The immediate aftermath of the Boston marathon bombings is over. One suspect is dead and the other is in a hospital with critical injuries. Funerals were held and across the Atlantic, the London marathon was held in honor of the fallen. It is hard to say it’s over because it may never be completely over for the victims, their families or the people of Boston, but at least for now don’t fall into a blame game when trying to make sense of what happened.
In the aftermath of the Boston marathon bombings that killed three and injured 170 it can be easy to try to rationalize or justify what happened. Fear, anger, judgment and guilt are all normal reactions after what can be labeled a full blown terrorist attack. In a perfect world there would be a black and white reason as to why this act of violence happened but as most of us know all too well, the world is far from ideal. Sometimes unfair things just happen to innocent, law abiding people without any justification.
Yes the two alleged perpetrators are immigrants and Muslim but don’t let fear allow for hasty judgment or stereotyping. As far as anyone knows the two young men are suspected to have worked alone. Members of the American Chechen community are just as outraged as everyone else, if not more so.
The New York Times reported that some Chechen Americans felt outraged that Chechen immigrants allegedly committed this act because America provided a safe haven from their war torn homeland. They feel that now their small community may be cast in a negative light. Don’t let those fears become a reality.
Acts of violence have a way of bringing out the best and worst in people. There are countless people who have helped — be it the onlookers who rushed to help the inured, the doctors, nurses and EMTs who rushed to the scene or even the bikers who lined funeral possessions to make sure a riot didn’t break out, who will never be publicly named as heroes but who deserve more respect and thanks than they’ll ever receive.
To a lesser extent there also is a darker side brought out. The tabloid — dare we call it a newspaper — the New York Post inaccurately called a young high school student a suspect simply because he chose to watch the marathon with a friend and bring along his gym bag. The Westboro Baptist Church rationalized the bombings as a punishment for allowing same sex marriage.
My fear is that in this time of fear and uncertainty, hasty conclusions may be reached. There are few ideologies that teach that making a pressure cooker bomb loaded with nails is a good idea. There are, however, many ideologies that teach forgiveness and acceptance. We should all try to follow those.
