Since nearly no one is talking about it... (Read 1266 times)

xor


    The world is full of good.  And some amount of evil.

     

    I can feel outrage and sadness... and not post on facebook about it.  Heck, the main reason why I ditched facebook was that I felt too connected to faux drama and too disconnected from real life.

     

    Anyway, in my corner of the world, there is outrage.  Not just that some folks don't seem to know the difference between Muslims and Sikhs and not just that Sikhism is one of the world's most tolerant-of-others religions but also that so much violence was perpetuated.  It is wrong.

     

    It was also wrong when that dude shot up Ft Hood.  Or, back about 20 years ago, when a wholly different dude went into a Lubys near Ft Hood and shot a bunch of (mostly old) people for... well, we never did figure that one out.

     

    I don't think I'd be a better person if I posted about this in facebook.

     

    Shocking and sad. 

     

    And the world is full of good because we help make it so.

     


    Feeling the growl again

      Not sure this is the proper response from the Sikh's, but I understand the anger and disappointment.

      I think they're burning a picture of the US flag and blaming the US for not protecting Sikh's.

       

      Bad situation, but India blaming the US for this incident seems like a little irrational.

      (We struggle to protect anybody from crazy people).

       

      Not only irrational but hippocritical (cast system, slums and all).  I have to wonder if such things would even be newsworthy there and in many other countries, as long as the victims belonged to certain groups.

      "If you want to be a bad a$s, then do what a bad a$s does.  There's your pep talk for today.  Go Run." -- Slo_Hand

       

      I am spaniel - Crusher of Treadmills

       

        I'm one of the fb friends who did not post about it. We were on the road home from a concert in Dallas, and we listen to the iPod while traveling, so no news on the radio. I didnt know. But honestly, I usually don't post a status about things like that on fb. It's definitely not that I don't care. I just don't post about it. I also didn't post about Colorado. I felt horrible about it, and prayed for the victims' loved ones, as I do when I hear of any tragedy. And if it makes a difference, I didn't post about Ft Hood--even though my beloved nephew was stationed there, one building away from the shooting, in fact. We didn't even know if he was alive. I just didn't feel like going to fb with that. I guess what I'm trying to say is that I don't feel a person's fb status, or lack thereof, determines whether or not s/he cares about humanity. I mostly use my fb for lighthearted stuff.


        Am I doing this right?

          This is the exact reason I deleted my FB account.  I don't care to be judged based off what I decide to type on some website for everyone to see.  I'm kind of a private person to begin with and I found status updates terribly intrusive.  But because I choose not to share my every thought on the internet, I don't want, or need, anyone thinking poorly of me.

           

          Is this really how we are going to judge people now?  FB and Twitter seem like way more trouble than they are worth for anyone.  We now have Olympic athletes being judged by what they decide to post on Twitter and kicked out of the olympics.  It all just seems very surreal to me.

           

          Maybe I'm just old fashioned.

          No excuses....

            I'm one of the fb friends who did not post about it. We were on the road home from a concert in Dallas, and we listen to the iPod while traveling, so no news on the radio. I didnt know. But honestly, I usually don't post a status about things like that on fb. It's definitely not that I don't care. I just don't post about it. I also didn't post about Colorado. I felt horrible about it, and prayed for the victims' loved ones, as I do when I hear of any tragedy. And if it makes a difference, I didn't post about Ft Hood--even though my beloved nephew was stationed there, one building away from the shooting, in fact. We didn't even know if he was alive. I just didn't feel like going to fb with that. I guess what I'm trying to say is that I don't feel a person's fb status, or lack thereof, determines whether or not s/he cares about humanity. I mostly use my fb for lighthearted stuff.

             Same here. I've been on vacation and didn't pay a bit of attention to the news until I got back. I never post stuff like that on Facebook though. I never post anything political on there either because I simply don't see the point. People who believe the same things I do already agree with me and I'm certainly not going to change someone's mind who doesn't. Politics on Facebook is just annoying. 

             

            I don't think any lack of outrage is due to hatred or racism, I think people simply don't identify with it as much. While it is a tragedy and the guy was obviously a whackjob, the Sikh religion is a relatively uncommon one in the US, so people don't sit there and think, "I could have been that person who got shot!" Whereas in Colorado, the people in the theater were simply doing what millions of other Americans were planning on doing that same weekend, going to see the opening of a new movie. Literally millions of people "could have been one of those people" so it's something that hits a little closer to home. That doesn't make people uncaring or racist, just human. Whether they are a different religion or race or whatever, my thoughts and prayers still go out to the victims and their families, just the same as those in Colorado. 

              Not only irrational but hippocritical (cast system, slums and all).  I have to wonder if such things would even be newsworthy there and in many other countries, as long as the victims belonged to certain groups.

               

              Sikhs are in part based on being just about as opposite as a person can be from having a caste system.

               

              I'm sure people just get mad and don't know what to do.  For every person pictured burning a flag like poster there's about ten million people who aren't doing that.  We make the same reactions here despite having far more technology.  We think tourists are in grave peril in some countries because of scattered events.  We can sometimes get the wrong impression about people.  It happens. 

               

               

               

               

              AnneCA


                Am I understanding the basic objections here to be:  "it's not that people are racist, it's just that it can be hard to empathize with people who are different than you." 

                 

                . . . .  That's a lot to think about right there.

                  Am I understanding the basic objections here to be:  "it's not that people are racist, it's just that it can be hard to empathize with people who are different than you." 

                   

                  . . . .  That's a lot to think about right there.

                   This is definitely a good point. Maybe we could all use this horrible event to learn a little about a group of people who may believe something a little differently than we do. But while I am no expert in psychology, I would assume that this is simply human nature, not something malicious or evil.

                   

                  As runners, if we read a story about a fellow runner being hit by a car, that probably affects us more than non-runners, because again, that could have been us. Whereas a surfer might be more concerned with a story about another surfer being attacked by a shark. The Navy helicopter crash in Oman last month probably hit closer to home for myself and other military spouses than it did the general public. That doesn't mean people don't care though. 

                   

                  Absolutely no one should have to fear for their life at their place of worship, whether that's a temple, a church, a synagogue, or anywhere. The person we should really be angry with is dead now so perhaps our concern is better directed towards those who have lost loved ones rather than against other fellow Americans. 

                    Am I understanding the basic objections here to be:  "it's not that people are racist, it's just that it can be hard to empathize with people who are different than you." 

                     

                    . . . .  That's a lot to think about right there.

                     

                    I think it depends on what you're counting as different.  I don't think the people here were implying empathizing had anything to do with people not being (or not being) a particular race or religion.  It's more that people relate to something they do or a situation they are likely to be in or a place they know etc. 

                     

                    For example, a woman was raped in Oxford on Saturday.  The rape took place at about 6:30am along a road where I run very regularly (on my own).  Every case of rape shocks me, but this one had an additional feeling attached to it because it occurred somewhere I regularly go and had that been where I was running that morning I may have witnessed something and been able to help in some way (or indeed, your mind wonders whether it could have been me, and then you feel selfish for having that thought).   Or, recently, some close friends suffered the heartache of a stillborn child...a horrible situation for any couple, but, as these were my friends I shed more tears than had it been people I did not know personally (again, selfish, but I don't think we could possibly exist or survive if we reacted the same to every saddening situation).  Heck, on a really shallow level, I empathize more now with runners when they're whingeing about being injured and unable to run than I ever did when I wasn't a runner....

                     

                    MTA: And sorry, iloverunwods said all this much better than I have, but somehow I missed the post (serves me right for not refreshing before posting).

                     "Don't walk in front of me; I may not follow.  Don't walk behind me; I may not lead.  Just walk beside me and be my friend."


                    Feeling the growl again

                      Sikhs are in part based on being just about as opposite as a person can be from having a caste system.

                       

                       

                      My comment was directed at outrage by India in general.  Granted I have not really looked into it but I would be surprised if it were the Sikhs marching angrily in the streets and taking a sword to the US flag.

                       

                      MTA:  My general point was that it gets a bit old to see such a reaction against the US when it is not like the places doing the complaining don't have the exact same issues...if not worse...painted in slightly different colors.

                      "If you want to be a bad a$s, then do what a bad a$s does.  There's your pep talk for today.  Go Run." -- Slo_Hand

                       

                      I am spaniel - Crusher of Treadmills

                       

                      zoom-zoom


                      rectumdamnnearkilledem

                        Am I understanding the basic objections here to be:  "it's not that people are racist, it's just that it can be hard to empathize with people who are different than you." 

                         

                        . . . .  That's a lot to think about right there.

                         

                         

                        This is my concern.  And people keep feeling the need to defensively point out that they, personally, never have posted re: previous shootings.  Fine.  That's not my issue, and never was.  My beef is the fact that even 2 weeks before the Sikh church shooting there were enormous numbers of people collectively falling all over themselves to post items expressing grief and support for the CO theater shooting victims, and this has been the case for at least the past 5 years every time a similar tragedy occurs.  So in the ensuing 2 weeks before the Sikh tragedy all of those hundreds of unrelated people suddenly changed their MO in terms of how to respond on social media to a horrific act of violence?  I'm not buying it.

                         

                        I am not Sikh (in terms of religious belief I don't really believe anything and am married to an atheist), so I don't emphasize with these people based upon ethnicity or religion.  I empathize because they were a group of people gathered together peacefully and were targeted because of who they were or who the shooter believed them to be.  This event is being deemed domestic terrorism, but at its core it's also a hate crime.  The non-randomness of this tragedy is particularly awful.  Had the scenario been reversed (minority shooter going after a more mainstream US religion/ethnicity) I don't think we'd be having this discussion at all.

                        Getting the wind knocked out of you is the only way to

                        remind your lungs how much they like the taste of air.    

                             ~ Sarah Kay

                          This is my concern.  And people keep feeling the need to defensively point out that they, personally, never have posted re: previous shootings.  Fine.  That's not my issue, and never was.  My beef is the fact that even 2 weeks before the Sikh church shooting there were enormous numbers of people collectively falling all over themselves to post items expressing grief and support for the CO theater shooting victims, and this has been the case for at least the past 5 years every time a similar tragedy occurs.  So in the ensuing 2 weeks before the Sikh tragedy all of those hundreds of unrelated people suddenly changed their MO in terms of how to respond on social media to a horrific act of violence?  I'm not buying it.

                           

                          I am not Sikh (in terms of religious belief I don't really believe anything and am married to an atheist), so I don't emphasize with these people based upon ethnicity or religion.  I empathize because they were a group of people gathered together peacefully and were targeted because of who they were or who the shooter believed them to be.  This event is being deemed domestic terrorism, but at its core it's also a hate crime.  The non-randomness of this tragedy is particularly awful.  Had the scenario been reversed (minority shooter going after a more mainstream US religion/ethnicity) I don't think we'd be having this discussion at all.

                           

                          Please read iloverunwoods post... and hoppity's as they seem to explain what other's (like me) are unable to put in words. 

                           

                          What's more important is that the mainstream media has not swept this story under the carpet (and they haven't).

                          What's more important is that our government leaders are talking to the leaders in India to explain that it was a nutjob within our nation rather than the prevailing thought among people within our nation.

                           

                          The incident had to do with a crazy American.  He was one of "ours", but he was not like us.  He was evil.  He was a terrorist.

                           

                          What's less important is what we write on FaceBook or Twitter or RunningAhead.  There are social / pychological reasons why we post what we post, and I think that iloverunwoods and hoppity tried to explain it.

                           

                          (I can't believe I'm replying to this post and defending my thoughts... Jeez....)

                          Life Goals:

                          #1: Do what I can do

                          #2: Enjoy life

                           

                           

                          zoom-zoom


                          rectumdamnnearkilledem

                            The point I'm trying to make, which seems to be getting lost, is that the difference in reaction for 2 similar tragedies so close together is disturbing, at least to me it is.  Yes, the media is giving it the coverage it deserves.  That is good.  And we're all learning more about the Sikh religion and culture.  That is also good.  But I think it IS important that we don't apply particular standards to how we (in large terms) respond to one horrific shooting and then apply different standards to a similar shooting just weeks later, simply because the "actors" and setting are different (which is what appears to be happening if one is looking at social media as a metric, and I don't think discounting FB outright is a good approach.  FB is a an accessible measure of Western culture, sociology, and communication in many ways).  Those differences are cultural constructs.  Ultimately the basics of the scenarios were the same...innocent people gathered in a building were trapped and targeted by 1 sick individual.  1 of those events receives huge outpourings of attention from the general public on the platform of Facebook (I'm not talking about the mainstream media at all, here, to be clear), the other...*crickets*  Perhaps this is not the case on other social networks, but it's what I've observed on FB.  YMMV.

                            Getting the wind knocked out of you is the only way to

                            remind your lungs how much they like the taste of air.    

                                 ~ Sarah Kay

                              I can't believe that Facebook'ers aren't talking about this story!  

                              http://news.yahoo.com/military-19-killed-central-nigeria-church-092638944.html

                               

                              (and yes, I'm trying to make a point)

                              Life Goals:

                              #1: Do what I can do

                              #2: Enjoy life

                               

                               

                                I must've misunderstood the original post, then. I thought the issue was people posting tons of stuff about other shootings, mainly involving Caucasian victims, then posting nothing about this. If I came across as defensive, well, being a FB friend of yours who didn't post about it, I thought I was being called a bigot. I guess I just felt the need to say, "Hey, I didn't post about this because I generally don't post about these topics. Not because I'm a bigot." Hope that makes sense. Smile