In a study undertaken by the Public Religion Research Institute/Religion News Service, it has been found that six out of ten Americans believe that based upon Scripture, people should not celebrate the death of al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden.
Furthermore, 62 percent of Americans completely or mostly agree with the statement that it is “immoral to celebrate the death of another human being, no matter how bad that person was.”
The survey was conducted in the week after a team of Navy SEALs had assassinated Bin Laden at the orders of U.S. President Barack Obama. After the announcement of Bin Laden’s death, a number of Americans took to the streets in celebration over the passing of the man who was behind the devastating 9-11 attacks on the Twin Towers in New York.
The survey revealed that that 66 percent of white evangelical Protestants – a higher proportion than Catholics (59 percent) and white mainline Protestants (53 percent) felt that the rejoicing was wrong.
The study further found that a large majority of Americans (82 percent) believe that Bin Laden distorted the teachings of Islam, while nearly two-thirds (65 percent) think that he will be eternally punished in hell for his sins.