S.M. Carrière . com
Connect:
  • Home
  • About
  • Titles
    • Daughters Of Britain
    • Dear Father
    • Ethan Cadfael: The Battle Prince
    • Human
    • Skylark
    • The Dying God & Other Stories
    • The Seraphimè Saga >
      • The Summer Bird (v.1)
      • The Winter Wolf (v.2)
    • Your Very Own Adventures >
      • Skara Braens
      • Sky Road Walker
    • WIP Updates
  • Art
  • Other Projects
    • Editing Services
    • Charity Efforts >
      • Gàrradh nan Leannan
      • Have a Heart Campaign
    • Journal
    • Martial Arts
    • Silver Stag Entertainment
    • The Adventures of Grimglum the Nord
    • SMC Awkwardly Plays
  • Shop
    • Books
    • Art Prints
  • Contact

I Will Ride With You

16/12/2014

0 Comments

 
Good morning, Readers!

Good morning, especially, to my Australian readers.

I have been filled with pride since yesterday.  I have been so impressed with you all.  Why, you ask?  Well, for this reason:

#illridewithyou

For those of you who don't know what's been going on, Monday morning Sydney time, a gunman took people hostage in Martin Place Lindt Café in Sydney, Australia.  For sixteen hours the stand-off between him and the police lasted until the police heard gunfire.  They moved in swiftly and the situation was ended.  Tragically two hostages were killed.  Not quite so tragically, so too was the gunman.

The man, whom I will not name because he does not deserve to get famous, had a few run-ins with law enforcement before this, from being arrested in connection to his wife's murder to writing offensive letters to the families of Australia service men and women serving in the Near East.  He was not a good man.  He was also Muslim.

Anyone of sound mind know the two are in no way related.  It is easy, in seeking blame and retribution for the terrible things that go on in the world, to blanket an entire culture, or religion, or ethnicity, or even skin colour as one thing or another; to make the other appear evil.  That is simply not the case.

Yesterday, at the end of the hostage situation and despite the anger it will undoubtedly engender, ordinary Australians made it clear that they knew that one swallow does not a spring make... which is to say, one evil man does not all of Islam make.  They started the #illridewithyou twitter campaign, offering their presence to any Muslim Australian who felt unsafe travelling in Australia in the wake of the events in Sydney... because some people are stupid and would attack people not even remotely associated with the events simply because they happened to be Muslim.

It is a really sad statement that Muslim groups all around the country were and are bracing for violent backlash.

And then the twitter campaign happened, and I almost cried.

To those wonderful people who began the campaign, and to those who joined it and volunteered your time to ensure your fellow Australians were safe, I am so, so, so in love with you right now.  You have made this ex-pat so, so, so very proud and grateful.

This is the humanity I know we are all capable of.  Are you watching, rest of the world?  This is how humanity is done.

So, ordinary Australians, thank you for making me believe in humanity again.  You are awesome.
Picture
Uluru, the heart of Australia. And what a heart we have. Image courtesy of tripadvisor.com. Click for link.
Ciao!
0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    Author

    S.M. Carrière, a Celtic Studies enthusiast, writes fiction.  And this blog.

    Archives

    November 2022
    October 2022
    September 2022
    July 2022
    June 2022
    May 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    September 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014

    Categories

    All
    Book Reviews
    Events
    Gaming
    Human
    Life
    Rants
    Reading
    Seraphimè Saga
    Seraphimè Saga
    Skylark
    Television
    Training
    Travels
    Writing
    YouTube

    RSS Feed

Proudly powered by Weebly