Daily Truth May 28, 2022
It's best to be quiet when you don't know what you're talking about.
This was a tragic week. I heard of the shooting in Uvalde, Texas via my husband who was told by a tenant of ours, after fixing his television connection. We don’t turn on the TV, so we had no clue this horrific event had occurred. I am also steering clear of social media for the most part so I tabled reading more about this event until the end of the week. Contrary to popular belief, we don’t have to stop everything we’re doing because we now have news bombarding us 24/7. (This might have something to do with the lack of productivity, as well as feelings of depression and anxiety that is sweeping the world - but I digress.) It wasn’t until this morning that I sat down to catch up on what I had been missing for the week. I’m sorry I checked.
Instead of images of the precious children senselessly slain in this act that can only be described as pure evil, I saw politicians pontificating at the podium. Rather than tributes to the educators whose lives were obliterated, I read tweet after tweet of nonsensical bickering about gun control. Granted, it has already been a full 3 days since the horrific event, that’s plenty of time for grief. We need to get busy pointing fingers and politicizing this.
As I read posts by everyone from Obama, to casual acquaintances, friends and those I do not know, I felt complete and utter repulsion. If only all these people were gathered in an auditorium where I could scream at the top of my lungs, “shut the fuck up!”
A mere 24 hours after a crazed killer mutilated 19 children with gun fire, our previous President needed to remind us that George Floyd was also murdered two years ago.
The death of these children fell on the wrong day it appears. He needed to remind us all of the racial narrative that keeps us all divided. Wait, these kids weren’t black. How is that going to work? He’ll mention those kids briefly but stick to the calendar of divide and conquer. If we spend an entire day mourning non-black victims the race debate could be swept under the carpet.
Others chose to use the loss of these 21 lives as a way to compare abortion to lack of gun control. Bear with me, it took me awhile to try and connect these illogical and idiotic dots too. If we can’t kill the unborn, why are we allowing children in schools to be shot up?
But, not killing the unborn is actually “forced birth.” Sounds so much better doesn’t it? You have to appreciate the art of twisting language to justify immorality or things that don’t set well in our gut. It’s a new art form.
Those on the political right couldn’t wait to jump into the spotlight to talk about Ukraine and how hypocritical our government is in choosing their issue du’ jour. Yes, I’m sure the vote to subsidize a war most Americans can’t locate on a map was at the forefront of the minds of the Uvalde victims’s families Charlie.
Australians told us how simple the solution to all this is. As a country of roughly 26 million, they surely know what it takes to solve problems in a country literally 10x their size. And the fact that they are stay at home moms who spend their days on Twitter most certainly qualifies them to solve this problem. If we had only thought to ask these Twitter experts long ago. So many lives could have been saved. Who knew?
You name the ideology, people were coming to the rescue with the solution. Barely a mention of the victims but endless bloviating on broader societal complexities.
I know very little about gun violence. I know even less about Uvalde, the police department there or the bigger issue of mental illness. So instead of speaking to something of which I have very little knowledge, I’m going to stick to what I know.
I know what it is like to go to a funeral home and pick out your child’s casket. That is what the families of these victims have waiting for them and I can’t stop thinking about it. While my daughter was gently lifted into the arms of God, surrounded by her loving family, in the safety and security of a hospital; the children in Uvalde left this world in sheer terror. The pain I endured given the peaceful death of my daughter, leaves beyond comprehension what those parents are feeling. Unimaginable.
This also brought me back to an article I wrote in 2018. Four years ago and senseless violence is plaguing our nation at an even greater rate. Not much has changed in my views and sadly, not much has changed in this divided world in which we are living. I encourage you to take the time to read what I had to say back then. It’s relevant and thought-provoking still today.
So instead of pretending I have the simple solution to gun violence, hatred, abortion, the war in Ukraine or racism, I’m going to spend some time stepping into the hearts of the families left behind in this latest act of vengeance. I don’t have an opinion on how to prevent these things in the future and I won’t pretend that I do. I won’t quote statistics and cling to ideology in order to make myself feel better for doing “something.” I have nothing of value to add to this topic.
We seem to have forgotten that when we don’t know much, it’s best to keep quiet. Just stop. It’s embarrassing at the very least and piles more onto the problem at worst. This problem isn’t going away anytime soon. You have plenty of time to get educated and get involved in being part of the solution. Sadly, that doesn’t usually happen. A new event will come sooner than later and everyone can just keep on talking.
I’m going to sit this one out. The least I can do is be humble enough to shut up. Maybe you should consider doing the same.
I wish this could be printed across the Nation !
I no longer listen to any news but turned to media to find out why this had happened. I too was amazed at the references to other unconnected deaths… not children, not guns. Unfortunately our country is so divided that every leader is just a politician and no longer a leader. They have lost empathy and can only see their own goals. My heart is deeply saddened for the lives lost and this recurring tragedy.