Lord Knows

A whirlwind of violence has taken over the world as of late. And unless you live under a rock, you most likely have heard of some, if not all, of these tragedies. The Syrian revolution. The genocide of Muslims in Burma. The theater massacre in Aurora, CO. And most recently, the mass shooting inside a Sikh temple in Oak Creek, WI.

Oh and not to mention the staggering fact I heard recently about how more people have been killed in the streets of Chicago than American soldiers in Afghanistan since 2001. Blows your mind right?

Now, I'm not really here to talk about these events or the implications of such events or anything like that. There are plenty of resources for you to look up if you want that aspect. What I wanna talk about are our reactions to such events. And when I say "our," I mean the general public in the United States that aren't really affected directly by these events. Even though we should be.

What do I mean by this? Well, maybe the examples I used aren't great ones. The Colorado shootings had created an uproar in the States as people called for stronger gun control laws. But it's been a couple weeks since the shootings and most of our lives have gone back to normal. The shooter was crazy, that's why he did it. That's our general opinion.

Massacre at a Sikh temple? Oh, the guy was just a white supremacist.

Syrian revolution where thousands of innocent people are getting killed? Oh well, you're bound to have sacrifices in a revolution.

Muslims being killed in Burma? Oh...well, s**t happens.

Another 3 people killed on the south side last night? After 2 people were killed the night before? And probably another 10 by the end of the week? Sucks.

Do you see the problem here? We've become so desensitized to people getting killed that it doesn't bother us anymore. We turn on the news and we can't wait for the reporters to get through who got killed so they can hurry up and get to the sports segment. It doesn't affect us in the slightest that although they may be different in culture and religion than yourself, there are hundreds of thousands of innocent human beings like yourself being slaughtered for being who they are.

Imagine waking up one day to hear a knock on the door. You open it to find men fully dressed in battle gear rush inside your home. You and your family were just eating breakfast a minute ago, and now these men have already slit your father's throat. They've tied your mother up and taken her somewhere to do unspeakable things. Your older brother tries defending your family and gets shot in the head. Your little sister is pushed to the side as she cries in terror.

Seems almost unimaginable right?

Now think about how this is a reality for so many people overseas. Innocent people who are getting slaughtered just because God made them the way they are. Because of their beliefs. Their ideals.

If you can't imagine that, let's go a little closer to home. You're with your friends playing ball after school one day. You hear about gangs and whatnot all the time but you don't let it bother you. You've had gangstas come up to you trying to recruit you but you don't pay them any mind. You're not out to hurt anyone or disrespect anyone, you're just doing you. You're minding your own business. So after going 4-for-5 in basketball this one evening, you decide it's getting late and hop on the Red Line to go home. You're wearing that lame t-shirt they hand out at school and laugh to yourself as you think about how you're probably the only person in the world wearing a lame orange shirt with a dolphin in front. Got your new black Adidas shorts on and those worn out Reeboks you've had for forever. It's only a few weeks till your birthday when you'll get money from family and use it to buy a nice, shiny pair of Nikes. You get off at your stop and start the 3 block walk back to your house. You notice a few guys following you but you don't pay any mind. You're just being paranoid, right? After all, you have no enemies. You're cool with everyone.

The next morning, everyone at school is talking about you. And how you were fatally beaten and your bloody and battered body was found in an alley next to a dumpster. The news is reporting how you were mistaken for a rival gang member because of the colors you were wearing.

Across town, a family is watching the news. A 17 year old kid, mistakenly identified as a gang member, was beaten to death. The channel flips to FOX though because The Simpsons is on at this time. And plus, sports isn't on till 5 minutes before the end of the news broadcast.

There is something seriously wrong with us if we hear the news of death and it doesn't strike a beat in our hearts. Because at that point, we've lost our humanity. When we lose the ability to sympathize, we lose our humanity. When we brush off the news of death just because we hear about it all the time, we lose our humanity. When it doesn't anger us that dozens of people were murdered for no reason, we lose our humanity.

What I wanna do with this post is simply make a call to everyone that's reading this. I wanted to keep this as short as possible because I want this message to be clear and concise. Please do not lose your humanity. Train yourself to the point where whenever you hear the news of someone dying, you take a moment to realize what had just happened. Step in their shoes if you have to. The shoes of the families and friends. The shoes of the victim who could've been you for all you know.

On that note, please pray for humanity as well. Pray for the victims of the theater shooting in Colorado who were just trying to enjoy a fun night out. Pray for the innocent Syrians killed every day and pray they have peace and victory in their quest for fairness and freedom. Pray for the Muslims in Burma so as they don't have to face death because of their beliefs. Pray for the Sikhs in Wisconsin murdered for no reason other than they were different than the shooter. Pray for all of humanity so that we can all accept each other for who we are regardless of beliefs or skin color. Pray that we are not judged by how we look or what religion we choose to follow. Pray that we never lose our sense of humanity. Pray for unity. Pray for peace. For after all, we are all human. At the end of the day, we're all flesh and blood and not one of us is better than the other. No one's right to live is greater than anyone else's. May these senseless killings stop, and may Allah give the righteous victory. Ameen.

Credit to: Hichammm