A friendly, although virtual, hug to the Belgians out there :(
It sucks. Really. I can’t offer more than my compassion, but at least I can voice it to my Belgian neighbours living only 110 kilometers from my home.
Hang in there, guys
It sucks. Really. I can’t offer more than my compassion, but at least I can voice it to my Belgian neighbours living only 110 kilometers from my home.
Hang in there, guys
Honestly, I don’t have words. It’s difficult to accept that, and it’s even more difficult to understand any sort of intolerance.
JE SUIS BELGE !! & VIVE LA BELGIQUE !!
Par solidarité, hein, parce que je suis FRANCAIS !!
( désolé, je ne suis pas d’humeur à écrire en anglais !! & je ne sais pas quoi dire d’autre )
Only Belgium?
What about Turkey few days earlier?
What about 2015 Baga massacre?
I feel sorry for every terrorist victim, but WILL NOT single out some like Paris or Bruxelles, just because they are crying more than the others.
Some are getting headlines, while others are ignored.
They’re my neighbours. I drink (too much of) their beer. I visited Brussels a few times already. I have a friend in Brussels who works for an organization working for the European Union.
Long story short, it’s not inhuman to have stronger ties to the Belgians.
Seen from the other side of the scope, casting aside all expressions of sympathy because the person expressing it doesn’t sympathize with every similar problem happening in the world is morally and intellectually invalid.
The etymology of “sympathy” is “pain with”. I know the Belgians well enough, I’m close enough to them, to be able to truly say I share their pain. Even if that sounds cold, I can’t say the same for everyone everywhere. I’ll feel sorry for them, revolted, horrified, angry, but that won’t be as strong as the genuine sympathy I had for Brussels.
Gee, on the internet, everyone is always offended.
@Oliver:
What about Syrian/Afghan/Yemeni/Iraqi citizens who were killed by terrorists ? Not only Muslim terrorists but also Christian terrorists who were known as “Preisdent of the United States” ?
Human lives are equal and we have to be fair.
“Human lives are equal and we have to be fair.”
Most certainly.
However, the spontaneous emotional attachement is not the same, when these are your neighbours, or absolute strangers elsewhere.
How to say… the sympathy can be intellectual and a bit cold, or automatic and moving you to your guts, moving you deeply because you are very close to those persons.