For those who mourn for strangers, how many times did you mourn for Palestinian, Afghani or Iraqi children?

Question

Thousands of those innocent children have been murdered over the past few years.

Please be specific as to whch of those children you mourned, how & when you mourned them.

Or, do you pick & choose who you mourn based on nationality and/or religion?

I have lost all my grandparents, my parents and 3 of my 5 brothers.

There is no way that my sense of loss for total strangers is anywhere near what I felt when they died.

And, am at a loss to understand how anyone could claim to be mourning anything or anyone with which he has no personal relationship.

Answer 1

Daily, them and others I have prayed for them.

Answer 2

No, Iargely object to "mourning" per se, as in the case of mass hysteria about the death of Diana in 1997. But I cannot help if I empathize with the suffering of the bereaved. I would like to think that I did not choose between the bereaved of one culture/relgion over another (I gave a lot of money for the Pakistan earthquake relief, but nothing fot the tsunami, because one seemed to be ignored when the other was overwhelmed). Nevertheless, you are right, people are trapped into greiving for their cultural/racial counterparts, and I'm probably not exempt. But nor am I comfortable with the view that suffering is endless and universal, so why bother trying to empathize at all? After the event, we might reasonably strive to reduce suffering. If we all did what litle we could without prejudice, suffering would be greatly reduced.

Answer 3

I do not know if feeling bad is officially mourning.
But I feel bad for all deaths, whether it be an insect, or a human. As a twelve year old, I watch war movies and realized the enemy has a spouse and children, and also wants to live.
A Permature death of anykind, of any nationality or religion has a felt impact on each of us-whether we mourn or not.
911 come out nationality. And Americans responded in Kind. I think the Human race is one.
Jan

Answer 4

I mourn for all children who suffer and die. But then again, I'm an atheist. Oh and by mourning, I think about them and feel sad. I also try to vote for candidates who don't favor starting useless wars and who are concerned about stopping poverty, hunger, and tryanny around the world. That and I give to the Red Cross (though I'm not sure that counts as mourning, it is an expression of my concern)

It IS possible to mourn the fate of someone you never met. Havn't you ever been moved by a work of ficiton? Have you never felt sympathy for a character in a book whom you knew doesn't exist and never did? Of course you have. How is it really a stretch then, to imagine real, living, breathing human children, understand their situation, and feel sympathy for them? It isn't.

Answer 5

You appear to be an angry man. We are Human and are sad for every innocent lost.But the children in the Amish school have been plastered all over our TV screens when was the last time the News media mentioned these thousands of children killed? The few i see I feel sorrow for as i am sure others do. Too often people in here work too hard to try to politicize everything.This is a bad example my friend try again.

Answer 6

I mourned a little for Steve Irwin, and several other celebrities in the past. But people who I've never seen or heard about, I honestly don't shed any tears for. I feel that what has happened to them was terrible, and feel sorry for them and their families. But, when you see them gathered together burning our flag and chanting for our demise, it kinda takes away from the love I extend to them as fellow live humans. Unfortunately, they are being raised to become barberic terrorists, like their parents. I also don't agree with those who allowed or asked Israeli children to write messages to the Lebanese children on bombs that were to be used to kill them with. I do not understand what is wrong with alot of the people in that part of the world, and am glad that I do not live there.

Answer 7

Every time I see a picture of a child, woman or man laying dead on the streets of Bagdad or another hellish, war-torn place, my heart breaks for the innocent lives lost in this "global conflict" of "terrorism" ( by the way, if terrorists are bombed and killed and feel terror while being targeted, aren't the shooters terrorists as well? Just a question) and my soul cries for justice, but none will be given a murderous generation, no peace for us who have left the path of wisdom and trust our own judgement, no security for us who hate others while professing to love our neighbors, so my heart breaks for us, humankind lost in its own moral-bakrupt mind, seeing but not believing, hearing but not understanding what the Angel said to the seven churches or anything good and just for that matter.

Answer 8

As usual a thoughtful question. I admit, children closer to home touch me deeper. It shouldn't make a difference. If I actually saw a story that involved killing children than that would certainly affect me. I do not think of the children who die everyday unless I am reminded. Sad but true.

I just have to add that I was enraged by the treatment of women by the Taliban.

Answer 9

I mourn the lose of lives everyday, Not only for ones killed in my country (America) but for those killed around the world...but morning their deaths will get us no where, we need to step up and do something about it!

Good question

Answer 10

I dont think anyone "really" mourns strangers, I just think its a programed feeling you get, when someone in your "race", in your "culture" or your country dies. We feel its our duty to feel sad, but do we really mourn them? NO, there's no way, we go on our day to day lives, most of the time we laugh, and carry on five minutes after the "mourning" process occures........its not like a mother, father, brother, sister, or a child of your own passing. So to say we Mourn for strangers, it is just something I cannot see strangers actually doing............we feel bad for them, we feel its something we are suppose to do...........and yes, I do feel bad for thoughs in other country's that are hungry, lonely, hurting, tortured, old and cold, and I do pray that God will ease some suffering for them in some way. But I dont Mourn, I didnt mourn my own mother for very long after her death.

Answer 11

When I do pray for the dead, I pray for all the dead.
I never mourn the dead, as they rest in peace and await the judgement of the Lord.
When death does touch me directly and sadden me, it is because of the loss of comapnionship of that person. It is a feeling of personal loss, and is not in truth mourning.