Still within days of the largest mass shooting in the U.S. and people everywhere are reacting in several different ways. For the previous 36 hours my Facebook has been flooded with every opinion imaginable, thoughts on gun control, prayers for the victims, looking for those who haven’t been found, political agendas and more.

My heart is broken for the city that I’ve grown to love, and the innocent people that have suffered. The fact is that America has undergone a tragedy, and in a nation, that has spent months and years acting divided, we no longer know how to respond to an act that appeared selfish, and done without reasoning.

People went out with the intent of having what should have been a pretty enjoyable night, and a chance to escape reality, only to be faced with what I can only imagine was a horrific night. The actions of one man are now preventing at least 59 people from returning home to their families. People of all ages, somebody’s mother, father, daughter, brother, sister, or friend. A crowd full of young faces, teachers, law enforcement, lawyers, that will no longer be able to finish out the rest of their stories. Hundreds of lives impacted, either suffering from injuries, or just the experience in general.  Yet still America has no answers, due to one man who decided to be a coward after committing such a violent crime.

The people in the crowd can’t be declared as Republicans, or Democrats but are declared as Americans. That is the one thing they all had in common, nothing to do with political backgrounds, race, religion or anything more…just simply Americans. Reading through reactions have literally sickened me, within hours there were posts from prevalent politicians claiming gun control would have helped this situation, or people claiming they lacked sympathy because most of country music fans are in fact Republicans.

Now I refuse to claim a stance on the situation as an entirety, meaning I don’t feel that it’s necessary to tell you how I feel about gun control, background checks, or any accusations made with this crime. The part that worries me so much is that we as humans, and Americans have become so divided, and so cynical that we feel the need to point fingers, and give opinions right away, rather than give time to grieve and sympathize with those affected.  Perhaps we should be expressing our thanks to the law enforcement that reacted as quickly as possible, and the civilians that were quick to lend a helping hand regardless of the trauma they were facing.  The people who weren’t concerned about who they were helping, just knew that they needed to help, everyday people that quickly became somebody’s hero.

The truth is that American’s need to Stand Together, we need to focus on the situation at hand, and quit jumping to our own agendas and opinions. Instead of focusing on the lives that were harmed during this, we no longer show feeling, but continuously jump to pass blame. There were lives that were risked to get people to safety, yet everyone is so quick to push their individual stories, and narratives. There is a time and a place to give your opinions, but right now as a nation I think we need to show love to each other, and unity as a nation.  We need to be human, and continue to reach out and show compassion, especially to those who were affected in this tragedy.

So tonight, I challenge you, to not have an opinion on the matter but to love one another. Hug those around you a little tighter, and maybe go out of your way to show kindness. Take a moment of silence, and reflect on the situation as a whole, with an  unbiased opinion and allow opportunity for those around you to grieve.

 

My deepest thoughts and prayers go out to those who were affected,

 

Julissa Talkington