Author: R J Adams

Once again the U.S. media switches rapidly to ‘hysteria mode’ as yet another mass shooting occurs. This time it’s in Orlando, Florida. For a moment, there almost seemed a hint of celebration from some, as the total killed becomes a new record for America – the most ever slaughtered in a single mass shooting, possibly since records began.

It’s a great excuse to bandy about the emotive word, “terrorism”, and it may well have set another record, for the most used word on U.S. television in a single half-hour segment.

It’s strange how words can be changed to suit the mood. Surely anyone who points a loaded gun at another is guilty of terrorism. Who wouldn’t be “terrified” to be on the receiving end of such an act of potential violence? But now, it means something much more narrowly defined – the act of a person, or persons, acting on behalf of, or at the behest of, a politico/religious organization generally of Middle Eastern origin.

We were told by half a dozen reporters, local Orlando dignitaries, politicians, the police, and eventually, the President himself, that it’s vital to discover whether this man acted alone, or was part of a “terrorist plot”,

Why? Why is that the factor of over-riding importance in this disgusting affair? Will it bring the dead back to life? Will it make the despicable act of mass murder of innocents anymore acceptable if this man is found to have been perusing Islamic State websites?

It’s likely the murderer did peruse such sites, but it doesn’t make him a ‘terrorist’ in the sense of working for I.S., or al Qaeda, or any other Muslim fundamentalist organization. He had a grudge against gay people; that’s why he chose a gay bar.

One more sad result of this mass shooting in Orlando is that only two days earlier, less than twenty minutes from the scene of this latest carnage, a young singer, Christina Grimmie, was senselessly gunned down as she was signing autographs after a concert. Her death, at the age of twenty-four and with a promising career ahead of her, has been totally eclipsed by this latest tragedy.

Two major shootings in two days is rapidly becoming a norm in America. Most don’t make headlines anymore.

This one did. But then, it’s one for the record books – until another surpasses it.

Orlando, Florida, was once known throughout the world as the home of Disney World. Now it’s earning a less enviable reputation.

^{[1] “Orlando gay nightclub shooting: 50 killed, suspect is Omar Mateen” BBC, June 12th 2016}

^{[2] “Former Voice contestant Christina Grimmie shot dead in Orlando” BBC, 11th June 2016}

It may be risking an accusation of churlishness, but isn’t “going somewhat over the top” a reasonable criticism of the world’s media in its reaction to the death of Mohammed Ali?

He was, after all, a man who made his fame and money from pummeling the senses out of his opponents, in what is probably the most barbaric activity still considered a “sport” in the 21st century.

While applauding his stance over the Vietnam War, for which American society of the time crucified him, and begrudgingly accepting his work for black equality – although the Nation of Islam was a highly suspect organisation – it’s ironic to note that the thousands of white people pouring out their grief at Ali’s passing were more than once condemned by Ali as his ‘true enemies’.

His poor health can almost certainly be attributed to the damage he suffered in the boxing ring over many years. In this way he was no different to other boxers who rose to fame, and died early, from their beatings.

With a lull in the U.S. election, and the boredom of ‘Brexit’, it’s easy to see why the media is making such a fuss of Ali’s passing. Less easy to understand is the political fawning over a man quick to condemn the white political establishment. Ex-president Bill Clinton will give a eulogy at the funeral, and the present incumbent, Barack Obama, on hearing of Ali’s death, stated:

Muhammad Ali shook up the world. And the world is better for it.”

Unfortunately, he failed to explain just how the world is so improved, and how worse off we would all have been had this man never existed.

There is no wish to belittle Ali’s achievements in the boxing ring, nor as a champion of the U.S. black community, but he was no ‘God’ in life, and neither should he be treated as such in death.

If there’s one thing the internet’s really good for it’s highlighting the human species at its worst. The lack of coherent thought, sanity, or rationalization, abundant in our fellows is difficult to condone when thrust at us through the pages of Facebook or Twitter, and picked up by the gutter press to spread the gospels of hatred, venom, and self-righteousness.

The latest episode of humanity’s lack of love for its fellow beings has emerged in the furore whipped up by the sad, though necessary, killing of Harambe the gorilla at Cincinnati Zoo recently.^[1]

As an animal welfare inspector in the U.K. for fifteen years, working for the largest animal welfare charity in the world, the writer would dare anyone to accuse him of lack of compassion towards those creatures who share this planet with us. If we fail to extend that compassion to our own kind, and restrict our emotions to those classed as “poor dumb creatures” then we risk our motives becoming ego-based, and consequently worthless.

No-one will ever know if the gorilla at Cincinnati Zoo, whether deliberately or accidentally, would have harmed the three year old boy who fell into his enclosure. Equally, no-one will ever know whether he would have protected the youngster and gently held him until officials could return him to his parents.

Because no-one can know the outcome there was only one right course of action. It was taken and the boy was saved, returned to anxious parents who, because human beings are not machines, had inadvertently taken their eyes of their child momentarily, allowing the curious little boy to do what a three-year-old will sometimes do – get up to mischief.

Images similar to the one fronting this post, display to the world that there are those who place the life of an animal above that of a three-year-old child. The venom and aggression shown to the parents of the child reveal the fractures that exist in our relationships with each other as human beings. Failure to place oneself in the position of, firstly, the parents desperate for the plight of their offspring, and secondly, the agonizing decision of the zoo staff, forced by circumstances to kill one of their beloved animals, is becoming all too common as human beings band together on the internet, intent only on focusing their ill-felt viciousness on innocent members of their own species.

“There, but for the grace of God,” is a simple thought sadly lacking in the minds of those so quick to condemn.

While the media circus was focused on the tragedy at Cincinnati Zoo this week, in Australia a 42-year-old woman, enjoying a paddle on the beach with her friend one moonlit night, was grabbed by a saltwater crocodile and carried off into the sea, never to be seen again.

In California a swimmer lost a leg in a vicious shark attack. Meanwhile, in Iraq innocent people are dying yet again in Fallujah as the U.S. backed Iraqi army attempt to drive ISIS out of the city.

Where are the placards demanding justice for the woman eaten by the crocodile, or the swimmer now missing a leg, or the poor children being slaughtered yet again in Fallujah?

Stuff happens. The world is a dangerous place. There will always be accidents – tragedies we can never wholly guard against.

There’s a time and place for demonstrations and waving placards. This was not one of them. There is no blame to be attached to anyone for what occurred. Gorillas are normally placid animals, but can turn dangerous when threatened, or they become confused.

The woman eaten by the crocodile, the swimmer who lost his leg to the shark, were victims of accidents. Sadly, there was no-one around to shoot the crocodile, or the shark, before they could do what came naturally to them.

The little boy in the gorilla enclosure at Cincinnati Zoo was in some danger. It was fortunate there was someone available who could save his life. For that we should all be grateful.

Had the child been killed or maimed by the gorilla, what then would the placards have read?

^{[1] “Cincinnati Zoo gorilla shooting: Police to investigate” BBC, May 31st 2016}