bin Laden should have been arrested and put on trial.

Siegfried Kauder, of the CDU, and the chairman of the legal committee of the Bundestag, told the newspaper Passauer Neue Presse: “I would not have formulated it in that way. Those are thoughts of revenge that one should not harbor. That is from the Middle Ages.”

Kauder also questioned the legality of killing Bin Laden. “The principle that the ends justifies the means has no legal foundation…The United Nations is now called upon to finally create binding laws. It must be crystal clear, what can be done, and what cannot.”

I thought this was handled well…

“There’s no doubt we killed Osama bin Laden,” the president said in an interview with CBS News, and there was no need to release the photographs or gloat. “There’s no need to spike the football,” he said.

Whole Story

I never cease to be amazed when more sympathy is ladled out to the perpetrator than the victims. How many truly innocent people died because of his dedication to terror, I feel more sorry for them. How many people died of cancer on the same day obl died, I feel more sorry for them and their families. This guy declared his own war and with that comes risks.

@rooeytoo: This is not about sympathy. This is about behavior that is befitting an amazing nation such as the U.S. A nation that is not only adept enough to successfully eliminate one of the most vile humans in recent history, but should also be humble enough to not revel in the act.

If we claim to be the “good guys”, we should act the part.

@rooeytoo… Yeah..what @cprevite said. Can’t say it any better.

My co-worker put it nicely….we cheer about a victory, not about a death. We cheered when we won WWII. We weren’t cheering about all the people who died.

The ones cheering may have lost a sister, brother or kid when the Twin Towers fell. If I had, I would probably be cheering too. I think the relevant fact is that he is gone and good riddance. Too much emphasis is being put on the reactions of a relative few.

@rooeytoo Nobody who’s cheering on my facebook feed lost anyone. I, for one, would not cheer the death of anyone (unless I’m watching a movie, then all bets are off). When the uncle who molested me for 13 years died, I cried. Even though I was extremely relieved that he was no longer in this world, I certainly didn’t party over his corpse.

@augustlan – I read that about your uncle and when I did I thought to myself, you are a much more generous and forgiving person than I, and it is probably a healthier way to be. And once again it is proven true. As I said before, I personally did not react that way, but I really don’t care nor do I judge anyone who does. I guess I just figure there are so many really hideous things that happen in this world on a daily basis, people cheering the death of a bad guy just doesn’t register on my unacceptable behavior meter. a flutherite recently told me I am intolerant, now I am being too tolerant, hehehe, it’s a fine line apparently!

OK, I’ll say it. I’m glad the sonofabitch uncle of yours is dead, @augustlan.