After any and every tragedy in the United States there is inevitably a draw on what should be done. That draw always comes down to what a person believes in and what they value most.
The most recent big tragedy to take up the news and media is the Parkland school shooting.
There is an almost recycled method to how both sides respond to specific incidents. Many liberals immediately took to advocating for gun control. An equal amount of conservatives demanded that the victims’ loved ones have time to grieve before “politicizing” their deaths.
Whether a person believes in cherishing the second amendment or obliterating it remains irrelevant in the grand scheme of hypocrisy.
Many citizens and politicians were mocked for their “thoughts and prayers” method of handling gun violence related tragedies. Conservatives verbally fought against this criticism.
Tomi Lahren, a Fox News personality, stated, “I’m so tired of listening to some of these Leftists dismiss and attack Christians, Christianity and traditional religious beliefs. It’s one thing to be a non-believer. But it’s another to routinely demean and dismiss those of us that believe in Our Lord, Jesus Christ.”
Fox News reporter Tony Dungy called this criticism an act of “Christian shaming.”
My question is, where was this defense of personal religion when Muslims were—and continue to be—attacked for terror incidents that have nothing at all to do with them or religion?
Critiquing a method of action that is complete inaction is not an act of shaming a religion, just like criticizing the privilege in being white is not shaming white people, nor is calling out systematic sexism through feminism a form of reverse sexism.
These arguments only contribute to pushing off the real answer to avoiding any form of tragedy: action.
Acknowledging the issues of inaction is the first step toward pushing for action. The call out on “thoughts and prayers” is not an attack on Christianity, but a push for doing something more. When the gunman is a white Christian, nobody argues to ban all white Christian males until we solve the answer to what is going on.
President Trump, supported by many conservatives, fought for a ban on predominantly Muslim countries. His initial statement before any bans took place was for “a complete shutdown of Muslims entering the United States until our country’s representatives can figure out what the hell is going on.”
This, as well as the Right’s incorrect assumptions on the religion of Islam in general, contrasts heavily on what Christians are claiming the recent “Christian shaming” to be.
Religion can be a powerful thing for those who believe. But advocating for one religion in response to certain tragedies and then having an outcry for other religions to be banned entirely in the face of other tragedies is dangerous and ignorant.
Lashing out against a call for a ban of objects but demanding the ban of actual American people is an agenda, and a complete waste of time when trying to affect real change.
It can be argued that there will always be hypocrisy on both sides—the right and the left. However, the Right’s consistency in not taking action unless it involves banning people of other nations and religions from the country is loud and clear.
Listen to the voices of the people being hurt. Help the victims instead of arguing reverse oppression.
We as a country need to take action and responsibility. We also need to be inclusive for all of our citizens. Both can happen if hypocrisy is off the table.
Stacey Milas is a fourth-year student at West Chester University majoring in English with a minor in journalism. ✉ SM827414@wcupa.edu.