Brett's Discernment

I am going to set aside some major caveats as to this blog entry. . .
First of all, I think the tragic events of 4/16 at VT are horrible. The outpouring of support is encouraging to all those of the community and for the state/world community as a whole. I, just like everyone else, have prayed fervently for everyone affected by this tragedy. There are not words for the shock and deep sadness of all affected.

Unfortunately (or not?) I feel drastically less affected than those around me and, seemingly, in the world as a whole. It is not that I do not mourn for the families and friends of the dead. Lately though, my faith has changed my idea of death and I see little point in mourning the dead themselves - as they are simply dead until Christ comes again to raise us into eternal life, in his grace. I realize that the coverage of this VT news is related to its shock value resonating from its locus on a college campus, which we assume to be a safe, nurturing environment.
Yet there are some things that bother me about all this . . . and they have been nagging!

First of all, there are a wide amount of media coverage of different types which refer to "32 dead" or "32 victims" or praying for the families of the "32" . . . There were 33 people killed. One was a suicide, but the nature of his sin does not mean that we should pray any less fervently for his friends and family. It is his family that I have been praying most for. Can you imagine the sharp complexity of their grief on every level? And for Cho to be left out from the death tolls hurts me.

Second, this "today we are all hokies" thing going around the online communities as well as email, cartoons, etc. Really? are we all Hokies? Yes we all can sympathize with the loss, and many people were touched in some way by this tragedy, but isn't this just bandwagoning in a sense? I realize that people are trying to show support, but I think it is a rather inane, unrelated way to show it. I'm not a Hokie, I'm not a part of the community. I'm a member of the Tribe (feathers and all!), and I don't think changing my identity will make me more sympathetic or help those affected in any way. That said, I think it is a good ethical practice to put yourself in someone else's shoes, especially if they are less fortunate. So . . . I will be a Hokie if you will be an Iraqi . . . or is that too uncomfortable?

Bombings in a food market in the Sadriya district of Baghdad were one of the bloodiest attacks in the four-year period of the war. The bombing occurred in a food market - people were doing their midday shopping - civilians - mothers and children, men on their lunch or afternoon breaks, teenagers picking up a snack or walking on the street. We can relate to this as well, shopping . . . of course this market had been bombed in February as well, killing 140, and was almost rebuilt. On this day, not 48 hours after the news was just starting to come out about VT, 200 died and countless (literally, as accurate casualty counts are not taken in Iraq these days) others wounded. The BBC article I linked to in this blog says:

A witness said the area had been turned into "a swimming pool of blood".

The attacks came as PM Nouri Maliki said Iraqi forces would take control of security across Iraq by the year's end.

"This monstrous attack today did not distinguish between the old and young, between men and women," he said.

"It targeted the population in a way that reminds us of the massacres and genocide committed by the former dictatorship."

Those people were living out their every day lives, and they were civilians. I feel like people in our country forget about the civilian death toll in Iraq. This is not about whether or not I believe America should be embroiled in the conflict over there. This is about tragedy, and media coverage, and what wins the hearts and support of the American public. I cannot imagine the daily suffering of an Iraqi citizen in the midst of dangerous areas. To feel like living where you do is part of your identity, family, and total life, and yet be constantly fearful, or to not have the luxury of taking for granted all that we do.

Below is a chart, also from the BBC, about the civilian death toll in Iraq. Although the asterisk makes it seem as only the bottom figure is of civilian deaths, through reading the article it explains that all three figures are of civilian deaths, but it is hard to tell who is civilians all the time. Of course, I heard a report on NPR the other day about how the Iraqi health ministry only reports about 70% at best of deaths that come through the morgues, and that percentage is only of those persons who have already been identifed. These totals soar above those hurt on 9/11, not to mention those hurt at VT, whose names I have now heard, whose pictures I have seen . . . I don't know that I've ever seen a similar profile done of an Iraqi killed in a tragic, civilian death. Part of this of course is because this is close to home for us Virginians, however I thought this BBC article was interesting regarding the lack of coverage "Iraq's 'darkest day'" received from European newspapers.

Have we become desensitized? Do we not care? Do we only get awoken when it hits close to home? Do others see Iraqis as enemy, hence not even Iraqi civilians are worthy of news coverage?


















I do not mean to offend anyone or deny sorrow over Virginia Tech's recent tragedies. I have been praying with everyone else for these people. I would just like everyone to pray a little more for the world.