And Another Thing About Virginia Tech
Posted by: Matt O'Connell
In my last post I mentioned that no one would be talking about the continuing tragedy that is Iraq in the context of mourning the students of Virginia Tech. I'm about to.
The other night, an impromptu candlelight vigil was held, while it was still daylight, outside of the Central Campus Apartments. Near-constant intercom barrages urged those of us who live there to attend, informing us that there were 'THREE MINUTES' or some such ridiculous number until it would begin. A more official, well-planned vigil is being scheduled for Monday, April 23 (see the front page of Red Skies) but I have to say that it, like other such public demonstrations of grief, is largely a meaningless gesture.
Christianity, a religious tendency to which I no longer belong but I imagine many of the people who will attend the vigil consider themselves at least nominally members of, does well to teach us (in its Biblical form) that the sort of display that will take place on Monday is empty, an exercise by each individual there to sublimate themselves to the mass of supposed mourning rather than reflecting privately within their own conscience and consciousness. Quoth Jesus: 'And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by men....But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen.' (Matthew 6:5-6, NIV). Excellent commentary on some aspects of human nature, there. Most go to a vigil, one for people they didn't know, in order to show others that they are a good person because they care. While all college students feel a particular pain at what took place, the supposed need to halt our daily lives for such a ceremony is exploitative and amnesiac— indeed, it is almost sociopathic, revealing a massive blind spot in the eye of the public.
A great many Americans, whether they know it or not, are subconsciously counting their figures in a terrible calculus, continuing to labour under the delusion that 'the troops' are dying for their country, or nobly, or for some good reason, and that the students at Virginia Tech were gunned down senselessly— in short, that a loss of innocence has occurred. In truth, the students whose lives were ended by a mad gunman are a domestic echo of the plight of young soldiers (you know, the ones who didn't go to college) dying under similar circumstances at the same stage of life in the Middle East, either losing their lives or becoming mad gunmen themselves; they slaughter and are slaughtered, transacting the sinister business of war. On April 16th, the victims died needlessly, but people need to wake up and realise that many more have been dying for absolutely no reason on many many days. We don't stop for them, we just get magnets for our cars and talk about war funding, mouthing empty slogans of support, or else try not to think about it at all (which is what we do in regard to the Iraqis themselves). If we kept stopping for all of those deaths, we wouldn't be able to move at all, and part of us knows it. We mourn for what happens in closer proximity to us because the consideration of it is harder to avoid, but that doesn't make us right.
5 comments:
Hey. This is Jessie, you know, from the insanity and wonder that was AP European History class?
Just dropping you a comment to say that I agree with the point that you're trying to make. While my campus isn't as connected as yours seems (seventy percent of Mass Art students are communters) and definitely a lot smaller, the affect of the VT 'massacre' can definitely be seen here. We're required to wear badges at all times now while on campus. I'm all for extra security, but this security measure probably should have been taken YEARS before the Virginia Tech shootings.
I think I got a little off topic there, what I really meant to comment about is the sheer insensitivity people seem to show when in comparison to the number of people being slaughtered in the Iraq war daily. Perhaps there is a certain mentality in this country that identifies these daily massacres with War and doesn't try to look any deeper into it. We're at war, a hundred deaths per day is excusable. Not only that but a hundred slaughtered people who are not American school children...excusable.
Disgusting, really.
Anyway, thanks for opening up the forum, as it were. Good to see you're still as opinionated and politically aware as ever!
I disagree with you on many points, something that you already know.
For one, I do not find the vigil on Monday to be meaningless regardless of what “Jesus” said. (Yes, Jesus in quotes, how blasphemous). The vigil in Monday is a show of respect and mourning for young people that very easily could have been us. They are of a similar community, grieving because they went to class the same as we do, and someone chose that day to walk in, armed, and kill as many as he good before he shot himself in the face.
The vigil is also for us, other students, who wonder what we would do in such a situation. Call it selfish, but I find that selfish of you. I find it selfish that a person could be so inconsiderate of fellow classmates to find their fears hollow and insensitive. We all grieve for those who died last Monday, but we also wonder. This vigil is for those people at VA Tech, and it is for those students here who are wondering: Who did I ever make fun of? Would I apologize now if I could? Would they do this? What would I do if someone walked into my classroom? What would this campus do?
It’s for the professors wondering the same things, and wondering more: would I be able to do what that professor did for his students?
As for comparing these students to the soldiers in Iraq, I understand the point that you were trying to make but I find it poorly done and rather naïve to find a direct connection. I agree that people in this country should consider those people every day, pray for them, mourn for them. I agree that we hear too little about them and too much about less important things.
But this is not one of those things. To a campus community, this IS important. There is a great difference that you overlook: the soldiers that are in Iraq, regardless of whether or not they chose to be in Iraq, DID choose to join the military. No one joins the military with the false belief that they will never have a gun in their face. They join knowing that there is a great chance they will be shot at, a great chance that they will shoot at someone else, and a great chance that they may die. People who join the military do so knowing that they are leaving safety the moment they sign in.
These students did not sign up for that when they applied for colleges. When you applied, did you wonder: now do I want to do this, just in case some shooter comes into my classroom? What are the odds of that happening? No, of course not. We’re taught growing up that our classroom is another place of safety. It is a place of learning, and while yes students are at times cruel to one another, its never been somewhere that we thought of as a possible risk for death.
We mourn now for these students because we can easily relate to them. They were innocents, as we are. They were simply in a classroom learning, as we do every day. They did not sign up to go to war. They did not receive training in how to shoot a gun knowing that someday someone else would hold a gun in their face. They were not armed. They were not told that morning that there would be bloodshed.
Even the people in Iraq, those not dressed for war, know that they are in a war. They know the chance of death when they wake up.
There IS a difference. And it is ridiculous not to see that.
dear envy,
i'm guessing you've never spoken to an army recruiter? they can be awfully insistent about the many careers the military offers and all the money you'll get for college, especially when talking to kids who couldn't afford college otherwise. they also have a tendency to play down that whole "gun in your face" part. so those 18,19,& 20-somethings getting blown to bits on the other side of the world are not that much different than you are. they're just kids who thought the army could get them out of their run down slum in rural minnesota. don't make excuses to disconnect.
also, WOW, i can't believe you actually said that VT makes you worry about whether or not someone YOU made fun of would do something like that. maybe instead of lighting candles you should try being less of an asshole?
Anonymous:
First, allow me to address something on behalf of the staff: we'd appreciate a lack of profanity, and a user name in order to post (the setting for which has now been changed).
As for other matters, I could offer you a point-by-point, particularly on your last comment, but it's hardly worth it as I find your lack of comprehension for what I said and how I said it to be disheartening. Thus, I simply ask that you to reread the previous post in hopes of grasping it better.
Gracias & ciao.
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