Yes, I mourn the victims of the attacks in Paris, much like I mourned the victims of 9-11 or the victims of Dutroux (the infamous Belgian pedophile and murderer). I also mourn the victims of terrorism in Kenya, Syria, Lebanon, just like those who died in natural disasters and the victims of police brutality. Yet, what I mourn most of all, is the loss of common sense and the rise of hate. I mourn the fact that our world is being divided by senseless things like opinions and religion.
I will however not change my profile picture because doing that is something you don't do for the victims, it's something people only do for themselves and their friends on facebook or twitter. I'm not leeching off attention from those things and I certainly don't feel like changing my profile picture will change anything. What we need is not a change of pictures but a change of mind. We need love, compassion, understanding, solidarity. We need to help each other, listen to each other.
This is not about who is right and who is wrong. This is about how we will survive all of this and the way it looks to me now, none of us will. Right or wrong, we'll all die. We all die, currently mainly because of different opinions. Isn't that the most hurtful fact, that people die because of a disagreement in stead of becoming old enough to pass away? That people will be remembered because they were murdered by someone with a different point of view?
Regardless of where you live, what your religion is, what the color of your skin is. Regardless of your gender, your sexual preferences or your taste in music. You are a human being, a creature of this earth, doomed to rot away or be cremated. In one way or another you will always be like that. The building blocks in your body will reappear in something or someone else. In a way, beyond beliefs, you will reincarnate in some form, back into the world you left behind.
So, in what kind of world do you want to come back? Do you prefer the ever escalating violence, hate and distress of this society or do you want a peaceful, safe world where plants, animals and humans can thrive? Choose whatever you will, but always remind yourself that what you do now will affect you wherever you will return. You will always reap what you sow, even over the course of many lives. That is not religion, that's a fact because you will never leave this earth.
I chose positivity. My choice is to make life comfortable, interesting and enjoyable, not only for me but for the people surrounding me. I strongly believe that if everyone did this, the world would be a much better place, regardless of any religious, racist, sexist or any other unnecessary opinion. I don't hate muslims because a few of them are deranged, if that were so I would have to hate you too because someone who looks a tiny bit like you did something horrible.
Serge