United States — May 2, 2011 3:50 am

On the Celebration of Death

By

Last night, hundreds of excited Harvard students gathered outside my window in Matthews. Chanting “U-S-A! U-S-A!” and singing “God Bless America” and “Ten Thousand Men of Harvard,” these joyous, debatably sober, vuvuzela-carrying Harvard students celebrated the death of America’s most-hated enemy: Osama bin Laden.

The ralliers in the Yard mimicked those outside the White House by singing, among other songs, “na na na na, hey hey hey, goodbye.” Harvard Yard’s ralliers added in the Mexican Hat Dance. They gave each other hugs, danced jigs, and screamed in joy. And today, students across America have donned patriotic red, white, and blue.

Now, I dislike attacks on American soil just as much as the next person. However, to me, celebrating someone’s death seems not only distressing but also hypocritical and decidedly anti-American. I have never studied the Bible, but one line from Proverbs 24:17 instructs, “Do not rejoice when your enemy falls, and let not your heart be glad when he stumbles.” I could not agree more.

Yes, Osama bin Laden had an important role in multiple horrifying events. Maybe he was indeed a “horrible person,” although I hesitate to label humans as “evil.” However, as someone who strongly affirms the preeminence of life, I shudder to imagine employing the death penalty against anyone.

Some might say that a terrorist such as Osama bin Laden “deserved” death. However, Osama receive no fair trial: he was killed in a firefight. And no matter what the situation, the death of a human being should inspire contemplation and reflection. I understand the intense emotion and symbolism of this event, but nonetheless, it seems wildly inappropriate to celebrate a person’s death.

In fact, this sort of celebration seems to be just what would reaffirm negative prejudices about Americans held by those involved with terrorist groups. After all, people join al Qaeda because of fear—the fear of an unfamiliar people, or the fear of an uncertain future. These groups give people the assurance of organized and effective action against their terrors.

In truth, our excessively patriotic celebrations undoubtedly confirm that Americans are unfeeling and inconsiderate. They fuel the anger and resentment of those civilians who are even moderately sympathetic to al Qaeda. Celebrating Osama’s death does absolutely nothing to earn America the respect of the Afghani people.

Furthermore, Americans must treat our own emotions with extreme caution. The large display of patriotism demonstrated in Harvard Yard today terrified me in a way I could not explain. My friend Joshua Hernandez ’

14 articulated this concern in a poignant Facebook status: “I’m scared–of what America will do next, what Americans will feel privileged to say, and who we will target next. I worry for our humility.”

And in the end, was this actually such a great victory? As far as I can tell, Osama bin Laden has done very little in the past ten years. Instead, America has engaged in multiple wars in the name of “fighting terrorism.” Hundreds of thousands have died, including almost 6000 American soldiers and many more Iraqi and Afghani civilians. Searching for Osama bin Laden has taken an extraordinary amount of money and an unacceptable number of lives.

Of course, a few good things may come out of Osama’s death. Many have suggested that this “epochal” victory has cemented Obama’s chances for 2012. (If only I, too, could kill someone famous and then be elected president!) More importantly, this will pressure the US government to withdraw its remaining troops from Afghanistan—after all, the hundred thousand men and women there have succeeded in their objective of capturing Osama. A dramatic reduction in defense spending would allow the US government to pay for important social programs instead of funding military contractors. Unfortunately, I fear that this “victory” might inspire an opposite reaction.

President Obama declared in last night’s address to the nation that “this demise should be welcomed by all who believe in peace and human dignity.” I certainly believe in peace—and thus I don’t believe in multinational firefights in foreign countries. I certainly believe in human dignity—and thus I don’t do the Mexican Hat Dance when someone dies.

In fact, rejoicing at someone’s death, even if that person killed others, is reprehensible and abhorrent. I am ashamed that Harvard students took place in extremist patriotism, and I am ashamed at America for reveling in death. America must not accept Osama’s death as a victory without considering the huge loss of life that search entailed, and we must not perpetuate stereotypes of American unfeeling. After all, it should never, ever be patriotic to celebrate death.

Image credit: http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2011/05/02/article-1382652-0BDDC8FA00000578-536_964x563.jpg

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Sandra's favorite HUDS food is Wheatberries and Chives, with Rocky Road Brownies coming in a close second.
  • Volfancpa

    I will agree that in most instances you are correct. However, Bin Laden personified evil. Liberals like you are always going to believe America deserved 9/11 or that our response was unwarranted. You fail to see that without the war effort there would have been more terrorist attacks.

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  • Dhave

    “You fail to see that without the war effort there would have been more terrorist attacks.”

    Fail

  • asdf

    You shouldn’t celebrate the death of another person because of the inherent sanctity to human life. That man had no sanctity left.
    And while you may not be celebrating, it’s uncalled for to call it “abhorrent.” Every person who lost a loved one on 9/11 or in Afghanistan or Iraq was fully justified in feeling justice and celebrating at that man’s death, and so were those that wanted to celebrate with them.

  • guest

    It is not merely just celebrating death. We’re celebrating the lives that have been lost in 9/11, and celebrating the closure that some families have been able to come to after losing a loved one. This celebrating is for all of the children whose parents have been taken from them, all husbands and wives who will never see their spouse again, all the empty seats at the dinner table. We’re not as much celebrating the death of Osama as we are celebrating the courage of the American people, and those who have worked so hard and sacrificed so much to preserve our country.

  • http://saulsparber.com SparBZ

    Regardless of anyone’s rational of celebrating death, it’s hard to overlook that these actions are serving as bait for the next attack. The US would be foolish not to leave the Middle East immediately.

  • Marina Bolotnikova ’14

    Thank you for writing this necessary piece. Yesterday’s celebration in the Yard was truculent and disheartening — a truly embarrassing moment to be a Harvard student.

  • Marina

    Additionally, I encourage people to use better judgment before making a mockery of Jarabe Tapatio.

  • Enikigroce

    Proverbs 11:9-11
    9 With their mouths the godless destroy their neighbors,
    but through knowledge the righteous escape.

    10 When the righteous prosper, the city rejoices;
    when the wicked perish, there are shouts of joy.

    11 Through the blessing of the upright a city is exalted,
    but by the mouth of the wicked it is destroyed.

  • guest

    Psalm 58:10 The righteous will be glad when they are avenged, when they bathe their feet in the blood of the wicked.

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  • Atul

    Thanks for the article, Sandra. Witnessing that rally was the low point in my Harvard career — I was ashamed that anyone — and especially my classmates would think that the death of anyone, terrorist or not, could be considered a victory.

  • Thomasgaudett

    I will agree a little bit that some of the chants were disrespectful and uncalled for. There is no doubt in my mind that some people celebrated last night with the intention of celebrating a death for the sake of revenge.

    However, we must remember that we have engaged in an almost 10 year campaign to defeat Al-Qaeda in Afghanistan, and especially sought the demise of a man who founded this terrorist organization, which has caused the deaths of innocent people in the United States on 9/11 and other nations around the world. Yesterday, we found some victory in this effort. And for this victory, we should be extremely happy and grateful that we are advancing the cause of peace by achieving the demise of terrorists who seek to kill innocent human beings.

    Between the choice of killing Osama bin Laden and leaving him alone in Pakistan, I believe that most would prefer the former, and for good reason. It is likely that the intention was actually to take Osama bin Laden alive. Of course when that is not possible, killing him is the only other viable option. Sandra, even you have seen some good in this, the possibility of a draw down in the number of troops in Afghanistan and an eventual end to the war. That is what people who have supported the war have wanted all along, to find Osama bin Laden and to defeat Al-Qaeda so that we might be able to bring our troops home. I strongly believe that there is right intention in the hearts and minds of most Americans, particularly Harvard students.

    From what I gather from what you said in your article, it seems as though you are not in favor of fighting terrorists who actively seek and have succeed in causing havoc and death in cities around the world, particularly the founders and leaders of these organizations. I feel that that kind of sentiment would do us little good in the world we are in. As someone who believes in hindsight that the Iraq War was a bad idea and as someone who understands that not all that the United States does in war is just, I feel that it unreasonable to suggest that everything we do is unjust. As a believer in Just war doctrine, I do believe that our actions to go into Pakistan to achieve the demise of Osama bin Laden were justified. And therefore, I am satisfied.

    Overall, I am extremely disappointed in those who are defacing mosques and saying disgusting things about a man who is now dead. As a Catholic, an “eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth” mentality is unacceptable. However, last night, we celebrated because we have eliminated a real and serious threat to this nation from the world, a man who killed people and tortured people by inciting fear and terror. Last night, we celebrated the defeat of terrorism, we celebrated the defeat of a terrorist, and we celebrated the small, but increased sense of security we now feel knowing that the man who organized the largest attack on American soil is now gone. Obama called for this nation to re-experience the unity it felt after September 11th. Last night that happened, and this nation breathed a collective sigh of relief that Osama bin Laden is no longer a threat to our security and to the lives of innocent beings.

  • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1012546308 Kip Charles Christianson

    I want to clarify something that I believe is important to note about the death of Osama bin Laden. I believe that the President took the perfect, sober tone for the gravity of the event as he spoke to the world Monday night. The following is something that I had hoped to convey in that same tone from the top of the statue of John Harvard later that night, when I felt moved to call for a moment of silence in the middle of the celebration, but clearly this message deserves further comment.

    Our merrymaking was misplaced if the joy and elation that we expressed was solely because a man, even a despicable, scheming mass-murder, has been killed. His death is not the thing that brings us joy. Even the fact that we have severed the head of the viper that is radicalized religious terror in the form of Al Qaeda is not cause enough for the celebration that we witnessed around the United States and around the world last night.

    The realization that should have been and should be the foundation for our spontaneous, emotional and memorable gatherings last night is that, sad as it is, this accomplishment was required so that we could say that those 5,939 of our nation’s best men and women who have shed their blood and paid the ultimate price in pursuit of this goal have not died in vain. Regardless of your position on the worth of this last decade’s wars, this somber fact is cause for sober celebration.

    Looking forward, there is also cause for joy in hope. We will likely see increases in recruitment to terrorist organizations, retaliation attacks abroad, and possibly here at home. In the face of this, we should be prepared and vigilant, but not anxious. We will also hopefully see the long-term demise of a brand of radicalized terrorists that Osama bin Laden has so effectively financed, and has galvanized against the West over the course of the past twenty-three years since leaving the CIA-backed Mujahideen.

    Even more globally than this, however, there is cause for anticipatory hope that this successful military operation may serve in some way to further the cause of liberty-seekers in the next chapters of the Arab Spring – the pro-liberal-democracy movement that has swept Northern Africa and the Middle East since a young entrepreneur’s self-immolation in Tunisia last December in protest of harassing and oppressive government.

    This wave of brave, courageous uprising ripped through the region like a grassland fire. Like a subtle mist, some tyrants’ forces have tried to silence Liberty’s song, but tear gas and truncheons cannot suppress the fire of freedom that burns, even if only a flicker, in the hearts of every woman and man. If this event can further the cause of liberty, liberal democracy, and self-determination for peoples around the world it will all have been worth the cost.

    Therefore, we who benefit already from the fruits of freedom have a responsibility. Like that fateful day in September nearly a decade ago we must come together, not only as Americans, but as freedom-lovers the world over, to proudly and loudly declare — in solidarity with our dear brothers and sisters in North Africa, the Middle East – “United we Stand,” and we must mean it this time.

  • Allan Bradley

    On hearing the news, I was immediately elated, but I almost as quickly wondered if that was an appropriate emotion to feel at the death of a human being. I decided that the death of Osama bin Laden is the purest victory the US could win in the war on terror. In wars past, we celebrated victories in the trenches of France and the islands of the Pacific because those victories were clear-cut. We knew that we were celebrating the death of foreign young men, but we cheered because the military victory was obviously better than the alternative. Killing was better than dieing. Today, the battle lines of the “War on Terror” are shadier, and every victory is more ambiguous. The combatants themselves are harder to identify, and every time we kill an 18-year-old we wonder why he was fighting us in the first place and how we could have avoided the conflict. The only true, unambiguous villain was Osama bin Laden. In this war, his death is the closest thing we have to a conventional victory, and I think it entirely appropriate to celebrate his death, as we would celebrate any genuine military victory.

    If no military victory is ever worth celebrating because it implies death and destruction, then the display at the John Harvard statue was indeed abhorrent. But insofar as any military victory is worth celebrating, there should be nothing wrong with cheering the death of Osama bin Laden.

    To Kip – I admit I smirked a bit when you called for a moment of silence in front of the John Harvard statue. It seemed like a nice thought that was doomed to failure amidst such rowdiness. But to everyone’s credit, the moment was observed. Thank you for that.

  • Shaunn

    I live in Chicago. ONe of the most dangerous cities in America. An eye for an eye has been the demise of the upbringing of our children here. The message in the celebration of one’s foul deed is only giving them a confirmation that their ways have some validity and more defense to their arguments. They live this life daily and it is taught by our country! There has to be a better way…

  • Anonymous

    I’m glad I’m not the only one who feels horror at the “celebrations.” I’m more worried about what these crazed “patriots” will do than I was about Osama bin Ladan. I also recall that according to Dick Cheney and the FBI, there was never hard proof that Bin Laden engineered 9/11.

  • Guest

    Nice and important article. By reading your article itself, I feel that, Americans enjoyed a lot. Really that is a very good day for Americans.

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  • Genossa Maximillian

    It is all part of our freedom of speech, the freedom to choose to celebrate the death of an evil man by singing, dancing etc. The same way you believe to be more civilized than your peers by writing this condescending piece of rubbish seems to show that you have a problem with freedom of speech. Let them rejoice, let them celebrate, the same way you opt to be bitter about the whole thing. Sandra, you have not proved your intellectual superiority by writing this amusing piece. You have just validated the stereotype of the liberal mental disease. Call me a hawk if you want to, I am proud of it.

  • Genossa Maximillian

    Maybe he was indeed a “horrible person,” No, you are right, maybe not, maybe he was an excellent human being indeed, after all, what evil there is in killing a little bit over 3 thousand innocent people by having a couple of giant airplanes crash against two giant buildings that represents the excess of American culture and greed. Nah, he was not evil, as much as you are not naïve, correct?

  • Pingback: A Reason to Celebrate: Bin Laden’s death was rightfully celebrated as an act of justice and a major victory in the war on Al Qaeda | The Harvard Salient

  • Mithrandir

    Many that live deserve death. And some who die deserve life. Can you give it to them? Then do not be too eager to deal out death in judgement. For even the very wise cannot see all ends.

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