On Monday this country suffered another great loss.
The Boston Marathon bombings left three dead and more than 170 people injured. This nation is far too used to tragedies. Last year we had the Aurora, Colo., shooting, the Newtown, Conn., shooting, and now we face this.
The most important thing is we don’t let ourselves become hardened by these tragedies. Each one should hurt. Each one should anger you. Each one should make you sad. The idea of getting used to such atrocities and accepting them is far worse.
In accepting, we give up. We stop being a caring society. Instead, we note each tragedy with a shake of the head and then move on.
We see this hardening of people already. We see it on Facebook when someone decides to use the tragedy at the Boston Marathon to make some half-brained political status.
On Monday, I saw this post on my Facebook: “I wonder how long it will take for our Congress to now ban marathons or any kind of races now.”
It was this post that made me the saddest. Amongst the tragedy, this person thought it was appropriate to make a stab about how the Newtown shooting started a gun control debate, which this person wasn’t happy about.
This Facebook status stood amidst other people’s statuses that sent thoughts and prayers and exchanged information concerning the bombing.
Don’t let me lead you to believe this one status was the only offensive post — there were many more that I saw. But this person saw nothing wrong with using the lives lost at the Boston Marathon as a means of making a political statement.
This says nothing of how illogical the person’s post is. The gun control debate that spurred after the Newtown shooting is focused on the means, not the setting.
Reactions to tragedy can be different. I choose not to be vocal about it more often than not. Others choose to vocalize their support for those who are suffering. Both are acceptable. What isn’t acceptable is trivializing the issue.
The lives lost are not to be the butt of your joke. They are not to be the soapbox you stand on. The people who died were individuals with lives, opinions and families. The families that are hurting right now don’t need your insensitivity — if anything, they need your support.
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