#PrayForParis
#PrayForBrussels
#PrayForCharleston
#PrayForJapan
#PrayForSandyHook
#PrayForKenya
#PrayForMH360 (Malaysia Airlines flight
that went missing)
#PrayForSanBernadino
And now... #PrayForOrlando
Don't get me wrong. I understand that
there's violence and tragedy everywhere, every day. And every
instance of senseless violence, death and tragedy and the people
impacted deserve our compassion and prayers. And there are certain
events or situations that are more egregious than others, that
require us as humans to put forth a little extra in our prayers.
But the truth of the matter is that
mass shootings in the United States, and terror attacks globally,
have become so commonplace that it's hard to keep up.
We've become almost immune to school
shootings, whether they're at high schools or colleges/universities.
Instead of shock and horror, we almost shrug our shoulders and wonder
what bullied (usually) boy/man was pushed over the edge? How could
his family/friends/loved ones not see what was happening? We condemn
the shooter, of course, and mourn his victims. But we also give lip
service to the issue of mental health and how mental health disorders
and treatments need to be destigmatized. I won't go into the racial
aspect of this... the majority of these mass shootings are
perpetrated by white men and are almost never tagged officially as
acts of terror, whereas official acts of terror are typically
attributed to a person of color and even then, it's their victims who
will determine how outraged we are by the act. Paris and Brussels and
of course, NYC? Immediate global outrage. Anywhere in the Middle East
or Africa? Barely a blip on the scroll at the bottom of our TVs that
it even happened... but I digress.
ALL this shit is terrorism. Every act
of violence or intimidation is terrorism. When there's a victim,
there is terrorism. Stalkers are terrorists. Rapists are terrorists!
Even when the rapist is packaged as a white, All-American athlete.
Rape is not sex, and it's not “action”. It is an act of terror.
Don't believe me? Ask anyone who's been raped, why they're afraid to
go out alone, or at all. Why they have extra locks on their windows
and doors. Why they have a moment of anxiety every time a man touches
them. But I digress again, my apologies.
Do we need to pray for those who find
themselves in places like Paris or Brussels (or Kabul or Somalia or
Nigeria or...) when attacks are carried out? Of course we do. But we
can't just care after the fact. We have to come together in peace and
love, and pray before we're putting people in the ground. We have to
pray for everyone... including the ones who are planning these
attacks because they need it the most. They've given in to hatred and
despair. We have to pray for people who are masquerading as leaders
or would-be leaders, and the people who support them. We have to pray
that love and sense can overcome the fear and ignorance. People who
still scream that Obama's coming to take their guns, as +50 funerals
are being planned in Orlando.... as the streets of Chicago become
more dangerous.... We have to pray that people like Donald Trump who,
regardless of how you may feel about him, has a platform that he can
use to continue to fan the flames of hate and ignorance like he has
been, or he can use it to try to acknowledge the differences between
us while searching for ways to unite us, like President Obama has
done and continues to do.
This is a scary world, and it gets
scarier every day. Prayer is great. Please pray, every day, for all
of us. And when you're done praying, get up, get out and DO something
that will reflect what you've been praying for.
