While I agre with most of what the OP has to say, I have to wonder why she takes issue with the fact that people are asking whether it could happen “here”. Isn’t that what you’re supposed to do after a disaster?
Would you rather nations around the world not check nuclear reactor safety after Chernobyl?
Would you rather airports around the world not check their security procedures after 9/11?
There’s nothing wrong with asking “can it happen here?” - not when the alternative is saying “it can’t happen here”. There’s nothing disrepectful with learning from other peoples’ misfortunes, especially if it’ll help prevent them from recurring.
The examples cited in the OP have nothing to do with any “American” self-preoccupation.
Religious folk anywhere are going to claim divine intervention in the event of their being spared from some disaster, and it will not matter to them if another disaster claims thousands in another part of the world - God, Allah or whomever is still looking out for them.
The local angle is something news organizations always explore when reporting a big story. As Alessan points out, there is often relevance to situations elsewhere in the world. Is America (or Europe) prepared for a tsunami? Is there a warning system?
Of course, obsession with the local angle can get a bit much. When I was a reporter, we called the sillier stories “news for parrots” after the Monty Python routine in which an entire newscast was done from the viewpoint of what was critically important for these birds. “No parrots died today on the M6 highway.”
My objection is that it is too soon. The wave had barely receded, and we’re worried about ourselves. I feel it is disrespectful to the victims of the tragedy to turn the attention to ourselves so quickly. I wanted to hear news from the affected area, not a bunch of breathless stories about Hollywood scenarios.
I took the “can it happen here?” as a natural reaction to a disaster and not as an implication that it can’t happen here because “God is on our side.”
Speaking of God, though, I would like to hear a rational explanation as to why a kind, loving God would permit (cause?) a disaster that left 24,000+ dead, thousands missing, and millions without homes.
OK, I’m sorry, but I just will not believe that without a cite. Even back in the early '80s, the newscaster would have been promptly fired for saying something like that.
Slightly on a tangent, but did anyone else notice the front page on MSN today? It’s gone now, but there was a link earlier that said (paraphrasing) “20,000 killed in tsunami. Many kids among the dead.”
'Cause, you know, I had sort of assumed that when a wave the size of a mountain wipes a city off the face of the Earth, only the grown-ups would get hurt.
Clumsy writing perhaps, but there are a disproportionally large amount of children among the dead. When the water receeded before the wave, a lot of children on the beaches ran out to explore the exposed seabed. Combine that with them not being fast enough to outrun the water, or strong enough to hold on to something when the wave hit and you end up with a lot dead kids.
"Another day Pat [Kelly] came into the dugout all excited after hitting a home run and said the Lord had been looking out for him.
“‘Yeah,’ I said, ‘and what about that poor sonuvabitch on the mound who threw you that high slider? We better not be counting on God. He always knows who’s gonna win. We’re just acting it out so 26 million people will pay to get through them ballpark gates.’”
–Earl Weaver, It’s What You Learn After You Know It All That Counts
As the admin at work said, “It could be the start of the apocalypse!” She also was talking to my manager about the reports of the earth’s rotation changing and added “We could all go out spinning into space!”
I really had to bite my tongue.
Back on topic. On ABC radio news, I hear a woman interviewed whose son was running late for an appointment at the WTC on September 11 who also survived the tsunami. She said “he must have 9 lives” which I thought was a more sensitive response, though she followed it up with the “someone looking out for him” bit.
When I first heard this news, it was reported that something like 14,000 people had died (yes, I know the toll is higher now) including 11 Americans. That frustrated me.
Here’s a story – Denny Crum drops dead and rises up to heaven. St. Peter is showing him around heaven, “We’re all very pleased to see you,” he says, “We’re huge college basketball fans up here. We’ve got a place of honor for a hall of fame coach like you.”
St. Peter shows him to a tiny little cottage decorated with a couple of U. of Louisville flags. Denny’s a little non-plussed, especially when he notices the enormous mansion on the hill above him. It’s painted Kentucky blue and white and festooned with thousands of UK flags, banners and posters.
“I don’t mean to complain,” Denny says to St. Peter, “But how come I get this tiny cottage and Tubby Smith gets that huge mansion?”
“Oh no,” St. Peter says, “That’s not Tubby’s house. It’s God’s.”
