Last week saw yet more evidence that humans can be insane towards one another. In Boston, during a foot race. Why did that seem to be a good terrorist event?
Then in Texas there was a fire, likely an accident, sigh. There are of course many different kinds of accidents that can befall us-fall in the bath tub and drown, fall down the steps and break your neck.
Then there are natural disasters, earthquakes that shatter cities and the people within them (Christchurch will never be the same.) Here in my part of the world there could be an earthquake-the New Madrid fault along the Mississippi River hasn't had even a minor adjustment since the 1950's-but more likely would be an F5 tornado like the one that hit Joplin. If I lived a bit further to the west I would worry, a lot, about fires. Then there are floods, hurricanes, blizzards. . .you get the idea. Accidents and acts of nature while life changing are easier to understand. We all pick up the pieces the best we can and go on, not really much choice.
Terrorism, wars, mass murder and man's general inhumanity to man are harder to accept. I really believe with all my heart that humans are good, that all these horrible things are done by a tiny percentage of the total human population of earth. Boston was created by two brothers, who knows why. Sandy Hook by one guy having a pity party. September 11, 2001 by a small group of religious fanatics. There has been a lot of talk on Facebook about just this, great quotes from Ghandi and Mr Rogers (Love this one-"Look for the helpers, there will always be someone running to the trouble to help." Really true.) While I am saddened by such events I cannot let them rule my life for if I do then not only will I ruin my life but they will have Won. To quote Her Royal Highness Queen Elizabeth of England "Keep calm and carry on." That is the only choice I can make.
Terrorists should take note of the fact that the people of the United States DO NOT give up just because we are frightened, we just come back--stronger.
1 comment:
We will always be at the mercy of the natural forces on our planet. Those that survive such events carry on for the survival of the species as we have done since creatures first appeared on the Earth hundreds of millenia ago.
I'm less inclined to believe in *accidents* as I get older. They are usually the result of actions, or inactions, which have consequences.
Not sharpening your kitchen knife will eventually lead to you cutting yourself as the blade slips whilt you are cutting; speeding or driving drunk will result in your own injury/death or that of others; sloppy maintenance of a dangerous chemical plant will cause a catastrophe; perhaps home schooling a single child who doesn't learn how to socialise with others creates a person with the inability to empathise or understand the suffering of others; embracing a totalitarian ideology or fundamentalist belief system means abandoning reason and rational thought.
All humans have the capacity for acts of violence - it's our self-preservation mechanism. What keeps most of us in check is self-discipline and the constraints of the society in which we live.
I was moved by the story of the man in the cowboy hat in Boston who went to the aid of those injured; a man who has lost two sons in tragic circumstances. A man so filled with grief and yet all that was forgotten when others were in need.
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