The shooting in Arizona, like all such tragedies, shocked us.\u00a0 We were enraged.\u00a0 We were saddened.\u00a0 We mourned those who died so senselessly.\u00a0 We wept for the little girl, that flower of hope and promise, whose life was so brutally ended.\u00a0 We rejoiced in the heroism.\u00a0 In the news that those who survived may indeed be able to continue on with their lives; though I am sure it will never, ever leave their memories.\u00a0 We watched as our nation\u2019s leader and other dignitaries set aside all other business to come to Arizona and share in our grief, and our celebration of the good we witnessed.\u00a0 <\/p>\n
And yet, that\u2019s how it works, isn\u2019t it.\u00a0 We\u2019re often told that history is written by the winners.\u00a0 That\u2019s been a gnat-hole through which many modern historians have shoved a camel of biased interpretations and academic agendas.\u00a0 Yet there is a core of truth to it.\u00a0 We really don\u2019t know much about the average Roman citizen, or Medieval Peasant, or Ming laborer, except that which was written for, or by, the ruling elites.\u00a0The winners.<\/p>\n
We know all about William the Conqueror, but scant little about the soldiers who filled his army\u2019s ranks.\u00a0 We know almost nothing to nothing at all about individual soldiers.\u00a0 Most of what we can do in terms of history is paint with broad brushstrokes.\u00a0 We can say this is the way the Medieval peasant lived, or that is how a 10th\u00a0 century Islamic peasant got on in life.\u00a0 There is no comprehension of individuals.\u00a0 When the Mongols sweep into Eastern Europe, and put entire cities to the sword, that\u2019s how it\u2019s written \u2013 an entire city is put to the sword.\u00a0 We can tell who the leaders are and what they were doing.\u00a0 We learn about the powers that be and how they react to this or that event, like having a city razed by invading hordes.\u00a0 But the individuals are typically reduced to \u2018entire city put to the sword\u2019, or perhaps a statistic: 27,000 died that day (with numbers rounded off due to lack of specific data).<\/p>\n
Well, how have things changed?\u00a0 They really haven\u2019t, have they.\u00a0 Yes, I was stunned by the news of the Tuscon shootings.\u00a0 I was appalled at the flagrant exploitation of the suffering and the dead for the purpose of ideological and political agendas.\u00a0 I was moved that our leaders took such time to help a grieving country.\u00a0 I was gladdened by the raising of the 9\/11 flag at young Christina Taylor Green\u2019s funeral.\u00a0 <\/p>\n
But then it hit me.\u00a0 I realize that because this involved elected leaders, it has ramifications for how we, as a society, conduct ourselves.\u00a0 But we are aware of the fact that such tragedies have happened before.\u00a0 We\u2019ve had mass shootings with far more casualties that didn\u2019t rate a presidential visit.\u00a0 We have smaller\u00a0crimes and shootings every day.\u00a0 All around the world, people are killed, sometimes brutally, sometimes mercilessly.\u00a0 <\/p>\n
Today, soldiers still die overseas.\u00a0 I don\u2019t know why, but except for locally, we don\u2019t hear about it much any more.\u00a0 But behind each death is a devastated family.\u00a0 Behind each murder victim is a child or parent or sibling whose life will never be the same again.\u00a0 Many of those same individuals no doubt watched the coverage, watched the memorial, will watch the funerals, will follow the glad news of recovering wounded.\u00a0 But I can\u2019t help but feel that somewhere deep down, they will wonder where all the cameras were when they buried their little girl.\u00a0 Where was the president when their mother was murdered during a break in.\u00a0 Where was the government shut down or flags flying at half staff when their son died in service to the country.\u00a0 They are left with their grief, and their loneliness.\u00a0 <\/p>\n
None of this is to say that this is wrong or right.\u00a0 Based on the history of humanity, it appears that this is just the way it is.\u00a0 We have famous people, celebrities, and rulers who capture our attention and receive our documentation.\u00a0 A thousand years from now, historians will or won\u2019t know about Christina Taylor Green.\u00a0 They will know about Barack Obama, either as a chapter heading or a footnote.\u00a0 They may or may not remember this period in time we call 2011.\u00a0 But I know one thing.\u00a0 They won\u2019t have a clue about all the people who suffered, mourned, and grieved outside of the light of cameras and videos and media attention; outside of the pages of our reporters.\u00a0 At best, they will be part of some vague statistic some narrow focused scholar will study.\u00a0 And that\u2019s about it. <\/p>\n
So knowing that things haven\u2019t changed, and in likelihood won\u2019t change, I thought I would send one out to all of those who have suffered and wept over their own personal losses.\u00a0 Out to all of those who suffered the way we have witnessed this week, but outside of the attention of the media, and thus outside of our awareness.\u00a0 Not to diminish the pain and heartfelt compassion we have for the victims of the Tuscon shooting, but to include those that neither our scribes and chroniclers today, nor historians of tomorrow, will notice or remember.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The shooting in Arizona, like all such tragedies, shocked us.\u00a0 We were enraged.\u00a0 We were saddened.\u00a0 We mourned those who died so senselessly.\u00a0 We wept for the little girl, that flower of hope and promise, whose life was so brutally ended.\u00a0 We rejoiced in the heroism.\u00a0 In the news that those who survived may indeed […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2805,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3872","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\n