Terrorism brings out the worst in the world but it also brings out the best in the world. Terror attacks stir up emotions inside people around the world, even if they aren’t even personally connected to the tragedy. There is a pattern that has formed since day one. The pattern can be seen in several stages.
First stage, people immediately tweet out their RIP message to the world on Facebook and Twitter. Pundits say this doesn’t show any real concern for the victims and their families. There are other ways of showing concern. USF hosted a very moving vigil last Wednesday. People then call on people to give blood, which is a great response but how sincere is it really? When you give blood during these tragic events, have you given blood when the Blood Bank bus is at your campus, mall or at your movie theater? For some, probably not.
There are also those who change their Facebook photo to include a transparent image of a flag representing the country or state where the attack took place. For those of you who do that, I say either do it for all attacks that you know about or don’t do it at all. How much does it really mean? Do families of the victims really care that you changed your Facebook photo to include the flag of Florida?
The Second stage, Government gets involved. This includes both Democrats and Republicans. As usual, the president delivers a message to America usually saying “My thoughts and prayers go out to the victims,” or “We will not stop until we bring the perpetrators to justice.” Both sides then argue over gun control and equal rights.
The third and final stage occurs over time. America begins to forget what happened in San Bernardino, Orlando, Waco, New York. Do you remember how many people died in San Bernardino or even Waco? Do you still remember the victims who died in New York? Do you take a moment of silence every September to remember those lost in New York and Libya? So when you consider publicly sharing your sympathies for the victims, how about consider doing so in a way that is meaningful (hold a vigil, give blood, or even just take time out of your day to think about those lost). Always remember those lost in terror attacks in places outside of your neighborhood, city, state and even country.
