I think that different countries and cultures have different ways of dealing with bereavement. Some women wear black for the rest of their lives once their husband dies, hence the black widow. Here, bereavement is an enormous sadness, and even though I’m a nonbeliever, I’ll always go to the funeral of someone who played an important part in my life. The period between death and funeral is awful. The funeral provides the means of drawing the line under it, and moving on. But generally, we don’t make much fuss. I could have posted about the British police officer who was shot dead by an American fugitive of US justice last December, but I did not. It's just one of those things.
But I’m now noticing quite a number of “prayer” threads popping up on this BBS, and it always seem to be when ONE American life has been lost or is in jeopardy, whether that life be that of a man, woman or even a cat. Of course, we are sympathetic in these cases. I know what it's like to lose a relative, and a cat, but I don't post about it on this board or ask for "prayers".
Although this BBS represents an international community, it is tainted with a strong spirit of American nationalism. (Note the difference between nationalism and patriotism - I have nothing against patriotism) So when ONE American life is lost or jeopardised, the call goes up for prayers. But when a tragedy occurs in another part of the world such as Madrid, we see threads popping up making fun of the situation. Threads like
this, or
this one in which the Spanish were merely castigated for voting as they did in the aftermath of the Madrid train bombing tragedy. Such is the two-faced nature of this board.
But I digress. The topic is prayers for lives lost or in jeopardy. Of course I am no less sympathetic than the next man when it comes to these delicate issues. But do we have to have a bleeding heart prayer thread about it, or a minute's silence every time someone dies?
Same thing happens on the "other" board, so it's not just here. I get visions of everyone forming a circle and joining hands for a group weep. And I am reminded of the later episodes of Starsky and Hutch, after they got told to tone down the violence. Hardly a week would go by without Paul Michael Glaser blubbering into the camera.
Let's get a sense of proportion, guys. We've all got our heroes, and we've all got our loved ones. I've always considered bereavement a personal and private matter.
But if we're going to have prayer threads every time an American life is lost or jeopardised, can we perhaps spare a thought for the rest of the world when tragedy strikes, and not make fun of the situation or dismiss another nation as "stupid"?
There. I feel better for getting that off my chest. But I know how this is going to end up, so...
...IN
