Propaganda

Whenever a tragedy occurs, The Internet responds swiftly and with heightened emotions, looking for an outlet for their thoughts, prayers and tears. It is understandable. As humans, we have a need to come together in a time of tragedy. We need to understand, we need to mourn, we need to comfort one another.

Unfortunately, in the heat of the moment and the chaos directly following a tragedy, misinformation gets passed around, people don't bother to check their facts, and stories become stilted and distorted.

I noticed on Facebook a picture of this beautiful little girl being shared over and over again, with the headline:

“R.I.P to the 8 year old girl who died in the explosion today. All my thoughts go.. #prayforboston"

Even though I had read in multiple articles that the 8 year old child who had died was a boy. (My father always taught me to verify your facts, and not always believe everything you read. It has served me well many times.)

Yes, a little boy named Martin Richard died yesterday. There is a picture of him looking cute and youthful, with one of his front tooth missing. He was waiting to hug his father at the finish line, and was tragically killed.

I don't usually react the way most people do. Sometimes, I just don't understand grief. Sometimes, I am unable to experience sadness the same way other people do. Maybe I cannot relate to pain on such a global and joint scale.

What bothers me is the way people jump on pain, on tragedy and use it for their own public needs. This little girl did not die. I have no idea who she is. But someone out there felt the need to take a picture and pass it around, even before any names or images of the victims were released.

Why? I don't know. Maybe they wanted to give people a place to say "We are so sad this happened, we are thinking about you and wish we could be there to grieve with you."

Human nature? Probably.

Maybe. Either way, I don't like how people inflate a tragedy, and then in a few weeks time they forget all about it. Is tragedy merely an opportunity for famous people to say things because they know people will be listening? Everyone points and says, looks what he said, look what she said, it is so beautiful and profound, let's quote them until the end of time.

And these famous people, do they mean what they say, or is this a platform for them to cry crocodile tears, give over carefully worded quotes and speeches which they know will be remembered forever after?

And if one does not 'like and share' as Facebook demands, does that mean they don't grief privately?

And if one does not grieve privately, does that make them a callous horrible person, or perhaps cynical, or hardened to pain?

No one should ever have to feel that kind of pain or tragedy firsthand.

Propaganda or not, may this tragedy encourage more good deeds and only help humans become more kind and understanding to each other. And hopefully G-d will see how affected people are by the fate of someone they never knew, and He will banish pain forever.