Sunday Thoughts

One of the better characteristics of human beings is the ability to feel sympathy for complete strangers. To shudder at a tragedy, to spare a few moments to feel sorrow for the people and their families, and to wish things like that didn't happen. I think anyone who doesn't show this sympathy—this empathy—has something wrong with them.

When I see in the wake of some tragedy people who are avid to discuss all aspects of the victim's lives, frequently in a deragatory manner, it makes me ashamed of my race. When I hear a person who calls themselves Christian daring to call a major tragedy a judgement on the human race, it makes me ashamed of my religion—you can add that to the pile of reasons why I had trouble with Christianity for so long.

Sometimes it seems like the less we know someone, the easier it is to forget that they were real people. For instance, for a real example, there's Michael Jackson. He was a real person who had a lousy childhood, obviously had some seriously psychological issues, and whose family now has to deal with both his early demise and all the people who want to loudly discuss those things. Yes, he was famous, for many reasons, but that doesn't make him a non-person, and it certainly doesn't make his family non-people. These are people deserving of sympathy and empathy for what they're going through. How would you feel if someone you loved died and the next day there were thousands of strangers talking about that time he got drunk at the office party and gave his CEO a wedgie?

I see the same problem with people who sort of shrug off the demise of thousands of people in an earthquake because, y'know, it didn't happen here. They're strangers; why should we care, right?

Maybe because each of those strangers was a human being. And if you're a decent person, there should at least be a few moments where you feel for them, and for their loved ones. You don't have to obsess over it, you don't have to rush out and do something about it (though if you can, one hopes you would), but you should, at least, feel that basic kinship with other human beings that lets you sorrow for bad things happening to other people.

And if you're a Christian, and you're one of those who likes to gossip in public about the people whom these tragedies hit, shame on you. If you're a Christian, and you're one of those who likes to feel justified by tragedies because "they had it coming to them", shame on you. That's not Christian behavior. And someone out there who could be shown an example of good Christian behavior is now wondering if all Christians are like that. Is that what you really want?