Another Shooting Has Erupted: Will America Fly Its Flag at Half-Mast for the Sikhs?
Following a shooting in an Aurora, Colo., movie theater just half a month ago, a shooting incident with serious casualties once again burst out in America. This shooting occurred in a Sikh temple in Oak Creek, Wis., and resulted in seven people dead and many injured. I’m unsure about whether or not people from the rest of the world, after hearing once more about a shooting in America, will still be surprised. It is common sense that a shooting occurring outside of war would bring about a frightened heartbeat among the public. But in America, the multiple shooting incidents that have occurred really make the world feel a bit apathetic, so much so that if there were a year without news of a shooting in America, the public would think that America that year was very abnormal.
Incidents are always occurring as a series. At the end of July, a few American politicians, with spit flying, criticized other nations in their self-compiled 2011 Annual Report on International Religious Freedom. But before their saliva could dry, American Sikhs in an American temple were shot to death. Half a month earlier, after the shooting in Denver, America’s White House had flown the flag at half-mast. This time, will the innocently shot Sikhs, under the etiquette of mourning these lost souls, still get this kind of dignity?
America is a country that enthusiastically promotes religious freedom and firmly believes in civil and human rights, and it is also a country incomparable with other nations that politicians constantly praise. But under this “superior” human rights system, the fundamental right to life of American people and religious followers has nevertheless been seen as worthless and been crushed. Using the words of the Sikh American Legal Defense and Education Fund: “This is really a national American tragedy.”
Any country or region, no matter how poor or behind, will put guaranteeing the lives of the masses as the fundamental baseline. The American government also seems to speak this way, as in its various so-called “human rights” reports it is always criticizing other nations. However, the fact is America’s domestic tragedies are getting more and more intense, as fresh and innocent lives are one by one being trampled by death. Because of this maybe funny, maybe helpless, maybe pitiful, maybe tragic, maybe free condition of American society, I actually thought of an old Chinese saying. Its original intention was to scold a few shameless women, but here it is particularly suitable to present to those irresponsible American politicians who ignore the protection of their own country’s human rights and religious freedoms, and who are occupied with conducting boring, unprovoked and even wicked criticisms of other countries. This saying is: You want to be a whore and at the same time be treated as virginal.*
For the Denver shooting incident, America raised its flag to half-mast. Today, half a month later, after a group of Sikhs were shot, what style of mourning will America use to mourn those lost souls? Judging from the significance of this continuous string of evil events, perhaps America will lower the flag to express its grief, but perhaps this has already lost any meaning whatsoever.**
*Translator’s note: a more direct translation is, “You want to be a whore, and at the same time build yourself a memorial arch.” The saying is used to describe someone who exhibits bad behavior but does not want others to judge or make fun of him/her for it.
**Editor's note: President Obama ordered the flag to be flown at half-mast for the same length of time as was done for the Aurora victims.
Incidents are always occurring as a series. At the end of July, a few American politicians, with spit flying, criticized other nations in their self-compiled 2011 Annual Report on International Religious Freedom. But before their saliva could dry, American Sikhs in an American temple were shot to death. Half a month earlier, after the shooting in Denver, America’s White House had flown the flag at half-mast. This time, will the innocently shot Sikhs, under the etiquette of mourning these lost souls, still get this kind of dignity?
America is a country that enthusiastically promotes religious freedom and firmly believes in civil and human rights, and it is also a country incomparable with other nations that politicians constantly praise. But under this “superior” human rights system, the fundamental right to life of American people and religious followers has nevertheless been seen as worthless and been crushed. Using the words of the Sikh American Legal Defense and Education Fund: “This is really a national American tragedy.”
Any country or region, no matter how poor or behind, will put guaranteeing the lives of the masses as the fundamental baseline. The American government also seems to speak this way, as in its various so-called “human rights” reports it is always criticizing other nations. However, the fact is America’s domestic tragedies are getting more and more intense, as fresh and innocent lives are one by one being trampled by death. Because of this maybe funny, maybe helpless, maybe pitiful, maybe tragic, maybe free condition of American society, I actually thought of an old Chinese saying. Its original intention was to scold a few shameless women, but here it is particularly suitable to present to those irresponsible American politicians who ignore the protection of their own country’s human rights and religious freedoms, and who are occupied with conducting boring, unprovoked and even wicked criticisms of other countries. This saying is: You want to be a whore and at the same time be treated as virginal.*
For the Denver shooting incident, America raised its flag to half-mast. Today, half a month later, after a group of Sikhs were shot, what style of mourning will America use to mourn those lost souls? Judging from the significance of this continuous string of evil events, perhaps America will lower the flag to express its grief, but perhaps this has already lost any meaning whatsoever.**
*Translator’s note: a more direct translation is, “You want to be a whore, and at the same time build yourself a memorial arch.” The saying is used to describe someone who exhibits bad behavior but does not want others to judge or make fun of him/her for it.
**Editor's note: President Obama ordered the flag to be flown at half-mast for the same length of time as was done for the Aurora victims.
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