Like many other students, I will be blogging about the attacks of terror in Paris, Lebanon, and Beirut. I am deeply saddened by the attacks and hope that we are not headed into World War III. I have been following the story using the least biased news sources I have been able to find.
Since the attacks over the weekend I have seen hundreds of #PrayForParis tags on posts and countless people on Facebook changing their profile pictures to the colors of the French flag. My post specifically brings up that while changing your profile picture color and praying for Paris may make someone feel as if they are showing that they really do care, it is only creating an illusion of compassion and not doing anything to help the situation. You would have to be either a sociopath or an Islamic extremist to not feel deeply troubled by these events. I think its great that people are “hoping” that things will get better for Paris, but that will achieve next to nothing. Due to the way that the events are portrayed to us through the internet and mass media, the masses are not realizing that Beirut and Lebanon were also attacked, and they are actually thinking that by changing their profile pictures and praying, something will improve. Maybe it is simply a campaign to boost the morale of the French, but then what about the morale of the citizens in Beirut and Lebanon?
An online article I saw on Facebook made me think about this and how people around the world have been showing their “support”. Click the following link to read the article. *Disclaimer: This is not one of the non-biased sources I mentioned earlier, as you could probably tell from the website name alone.*
http://theantimedia.org/the-dalai-lama-just-told-the-world-to-stop-praying-for-paris/
It is not significant to me that it was the Dalai Lama who said this, any rational human being knows that whichever god they are praying to will not have much to do with the resolution of these issues. I have always been taught that history is linear, but it is seemingly cyclical, with the same wars repeating over and over again between different teams. Everyone thinks that they are the “good” guys, but being “good” is rather subjective, so is anyone actually on that team? World peace is the end game, but history so far has proven that where there are humans, there is conflict. I think that is something rooted deep in what makes us humans, but what do I know.
One thing that I do know, is that I have no idea what should be done. So for now, with everyone teetering back and forth on the edge of World War III, there is not much for the average joes around the world to do except hope.
Writing on Music, Fall 2015 
I like your post. The idea that doing more than thinking about what happened, and considering the real implications of taking action and what action to take is extremely important. It’s times like this that it’s more important than ever to think about what’s being said in the mainstream media and make sure that we change our views on the world and make our opinions based on non-biased accounts of what happened.
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Thanks for your post. I had a chance to read the article you posted and I really liked what the Dalai Lamas had to say. From what I understand he is advocating non violence and a grass roots approach to stopping violence. It makes so much sense, how can we save the world if we can’t stop violence within our own homes and neighborhoods. Also, his point that this kind of violence must end in this century is so vital. With the technology that is available to humans we are on the verge of blowing ourselves up, we need to find other ways to resolve conflict. Thanks for blogging. Good job!!
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I also really liked this post. I couldn’t help but agree with your statement about “hoping” and not “doing”. I also agreed with your statement about conflict being instilled into the grassroots of humanity. It seems as though these things are inevitable. Really, all of us average joes should do something to make a difference in which ever way we can.
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I really enjoyed your post because it reminded me a lot of my own thoughts and sentiments. I think the best we can do at this point in time is to be the change we want to see, to not only post and change our profile pictures like you said but to genuinely stand up and help those in need, whether it be signing petitions, or standing up against those who would otherwise contradict our notions of freedom in this country. Thanks for being a genuine human being!
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Awesome post. I really enjoyed it. I agree with your ideas about social media and praying for Paris. I was a little bit annoyed by how many people in my Facebook newsfeed were changing their profile pictures and hash tagging about Paris. It annoys me to see how quickly people jump on the bandwagon for everything. I think its great that everyone wants to send good vibes and positive thoughts to those affected, but I really don’t understand how that does do anything for the actual cause. I really liked the article you posted too. It thought there were some really good points about how we as people have to fix our problems instead of turn to God to fix it.
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