Something wrong

There’s something wrong here.

This is a picture of the floral tributes left in remembrance of the two people (actually three, including the gunman) who lost their lives in the horrific siege that took place in Sydney two days ago.

Photos of the escaping hostages and news of the event were shown all around the world. It was a horrendous occurrence and my heart aches for the families of the two hostages who were killed. I am also greatly concerned for the other hostages whose lives will be forever affected by this awful and hatred-filled attack on innocent civilians.

 

And, speaking of ‘innocent civilians’, what more fitting description could be made for small school children?

There were over 130 (130!) children massacred in their classrooms in Pakistan yesterday. It was the work of the Taliban – for what obscure and obscene reason, who knows.

130 (and more) children were shot and murdered in the school which should have been a safe place for them to be. The enormity of the numbers -  and the enormity of the act -  is too vast to comprehend.

(At least one child kept alive by lying in amongst the dead bodies of her classmates, pretending to be dead; what an ordeal!) 

 

But, while we, here in Australia and indeed, across the globe, mourn ‘our’ two dead civilians – killed in a usually peaceful and friendly coffee place -  the news of the 130 children massacred in Pakistan takes second – or even third – place in local news reports.

What is a life worth? Is there a difference in life-worthiness depending on where the person lives?

I know there is a scale of impact that starts at ‘was the person a relative?’ ‘was the person a neighbour?’ to ‘was the person a resident of your town?’ onwards to ‘was the person a fellow countryman?’

So, for the death of a relative or near neighbour the grieving is greatest and for a person living in an unfamiliar and far away country it is least.

 

But 130 children?

Where are the floral tributes for them?

Where are the memorial services in places other than their home towns?

There have been tributes. See a picture on my next blog post.

 

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