The devastating events at Pulse Nightclub are still echoing through our minds and hearts. So many people killed, wounded, in mere moments.
Families, friends, lovers, devastated, lives torn apart, tossed to the winds, never to be the same, ever again.
And, with any tragedy of this nature, along comes those who use it to further their own personal agenda.
They gleefully stand on the bodies of the fallen, to speak of whatever their personal convictions are, be it gun control, 'more guns would've prevented this', religious debates...the list goes on. Politicians are right there, with their expressions of condolence, with a side of, "If you voted for ME..."
Please, people: just shut up.
People are frightened. Not everyone has heard about their loved ones, doesn't know if they're alive or not, it's just been silence, and the agony of waiting, the agony of hoping, and the creeping waves of despair washing over them.
This is not the time to further your own agenda.
It is time to support, to grieve, to hold one another close, to offer what aid you can.
There is time enough to talk about your own agenda, later.
For now, let us hold the fallen close, their memories, those that have lost a beloved part of their hearts, their souls.
Do not use the bodies of the slain as your podium.
Show them, and their families, some respect, some understanding, some grace.
You have time. The fallen and their families do not.
Now is not the time for hatred, for division. Now is the time for comfort, love, and if nothing else, silence, in respect of those who've had their lives shattered in a hail of gunfire.
You can argue your points later. You can argue about how if *your* perspective were followed, this wouldn't have happened. There's always going to be time for folks to express their own anger and fear. The internet is good for that.
Can we just identify the fallen, for now? See them taken care of, laid to rest, their blood washed from the floors and walls, rather than writing your messages in their blood? Can we silence their ringing cellphones, desperate calls from families and loved ones who are still hoping for a call, a text, saying, "I'm ok?" Can we take care of the *people* first, before your personal opinions?
Please, if you cannot offer comfort and aid, just shut up.
Let the grieving collect their wounded, the bodies of their slain, without having to be exposed to you're using their loss as another brick in your argument.
Respect for the losses. That's all I'm asking for, folks.
A bit of respect, by way of silence, at least until everyone has been identified, and cared for.
Do you really think that your opinion, at this exact moment in time, is more important than the pain these people are experiencing? Do you really think that anything you have to say is going to make them feel less afraid, less grief, more comfort? Do you think that arguing over gun laws, or anything else is going to make anything better, in this moment for them? And why is the desire for you to express your opinion more important than their needs right now?
I respect freedom of speech. Talk all you want. But, how about some compassion, allowing some time for those that mourn, before plastering your political agendas all over the bodies of those they've lost, by blasting it across social media, or babbling away on the news?
Compassion. That's what I'm asking for. Empathy. Think of how you would feel to have a loved one missing right now, and people are using this moment as a way to further their own agendas.
Sure, it's news. It's BIG news.
But it's also real people, not an abstract concept.
So, let's show some real humanity, ok?
This post originally appeared here, on Not A Stepford Life