Right;
First off, I think Raven Star is getting a lot of bad rap over something she didn't phrase too well (or, as some would say, rather appalingly, if perhaps callously).
From being called sub-human and sick to being intellectually impaired (incidentally, AcrobatMan, if we did follow your recommendations, FYM would be a very quiet place) and to even having someone calling her religion as 'ridiculous'. Now, that really isn't neccessary, is it? Raven Star has been very careful and logical in her explanations of her beliefs in the past, in fact one of the best threads I've ever read was the one where she described Satanism in clear and concise DETAIL.
If you missed it, what a pity, you would have realised that calling a person's religion ridiculous, no matter how obscure and esoteric it is to you, is not to be done lightly. No matter how distasteful you may find this thread, there are no grounds to start naming a person's religion or the people who practice it as 'ridiculous'. I find this comment as distasteful as the other ones accused of being such.
Back to the thread...
Yes, the phrasing could have been a lot better, however, I could still see her point. Needless to say, the tragedy of the September 11th was truly horrific. I didn't know anyone in the towers, though I did have a friend who himself knew two people who had perished. Did I cry on the day? I'm sorry, but I did not. I don't think it makes me heartless, it makes me what I am; not personally or directly involved with such a tragedy.
Do I think it equally tragic and horrific today? Yes.
Is it wise to forget such a tragedy? Of course not.
Is it easier for me to distance myself emotionally and NOT feel such emotions rise within me when I see a thread rabout it? Definately.
Raven Star is one of a number of people in this forum who aren't American and who didn't have proximity to such a tragedy, and it must be a realised fact that, for such a group, the tragedy holds different implications and different emotions.
3,000 people dying in one day is more 'impressive' than the dozens of people who would be killed at every IRA terrorist attack that has ever happened in London, but 'I' feel the IRA tragedy more. And its not just the IRA, its the ETA attacks in Spain - which HAVE brought personal tragedy to me, its the Chiapa terrorists STILL going on and destroying the South of Mexico - where my mother is from, its the Albanian terrorist attacks that still go on in Macedonia (where my ex-fiance came from), but are never heard of . These are my tragedies, and to me they involve me more emotionally.
This particular tragedy was also even more traumatic because of the sheer loss of life in one awful blow - I don't presume to even fathom how Americans, and those who were directly affected by the event, can cope with it. I don't talk about it, because inevitably one runs the risk of trivializing such atrocities.
My point is, there are other atrocities that other people are more emotionally involved with. There are other countries, most in fact, who have been dealing with terrorism for a much longer period of time, and who have lived in fear long before. I am NOT comparing tragedies and awarding brownie points to who's is the more tragic, I'm merely pointing out that to some - to MOST - people of the world, September the 11th does not hold the same importance as it does for Americans.
Ant.
