I think it’s perfectly natural to have a more visceral reaction to tragedy in places/cultures which are similar to yours. Not out of any racist justification, mind you, but because empathy is that much easier. New York, London, whatever, they’re all places that we as westerners could theoreticaly find ourselves. “That could’ve been me!” “Those poor people, they were just trying to get through rush hour like I do every day.” etc…
On the other hand, places that are that ‘different’ are hard to internalize. Yes, X number of deaths in the Sudan are horrible, but for many they occupy the space of Abstraction-Land. I think this has much more to do with simple human nature than any imagined racism. And while people may want to claim that we should have enough emotional energy to mourn everybody, for most of us, that’s impossible. Say what you want, but “That could’ve been me!” will always be easier for many to empathize with than “They’re killing people over a religion that isn’t mine in some foreign kingdom.”
I’m sorry. I was responding to question (raised in regards to a nother post) about why Londoners might have been celebrating on that day. They were celbrating the Olympic descision.
I was referring to London’s being awarded the 2012 Olympics the day before, beating out New York and Paris, among other cities. It was rather a big deal, and the reason London would have been making headlines on Thursday if some subhuman creatures hadn’t decided to let loose an inarticulate howl by killing people without explanation. I remember how proud and happy I was when I heard it and how I commented to someone that I thought perhaps one reason London got it was because London was perceived as being at a lower risk of terrorism than Paris. Twelve hour later, I was proven wrong.
You don’t have to tell me about insularity; you and I live in the same part of the U.S. and we both know there are plenty of people around here who’ve probably never travelled more than 30 miles from their home, not counting Florida. Frankly, yes, some of them probably do count Iraqi and Afghani lives as being worth a lot less than American and British lives, and no, I don’t remember any offers to fly the Spanish flag after the attacks on Madrid. On the other hand, Bob wasn’t talking about those folks; he(?) was talking to us and accusing us of not caring about those who were different. He was wrong.
Siege, I’ve been reading your posts for a long time now, and I can’t think of a more compassionate/level headed Doper. In my astoundment of bob’s rant against my thread, it never ocurred to me to think of the Prayers …
I’m a cradle Episcopalian. I was baptised when I was all of a week old. I’ve met some of the gentlest, most compassionate, big vision people in that Church.
I don’t know if any one remembers when James Meredith tried to integrate that bastion of pure whiteness which was Ole Miss (at the time). The dang governor stood in the school-house door and denied him admission.
As you can figure, riots ensued.
However. I don’t tell y’all this to re-hash old history. I tell you this to let you know that the pastor of our church, Father Duncan Gray of St. Peters of Oxford, stood tall and spoke out. He spoke out against racism and oppression. For this, he recieved death threats etc.
This was the man leading our church. To me, he was bigger than life. He taught me the true meaning of loving your brother man, even if you were worlds apart and didn’t know each others’ names.
So that is why I was most astounded at bob’s raving in the flag thread. He simply did not take the time to get to know us before he went off. sigh
:Blushes furiously: :o To say anything more would be witnessing, although I will say that everyone is welcome in my church. It’s part of our policy of “Radical Hospitality”.
If anyone’s interested in discussing the differences among America’s responses to the bombings in London, Madrid, and Bali, I’ve opened a thread in GD to do just that.
Even the lowest common denominator can still vote, and everyone is entitled to their opinion. You’d do well to listen to talk radio and figure out what people are thinking. I listen to it at work. In most cases it drives me nuts and I end up arguing with the radio but it still gives me an idea about what’s going on.
I used to think the same thing until I found some good talk radio. The Paul Harris Show on KMOX St. Louis–he calls it “talk radio for people who never thought they’d listen to talk radio.”