The recent bombings in France point to a need to discuss the value of media practices all over the world. We need to because our lives are endangered by people who cannot argue, will not debate, and will bomb us out of existence if they think that we have stepped beyond bounds.
Along the same vein, we must accept the fact that we cannot win over guns and other arms. The pen, the mighty pen is puny in the face of bullets and bombs. We are simply human, that's all, not magical. We cannot explode and think that we can live again just like in the movies. Human beings are built not to last in the world of metals and powder.
So what do we do in that case? Do we kowtow to authoritarian thinking? Do we curse no end and hope and pray that the other side will self-destruct? No, as we are in a better position to see things in their holistic perspective.
I think that as media practitioners, as journalists, we need to nurture life and that means educate our readers, our viewers into seeing the world as a haven for their acquiring humane qualities that would allow them to live happily with themselves and their neighbors. It is Christian, so what? It is Buddhist, so what? Whatever religion or spiritual practice you may call it, it is still the most humane philosophy I can think of -- being nurturing of oneself and of others.
Some would argue that "I hate fundamentalism and it should be deleted in this world." Now how do you fight an ideology? With another ideology that mocks the other who could have very low thresholds of patience over dialoguing and debating? No, we must find a middle way that will allow everyone to have peaceful lives.
I sympathize with the families of those victims of the massacres in France. Now let us not forget also that the same dire incidents could happen again and again. So let us be more circumspect in our writings. Let us think and pray that all the minds in the world could think only of two words now -- peace and calm.
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