Sunday 4 June 2017

What to do.

Living up here in North Yorkshire we seem a long way away from yet another terrorist attack in the capital - and more families shattered by the loss of their loved ones, or lives altered by terrible  injuries.   What should we do?   Should we just put it to the back of our minds and carry on as usual, should we worry in case it happens up here?  I don't know the answer; I think most of us are just so appalled at the loss of life, both here and in those countries in the Middle East.   When will it all end?  And what - if anything - can we do which might help in some way - both to stop the awful slaughter everywhere and to halt the alienation of so many people?

I suspect that most of us away from the Capital will carry on as normal today, going about our ordinary lives.

I shall go out for Sunday Lunch as usual with my three friends and while yes, we shall no doubt talk about the tragedy, we shall choose our lunch, eat it and enjoy it without giving too much thought to the starving children in the Yemen and Somalia.  And this will happen everywhere because there literally is nothing we can do about it.

The Police say 'Be vigilant' - we will be for a few days - but that does nothing to solve the problem, nothing to address the underlying causes, nothing to feed the thousands of hungry, displaced and distressed people - many of them children who look as though they may spend the whole of their lives in camps, their way of life destroyed for ever.

What is the answer?   I wish I knew.

30 comments:

Cro Magnon said...

After each new atrocity we are told to just carry on and think of England. Well I'm afraid I can't. It worries me enormously that this outrage will continue until outright war is declared, and all the madmen come out from their hiding places. There are enough nuclear weapons about to end everything. As you say; what on earth is the answer!

coffeeontheporchwithme said...

I'm so appalled by what has happened. I feel, as you might as well, safe and unaffected in my rural Canadian home. I can't imagine how people feel who are in the bigger centres on a daily basis, just wondering when the next incident will occur. -Jenn

jinxxxygirl said...

I'am so very sorry to hear what is happening Pat and like you and Cro and so many others i don't have the answer.... Disrupting our way of life is exactly what they want. By going to lunch with your friends etc... you are showing your own small act of definance against what they stand for and what they want...I'am perhaps in the minority but i feel that we should have rebuilt the World Trade Center in NY exactly how it was... maybe even a little taller.. I don't know how we carry on after each new atrocity but i know we must. And speaking of nuclear weapon from Cro .. in that respect we've been on borrowed time ever since they were invented......

Linda Metcalf said...

It can happen anywhere....we have buried and mourned thousands here. I don't understand the hate. We all mourn at this time.

SandyExpat said...

I believe that God is in control and for those who believe prayers are much needed. We must carry on with our daily living but be very vigilant as times have changed. My son was at both the Oklahoma bombing attack and close to World Trade Center NY during the 9/11 attack where many were lost.

Rachel Phillips said...

To your reader in Canada, the priest who had his throat cut in his church in Normandy would tell you if he was alive to do so, it can happen anywhere. ISIS terrorists lurk on trains, in cities, towns, and churches, and everywhere.

Heather said...

Yes, the terrorists are everywhere, and yes we must carry on as usual, but what bothers me most is the hatred that is thrown at all those innocent Muslims in our society. My heart goes out to them as well as anyone and everyone affected by these atrocities. My admiration and gratitude to our wonderful police and emergency services who respond so promptly.

Devon said...

I am so sorry to learn of yet another attack in the UK. I doubt there are any simple answers to stop this, for if there were it would have been done already I imagine. I believe the most powerful thing I can do at this time is vote for elected officials who support peaceful problem solving and treat all those whom I come into contact with dignity and kindness. This might be a drop in the bucket, but we all must begin somewhere.

A Heron's View said...

Pat , The only thing that you can do is to carry on with life in the normal way. To do otherwise means that the perpetrators have won or at the very least they have instilled you with fear, which is their intention and I speak from the experience of having lived in war zones.

Joanne Noragon said...

I've not lived in a war zone. I have lived in the center of race riots, with militia camped under my window. I have exhibited at art shows in defiance of acts of terror in the region, the neighborhood. I'm with Heron. Carry on until war comes, then deal with war.

EM Griffith said...

During the Blitz in WWII, shops and restaurants stayed open. As much as possible, people lived their lives, planted Victory gardens and supported the war effort. I watch "Home Fires" here in the U.S.; though a TV show, it gives me great admiration for your country during those years. We don't call this a war. Jihadists DO... a holy war against the west and western culture. Some feel it's been caused by poverty and famine in certain regions, yet there's always been poverty and famine in some part of the world throughout history. How this has been handled so far doesn't seem to be working, and since it's Ramadan, odds are good more attacks will happen. I'm not anti-Muslim (or any religion) and know there aren't easy answers. Praying for the victims and their families today.

Derek Faulkner said...

To Sandyexpat I would say what the bloody hell's God got to do with it. Religion is the whole reason why we are in this mess and it has been for centuries, if we didn't have people who believed in their own different types of Gods, we wouldn't have these atrocities. To Pat, I would say carry on as you are, there's little if anything you can do to change things.

Living Alone in Your 60's said...

I think it's a very complex problem and one size doesn't fit all. That's probably why it's taking the powers that be to do anything.

The Weaver of Grass said...

Interesting comments - differing views but all showing that we are thinking about the problem. Many thanks.

Derek Faulkner said...

A diplomatic response Pat but why not say exactly what you think.

The Weaver of Grass said...

Derek - I don't know what I think. I am not afraid to state my views on any subject but talking today to friends (a group of us went out to lunch and there were others there that we knew) I find that everyone has a different idea of the ideaology, the solution, the reason why. Maybe all are right - maybe all are wrong. It is a complex subject and a problem which will not go away. If the solution was an easy one it would have been solved by now.

SandyExpat said...

Derek Faulkner: I didn't ask you to pray. I said "I believe that God is in control and for those who believe prayers are much needed" I certainly did not ask for any type of violence.

Athene said...

Keep calm and carry on. Londoners will be going to work tomorrow and behaving as normal, because they have to; we had to get back on the Tube the day after the 7/7 bombings because there is no alternative if you live and work there. It doesn't mean we don't care, but as said above, disruption of normal life is what terrorists are looking for. Acknowledge what's happened but don't stop living as you usually would.

Derek Faulkner said...

And I didn't accuse you of inciting violence SandyExpat, I was simply saying that religion is the cause of most violence in this world and as a non-God believer I can't see how he's in control.

Fat Dormouse said...

I think that we have to love, and care, and do our very best to make the place where we are a place of love. Love your neighbours, love those you don't know, CARE about people. Be generous. Don't let hate win.
I don't believe religion IS the cause of all this violence - I think it is people using religion as an excuse but it's about power. The terrorists are no more an example of the real message of Islam as the Westboro homophobic hate spouters are an example of the message of Christ. I'm not sure I can see how God is in control - and I believe in him! - but I trust that He is at the side of all those who love, not hate; all who give and don't take; all who weep, and mourn, and try to bring good out of evil. Please God, bring peace to this world.

Bea said...

I wish I knew the answer as well. We've not been faced with such horrors here in San Francisco (yet), but do I know that the Red Cross has established certain protocols in the event of a local attack. None of us are immune, sadly.

John Going Gently said...

I fear attacks like london will happen all over the country......they are crude and can be reinacted in the smallest if public venues. Then real terror will be unleashed

Yael said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
angryparsnip said...

I just do not understand such hate.
Stabbing a little girl and screaming some rubbish about allah ? WTF ?

cheers, parsnip and thehamish

Rachel Phillips said...

If God is in control he's making a very poor job of it.

The Weaver of Grass said...

So many differing views - and that's just the few of us.

thelma said...

Well I don't know the answer either, except perhaps to educate ourselves as to the causes, to see that hate is not passed on to our children. Whatever we say and do will not make one iota of difference, events will happen.
I would argue against internment, isn't that what happened in Ireland and the legacy of hate spanned many years.

Yorkshire Pudding said...

I wish I knew too. All we can do is what the poster found in that Alnwick bookshop said - "Keep Calm and Carry On".

Theresa Y said...

I've got no answers. All I know is the older I get the more hateful the world has become. Everyone, just be careful. And at the end of the day you and your loved ones come home safe, then it has been a good day.

The Broad said...

Good and evil, peace and violence, are mankind's eternal struggles. Our times are not worse than others' times. We face the same dilemmas humanity has always faced. The British are a resilient people and will not be cowed by this violence and hatred.